Notes for the following treatments:

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Abbreviations used: CV/GV = Ren/Du, HP (Heart Protector) = Pericardium (P), Aggressive Energy (AE).
All points needled using tonification technique except for certain recognised protocols, such as AE drain.
Moxa cones applied before treatment except where contraindicated.
Number of cones and needle depth taken from JR Worsley's Point Reference Guide.
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Friday, October 29, 2010

Patient 6: Treatment (Wood)

Patient: Female, age 49

Element:  Wood 

Number of years coming for treatment: 5

Number of prior treatments: Comes very infrequently now, and always waits a little too long.  This may be for financial reasons, although she knows I offer her a good reduced rate for her treatments.

Main problem today:   Had bad asthmatic attack a few weeks ago, still finding breathing difficult.  Antibiotics had not helped very much.  Still very worried about her weight, as she is very overweight.  Ankles very swollen, even though she is on diuretics to help. 

Treatment given:  No moxa on any points because of high BP
Co 20, St 1 (Co-Lu block)
Liv 14 Gate of Hope
Liv 4 (transfer from Metal), GB 37 (transfer into Gall Bladder from Liver)  

At the end of treatment:  Breathing cleared immediately after block treated.  She said she could breathe more easily.  Colour had changed, a better green.

Time of next treatment:  If breathing becomes difficult again, will phone for an appointment within a month.  I emphasized the need for a spring treatment, which she forgot this year.

Proposals for next treatment:  Watch for other blocks, particularly Liv-Lu,  AEPs (back shu) of Wood.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Patient 5: Treatment (Earth)

Patient: Female, age 50

Element:  Earth 

Number of years coming for treatment: 10

Number of prior treatments: Comes three or four times a year

Main problem today:   Nothing really.  Just wants a top-up and to feel good for an acting job she will be doing in a few weeks.  She is a bit worried about her weight, which is still more than it should be, although it is staying steady at the moment.  Would like to lose a few pounds, but can’t seem to shift weight, even though eats carefully.  Looked well.  Very strong sweet, rather sickly smell.

Treatment given:
1                     CV 12 (no moxa as has slightly too high BP)
2                     Sp 20 (I love the name of this point, Encircling Glory, and I always feel it is like enfolding a patient in Spleen’s arms)
3                     St 40, Sp 4

At the end of treatment:  As usual, better yellow colour, smell slightly less improved.  She looked happy as she left.
 
Time of next treatment:  Will phone for an appointment again in January.

Proposals for next treatment:  Perhaps AEPs (back shu points), St 9 (Window of the ky) might also be good as a way of helping her see forward into the New Year.


Friday, October 15, 2010

Patient 4: Treatment 2 (Metal)

Patient: Male, age 43

Element:  Metal   

Number of years coming for treatment: 8

Time of last treatment: 3 days ago

Main problem today: (See Patient 4, Treatment 1, for details).  Right eye now slightly more open, can feel right cheek a little more.  Mouth did not look so distorted, but speech still difficult.  Slightly healthier look altogether, I felt.  Less desperate   

Treatment given:
1                     SI/Bl E/E block found again, SI 19, Bl 1 needled.
Decided not to do a CV point for the spirit as suggested at end of last treatment because his spirit looked stronger.
2                     Bl 38 (43) with 7 moxas
3                     Co 18 (to help energy rising towards cheek), and because it is a Window of the Sky (and might therefore help open his drooping
4                     Co 11, Lu 9 with 3 moxas (tonification points – from mother (Earth) to child (Metal).

At the end of treatment:  Slightly better look to face.  Could smile a little without distorting the face as much as before.  Last time he had needed to lubricate his right eye every few minutes, because its dryness irritated him.  I noticed that no longer asked me to bring him his eye drops as he had before.  This probably means that clearing the E/E blocks has allowed greater natural lubrication of the eyes. 

Time of next treatment:  In one week  

Proposal for next treatment:   AEPs of Co and Lu (back shu points), or GV 12 (to shoulder the weight of what he is going through), Lu 10 (which I always remember JR saying was the most spiritual point on the body).




  

Patient 4: Treatment 1 (Metal)

Patient: Male, age 43

Element:  Metal   

Number of years coming for treatment: 9

Number of prior treatments: Nothing for the past 3 years

Main problem today:  Emergency treatment needed.  Had had surgery to correct a problem in the right inner ear which had been very traumatic.  Had a very bad reaction to the anaesthetic, an infection developed, the whole right side of the face had become numb and without feeling.  He could not move it, so that his face pulled to the left whenever he opened his mouth.  His right eye could not close or blink, his left eye blinked constantly to try and clear the feeling in the right eye.  His speech had become very difficult, as his mouth was distorted as he spoke.  He was told that he appeared to have developed something like Bell’s Palsy.  No further Western medical treatment proposed.  Was told “it should clear with time”.

Treatment given:
1                     AE drain, a little on Heart.
2                     Severe entry/exit block between SI and Bl:  the pulses on SI and Ht were very hard and strong and those on Bl and Ki very weak, SI 19, Bl 1 needled.
3                     Also block between Co and St:  Co 20, St 1 needled.
4                     Co 4, Lu 9 with 3 moxas to finish with.

At the end of treatment:  Not much change noted.

Time of next treatment:  3 days later

Proposals for next treatment:  Watch out for the same entry/exit blocks, Bl 38 (43) to make up for blood loss during surgery, something on CV, such as CV 14, as his spirit is understandably very low.


Saturday, October 9, 2010

Patient 3: Treatment 1 (Wood)

Patient: Female, age 62

Element: Wood

Number of years coming for treatment: 14

Number of prior treatments: At least 4 each year

Main problem today: Can’t focus on one thing at a time. Needs to get her flat cleared and cleaned for a visitor, but finds herself instead putting up a picture on the wall. Worried about whether she will be able to continue her freelance work. Hair loss a continued problem.

Time of last treatment: 5 months ago

Treatment given:

1 Bl 38 (43) I have always remembered that JR Worsley said that this point brings energy to every cell in the body (and therefore, I believe, will help hair growth). I used 7 moxas for this treatment, but this is a point which can be used over several treatments with more moxas each time to revitalise the blood if this is needed. It is therefore excellent for patients undergoing chemo- or radiotherapy. For these patients I increase the number of moxa cones as follows: 7 in first treatment, then 14 the next treatment, then 21, 28, 35, 42 and I finish on 49. You can then re-start again from 7. This is a rare case in five element acupuncture of using the same point treatment after treatment. Treatment can be given as frequently as every 3-4 days if a patient is in the middle of chemo- or radiotherapy.

2 GV 12 Body Pillar: She looked as though her emotional backbone was crumbling, and I think this will help her stand emotionally more upright.

3 GB 40 and Li 3 (source points on Wood)

At the end of treatment: As she left, she said: “I do feel much better” in a surprised voice.

Time of next treatment: I told her to phone me for a treatment in winter. She always needs to be told exactly when to come, leaving the decision to me.

Proposal for next treatment: GB 20 Wind Pond: I have found my Wood patients love this point. I think it must help them turn their heads with more flexibility and “see” better, giving them some of the vision to look forward that they crave.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Patient 2: Treatment 1 (Fire - Inner Fire)

Patient: Female, age 27

Element: Fire (Inner Fire) (Small Intestine)

Number of years coming for treatment: 4

Number of prior treatments: 36

Original main complaint: Lack of direction in life, need to sort out a complex relationship.

Time of last treatment: 3 months ago

What has changed since last treatment: Much surer about where her work is going, looking forward to new challenges in her job rather than being apprehensive about them, happy to have completely cut off from previous boyfriend.

Treatment given:
1 SI 19/Bl 1 (entry/exit block found between SI and Bl – pulses of SI and Ht very strong, those of Bl and Ki very weak). This block is very common on Inner Fire, for obvious reasons. The sorting official can become overloaded, causing energy to dam up at SI 19, and weakening the vision we all need which is provided by the first point on the Bladder, Eyes Bright. Re-opening the passage way between the two officials by needling these points has a remarkable effect on Inner Fire’s capacity to sort out the troubles of the world.
2 SI 4, Ht 5: Source point of SI, plus the lovely point, Ht 5, Penetrating Inside, which I see as taking good SI energy deep down inside to the Heart.

At the end of treatment: Colour changed after block was cleared, she said her head felt clearer.

Time of next treatment: She will phone me if she feels she needs another treatment before Christmas.

Proposal for next treatment: Windows of the sky on SI (SI 16, Heavenly Widow. or SI 17, Heavenly Appearance). I like to think of SI 17 as being a little bit stronger than SI 16, as I feel it must gather up some of the energy from SI 16 as the official moves up from the side of the neck to the jaw. I therefore start by doing SI 16, and then later on in treatment move to SI 17.

Patient 1: Treatment 1 (Fire - Inner Fire?)

Treatment 30 Sept 2010

Patient: Female, aged 42 (to be called Patient 1)

Element: Fire (Outer Fire) (initial diagnosis only – to be confirmed or changed as treatment progresses)

Number of prior treatments: None. This was the first treatment by me after she was passed on to me by another practitioner, who had been treating her for 15 treatments with no success.

Main complaint: Panic attacks, depression, painful shoulder and hips, bad sleep.
A history of under-achievement, usually apparently self-induced: failing exams by not working in last year, even though she sailed through the first two years at university, giving up on being a tennis player just as she was about to make the county team as a teenager. The really deep-lying problems lay, as they always do, in early childhood, because her mother had alcohol-problems and her father disappeared. She has never married and is in an on-off relationship with a married man.

Treatment given:
The physical examination was done during the initial Traditional Diagnosis (TD) the week before: BP (normal), Centre Pulse (in the centre), Akabane tests (any that were out were corrected).
1 Checked for Possession: Not found
2 Aggressive Energy (AE) drain: AE found on HP (P) and H. Drain took 1 hour.
3 Checked for Husband-Wife (H/W) imbalance (which I had thought might be there, because of the great imbalance between left and right pulses and her desperation): Not found
4 Source points of Fire (Outer Fire): TH 4, HP (P) 7 (tonification without moxibustion)

At the end of treatment:
She looked calmer, and less agitated after treatment. But only time and more treatment will tell if she is Fire, and, if so, which side of Fire, Inner (SI and H) or Outer, TH and HP).

Things to look out for next time:
1 Re-check for the possible presence of H/W imbalance, which can appear once the AE drain has helped the patient’s mask to drop.
2 Check for the appearance of any Entry/Exit blocks (to be checked at each treatment, as they can appear at any point, a good sign that good energy is trying to push its way through the meridian system, and causing a slight overload at some point).

Suggestions for next treatment:
1 CV (RM) 8 (no needling, but 3 moxa cones on salt) – a balancing,
reinforcing point for the spirit on CV.
2 Source or tonification points (i.e., from Wood (mother) - Fire (child),
TH 3, HP 9 with 3 moxa cones, or transfer from another element to Fire, depending on pulse picture found.