According to Oriental medicine, the navel is regarded as the entry point for the life force. The Nanjing characterises the healthy navel which is deep and well-shaped with strong surrounding tissue. The healthy navel is not too shallow, not too deep; not too side, not too thin; and not too tiny. It should be in the centre and “tucked in”. It should have no visible pulsation above it or off centre, and no depressions
around it, except for a very slight one above it. It should look like the “sun with emanating rays” within the navel ring.
Navel diagnosis involves a microsystem that is easy to learn and a few things are involved in its assessment. Begin by looking at the borders of the navel. There should be no interruptions, indentations, collapsed borders or depressions, except for a very slight depression superior to it. Depressions are indicative of deficiency. Using an abdominal map based on the Nanjing, a diagnosis of deficiency of an organ can be made by looking closely at the area surrounding the navel. You may need to gently feel for subtle depressions. The larger the depression, the greater the deficiency in the corresponding organ-meridian complex. Spleen/stomach deficiency is diagnosed at the upper border of the navel, liver blood deficiency to the left of the navel, Lung qi deficiency to the right, and Kidney qi deficiency below.
The navel should not appear to “look up or down”.
The tissue around the navel ring, or border, should be firm, not dough-like. Weakness or flaccidity in the surrounding tissues is indicative of poor vitality, poor response and recovery. The navel should not exhibit any surrounding puffiness. The most common place to find puffiness is inferior to (below) the navel; this is especially true in overweight people.
While the healthy navel should have full pulsation, it should not visibly pulse ‘off center’. If so, this is indicative of Spleen qi deficiency. This pulsation is relative to the strength of the person’s constitution or vitality, so it has a range of appearances. Ideally, it is visible simply by looking down at the perimeter of the navel. If any abnormally prominent pulsation is detected in the vicinity of the navel, particularly on both sides of the midline, the possibility of an aortic aneurysm must be investigated. This is a potentially life threatening condition necessitating immediate referral for Western medical evaluation.
Most abdominal aneurysms are asymptomatic and are detected by sonography. However, they may present as an ache in the midline, lumbosacral pain, abdominal lump, or the patient may have noticed the prominent abdominal pulsation. They may take years to develop, but are fatal within minutes when they rupture. The most common cause is arteriorsclerosis. Patients with high blood pressure may developing abdominal and other types of aneurysms.
The author is Head of Acupuncture at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi