EMPACHO
When a fragment or portion of food
sticks or settles to the inside of the
intestine making it difficult to
process, creating serious problems
for the digestive tract.
Empacho is a condition that affects
people of all ages and gender.
Yet it is much more common in
small children and during the
warmer months.
In Mesoamerican traditional
culture and in other cultures, heat
and coldness are always present;
all illnesses were associated with
heat and coldness.
These opposite categories (heat
and coldness) regulate the state of
the human body and its organs;
much like how it also affects
diverse habitats in different walks
of life
Such aspects include nutrition,
illnesses and their remedies,
education, hygiene, customs, and
public awareness among others
The categories do not
necessarily refer the actual
temperature of things.
Frío-calor. Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana
Health and illness are due to the
balance or imbalance of the
elements that compose our
surroundings and their function.
Life and death are part of this union.
 Empacho (Associated with
Coldness):
-Empacho by way of drool
-Empacho by way of mother’s
milk
Empacho by way of drool
it is very common in children that
are months old to experience pain
along their gum line when they
begin teething, provoking an excess
of drool (its viscosity is more fluid
and sticky than normal saliva)
In traditional medicine it is said
that drool (associated with
coldness), cannot be digested and
sticks to the inner-walls of the
stomach and intestines, causing
stomach pain, vomiting, colic,
diarrhea or constipation, weakness
and loss of appetite.
Empacho by way of mother’s milk
More frequent during nursing.
Children develop a productive cough
and that mucus is then ingested mixing
with mother’s milk (associated with
coldness)*. It makes digestion more
difficult by thickening the milk in the
child’s stomach. It will cause stomach
ache, lack of appetite, colic, weakness,
nausea, loose and sticky stool.
*has not been verified
Treatment for both conditions:
- Avoid milk.
- Induce vomiting.
- Manually loosen the
empacho.
- Medicinal Plants
MEDICINAL PLANTS:
Marigold tea or onion and garlic
stems can be drank in tea form
after manually loosening the
empacho.
Mint tea helps secrete bile.
Empacho associated with heat:
-Empacho by way of bile
-Empacho that is strong
and/or stuck
Empacho by way of bile is caused by
eating after one is very upset. This can
occur in fussy children or adults. It
causes indigestion, stomach pain,
diarrhea, flatulence, cramping,
inflammation of the stomach, loss of
appetite, a discoloration of the skin
(green-yellow).
It is recommended to:
-Drink teas made with bitter herbs.
-Induce vomiting.
-Massage to loosen the empacho.
Medicinal Plants:
Mint/Hierbabuena (Mentha sativa) tea.
Baby Sage/Mirto (Salvia microphylla) tea.
Chamomile/Manzanilla (Matricaria recutita) tea.
Lemon Beebrush/ Prodigiosa (Lippia citriodora)
Bricklebush (Brickellia cavanillesii) Associated with
coldness.
Wormwood/Ajenjo (Artemisia absinthium)
Mugwort/Estafiate (Artemisia mexicana)
To induce vomiting:
Olive oil and orange juice (Citrus aurantifolia)
Mallow/Malva (Malva parviflora) and Geranium/
Malvón (Pelargonium inquinans) leaves heated in olive
oil for faster results.
Castor Oil Plant/ Higuerilla
(Ricinus communis) Associated
with coldness. Mix fresh leaves
with lard and baking soda and
wrap it around the abdomen
with a piece of cloth to remove
heat in the stomach. (Pan
Puerco is a commonly used
ointment for this as well).
To induce vomiting:
Olive oil and orange juice (Citrus
aurantifolia)
Mallow/Malva (Malva parviflora) and
Geranium/Malvón (Pelargonium
inquinans), heated in olive oil for faster
results.
Strong or stuck empacho
its symptoms are much more intense and
can place a child’s life at risk. It begins with
a high fever, loss of appetite, stomach
ache, weakness, strong smelling stool or
diarrhea that is green or yellow, the
stomach feels hot, the eyes sink in, the
stomach feels empty and irritated, bad
breath, loss of weight, pale complexion,
etc.
The main causes are: eating too many processed
food, flour-based snacks like Cheetos, gum, even
ingesting non-digestible items like cardboard
(mostly affecting toddlers who are learning to
crawl). These stick to the inside lining of the
stomach or intestine and as it decomposes it
becomes an empacho associated with heat.
In this case, the treatment is to:
- Manually dislodge the empacho.
By using massage therapy over the
stomach and back of the child.
- Treatment with Medicinal Plants:
Preparation of purging solutions to induce
vomiting, knowledge of plants and their
medicinal uses that help treat empacho
and its symptoms.
Castor Oil Plant/Higuerilla (Ricinus
communis) Associated with coldness.
Mix fresh leaves with lard and baking
soda and wrap it around the abdomen
with a piece of cloth to remove heat in
the stomach.
MEDICINAL PLANTS:
Mugwort/Estafiate (Artemisia
mexicana)
In adults, the main cause is due to
eating out and ingesting food that
may be contaminated, binge
eating, or eating fruit that is not
ripe.
Binge eating can leave behind
undigested residuals along the
small intestine; this makes it
expand and makes it more prone
to pain.
When this happens to the small
intestine it produces a series of
symptoms, like pain in the bellybutton along with colic; the bowel
movements are disrupted, either
by diarrhea or constipation due to
an obstruction
Gas begins to build up in the
intestine, without a way for relief;
it gives the person the feeling that
they are full or heavy
Plants that can help:
Bricklebush/Prodigiosa (Brickellia canavillesii)
intestinal infection or fever.
Chamomile/ Manzanilla (Matricaria recutita) tea helps
reduce gas.
Mint/ Hierbabuena (Mentha piperita) tea helps reduce
gas.
Wormseed/Epazote (Tel oxys ambrisioides) ) tea helps
reduce parasites
Mugwort (Artemisia ludoviciana subsp. mexicana) and
Raw seeds from the fig-leaf gourd help reduce
parasites.
Guava/Guayaba (Psidium guajava) tea.
Cinnamon/Canela (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) tea.
MANUALLY DISLODGING EMPACHO
Massage to dislodge rotting food along the
inside of the intestine to evacuate these
and promote natural function of the
digestive system.
Needed:
-Pan Puerco (ointment made with
pig lard with baking soda,
wormwood, clove essential oil,
pulverized chamomile flowers)
OR a mixture of olive oil with
thyme.
-A piece of fabric or handkerchief.
Procedure: lay the child face up and begin to massage in a
clock-wise motion beginning from the lower belly with the
pan puerco ointment or olive oil.
Immediately after, massage in a
small spiral along the big intestine.
If the child allows you to, push down
on the belly starting from the opening
of the stomach toward the bellybutton, then push up from the pubic
bone toward the belly-button.
Immediately after, push toward the
center in from the sides toward the
belly-button.
Repeat massage and turn child on
his/her stomach.
Massage along the sides of the spine
in small circles to loosen the skin and
muscle.
Place the handkerchief or piece of fabric along the
spine. Gather the skin between your fingers in a
pinching motion and pull or tug up towards you.
Continue this pulling/tugging motion along the spine.
As you pull on the skin you will hear and feel a cracking
or a pop, this indicates that the empacho has been
dislodged.
Finalize with a gentle massage along
the back.
The massage can be administered
1 to 3 times a day over a 3 period.
Once the empacho has been
dislodged, follow up with teas,
herbal plasters (when necessary),
colonics or purging.
This massage stimulates the nerves
and it helps increase movement, it
will eliminate the food or object
that could not be digested.
Recommendations:
Light diet and drink a lot of water.
Repeat over the course of 3 days.