Patient's question:
The baby is now three and a half months old, having been born six and a half months ago. They frequently spit up milk. Yesterday, they fell and hit their back of the head on the floor, and today they vomited milk forcefully. Could this be a problem? What should I do about the constant spitting up? After feeding, we've tried to follow the book's advice by minimizing movement, holding them, and burping them, but it still doesn't help. Should we see a doctor?Doctor's answer:
Vomiting refers to the ejection of gastric contents or a portion of small intestinal contents through the esophagus in a complex reflex action. It is a common digestive symptom in children. Modern medicine believes that vomiting can be caused by many diseases, such as gastrointestinal disorders, fever, intracranial infections, etc.Traditional Chinese medicine holds that vomiting can be triggered by factors such as external pathogens like wind-cold and heat invading the stomach, internal injury from diet, stomach deficiency with heat, stomach yang deficiency, or spleen and stomach deficiency with cold. These conditions can lead to stomach dysfunction and upward reversal of stomach qi, resulting in vomiting.
Severe vomiting often leads to excessive fluid loss, causing qi and yin deficiency. Long-term or recurrent vomiting may result in spleen and stomach weakness, blood and qi deficiency, and other consequences. Common symptoms include vomiting after meals, vomit with a sour or watery and sticky odor, occasional nausea, belching, abdominal distension, fatigue, pale or flushed complexion, and a lack of appetite.