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, January 28, 2011

Patient 21: Treatment (Metal)

Patient 21:  Treatment (Metal)

Patient:  Male, age 46

Element:  Metal

Number of years coming for treatment:  10 years

Number of prior treatments:  Phones for a treatment whenever he feels he needs one.  Is very clear when that is.


Problems today:   Tiredness, depression, relationship with daughter proving difficult.  She lives with her mother in the North of England, and he doesn’t see her as much as he would like.  She resents this.  He missed his autumn seasonal treatment, which may be one of the reasons why his energy dropped after Christmas.

Treatment given:   

1                    GV 12 (Body Pillar) to give him the kind of strength he needs
2                    BL 37 (42) Soul Door:  at the same level as the AEP of the Lung,  and  I see it as very significant for Metal
3                    Co 4, Lu 9 


At the end of treatment:  Less tired looking, eyes brighter.  Again, because he has been coming for so many years, it is unlikely that there will be the very obvious changes after treatment which we get at the start of treatment, unless some major block as appeared.

Time of next treatment:  He will phone when he feels he needs another treatment

Proposals for next treatment:   He loves having his Windows done (Co 18, Lu 3), and it may be time to do his AEPs again.  He now needs very little treatment indeed to set him on his way again.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Patient 20: Treatment (Earth)

Patient 20:  Treatment (Earth)

Patient:  Male, age 62

Element:  Earth

Number of years coming for treatment:  3 years

Number of prior treatments:  Phones for a treatment whenever he feels his energy dropping.

Main complaint:  Originally came for treatment for chronic ashma.  That has now disappeared completely, and is never mentioned by the patient.  Over the years has had problems with a hyperactive thyroid, but that is under control through medication (and presumably also through acupuncture treatment, though it is never possible to say which has proved the more successful if a patient is receiving two different forms of therapy)

Problems today:   Sudden onset of extreme fatigue which he cannot attribute to any particular cause.  Everything going well both in his work and at home with his family.  Can become dizzy when he sits up.

Treatment given:   

1                    I rechecked AE, since he had not come for about 6 months.  There was none.
2                    St 8 (Head Tied) because it was where he put his hand when describing the dizziness.
3                    St 4 (Earth Granary):  he works very much in his head, churning thoughts around all the time.  I have found that Earth patients will abruptly stop talking when I needle this point, as though they are at last able to swallow their thoughts.
4                    St 36, Sp 3:  I like to use Leg Three Miles as a strengthening point, giving the knee (and the Stomach) the strength to get moving.  I use Sp 3 with it, as a companion point, because both are Earth points within the Earth element.


At the end of treatment:  Colour had changed, cheeks looked rounder and he looked generally softer

Time of next treatment:  He will phone when he feels he needs another treatment.  I suggested it would be good to come as we turn into spring.

Proposals for next treatment:  There are so many points on the Earth element from which to choose.  If I think he is still somewhat unsettled, I may think of points like St 19 Not at Ease (at the same horizontal level as CV 14, and I therefore associate it with taking something of what CV 14 offers), or Sp 20 Encircling Glory (which I see as acting as a kind of embrace for Earth, as it lies on either side of the chest).  And I love the names of both points, a good enough reason for choosing a point, if all else fails, since we will be adding our delight in what the names evoke in us to the power of our needling.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Patient 19: Treatment (Water)

Patient 19:  Treatment (Water)

Patient:  Female, age 46

Element:  Water

Number of years coming for treatment:  23 years

Number of prior treatments: Comes every 6 weeks or so

Main complaint:  Cushings' syndrome (cancer of the pituitary gland), which was successfully treated some 9 years ago.  It remained undiagnosed for many years, and the extreme weight gain and general fatigue which it caused was ascribed to the after-effects of pregnancy and childbirth.  Has had very traumatic emergency treatments and surgery at various stages of her illness, but is now symptom-free, although receiving various forms of medication and replacement therapies.  She attributes her recovery from what is a very serious and debilitating form of cancer very much to the frequent acupuncture treatments she has had throughout, which included my treating her in hospital before and after surgery.

Problems today:   Recovering from bad flu:  “My immune system doesn’t feel good.”  Otherwise very happy with the way her work is going and very optimistic about the future. 

Treatment given:  (No moxa because of the risk of the recurrence of very high BP as a result of her pituitary gland tumour)

1                    AEPs of Bl and Ki (Bl 28 and 25)
2                    Bl 38 (for general tiredness)
3                    Bl 66, Ki 10 (winter seasonal treatment)

At the end of treatment:  When patients have had as much acupuncture treatment over as many years as she has, there will be less detectable changes than in patients who are just beginning treatment, where the most startling changes will be seen.  Treatment for such a long-standing patient tends to gently reinforce the energy of the elements rather than effect major shifts.  I did note, however, that her cheeks looked pinker.  

Time of next treatment:  She will have another treatment in about 6 weeks from now.   

Proposals for next treatment:  Bl 38 again, Ki 25 or 27 (both storehouses of Kidney energy)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Patient 18: Treatment (Earth)

Patient 18:  Treatment (Earth)
See also treatment for Patient 5 (blog 24 Oct 10) for this patient’s previous treatment

Patient:  Female, age 50

Element:  Earth

Number of years coming for treatment:  10 years

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

Problems today:   Still worried about her weight, but has had a good couple of months, with some interesting freelance work.  Has lower back pain, and has developed a slight sore throat with a cough.

 
Treatment given:

1                    XI 19 (Window of the Sky), in the region of where her throat feels sore, but also because she is trying to look forward and see what the new year will bring her
2                    Bl 31, a point exactly over where she experiences her back pain
3                    St 41, Sp 2

At the end of treatment:  She said she felt calmer.  Her colour had changed from a rather florid red to a more even yellow.  One of the frequent reasons for diagnosing Earth as Fire is because people think that the kind of flushed red which suffuses the face when Earth is out of balance (Fire, mother element, unable to control its child) indicates Fire.  In my opinion, Fire never has that overall red colour which both Earth and Wood can show (Wood because when it is out of balance it is unable to control its child, Fire).  Instead I find that Fire out of balance usually goes a greyish-pink with blotches of red, and when in balance it still does not have that overall flushed red which can appear on Earth and Wood.  This is one of the important lessons I have learned over the years.  Students I have taught were always misdiagnosing Wood and Earth for Fire because they would pounce on the markedly flushed faces these elements can show and thought this always meant Fire.

Time of next treatment:  She will have another treatment in about 6 weeks from now to get her through the remainder of the winter.   

Proposals for next treatment:  S 25 and Sp 15 (together) or AEPs.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Patient 17: Treatment (Water)

Patient:  Female, age 23

Element:  Water

Number of years coming for treatment:  3½ years

Number of prior treatments: Comes every 2 months or so for treatment

Original problems:  Very bad circulation to toes.  Some toes very badly swollen, very blue in colour, as though the blood was not reaching them properly, and sore, so that any pressure on them was extremely painful.  Some bleeding from pressure sores.  Circulation to fingers also very poor, so that they could turn blue even when the weather was not cold. General feeling of not being well.  Been to many specialists, only diagnosis given was that she suffered from a “lupus-type” infection.

Change since start of treatment:  Health completely restored after about 3 months of treatment.  Circulation to feet and hands returned to normal.  She phones for an appointment as soon as any symptoms re-appear, and one or two treatments are usually sufficient to restore health.

Problems today:  She and I both overlooked the importance of giving her her seasonal treatment at the start of winter.  Her circulatory problems re-appeared as the cold weather set in just before Christmas.  Yesterday (mid-January) her toes were again swollen and blue, one finger was also starting to swell.  Apart from that, felt very good, was happy in her life and had started a new relationship.
 
Treatment given:

1                    Bl 38 (43)  (see my comment on Patient 15 for the rationale behind choosing this point)
2                    Bl 66, Ki 10 (winter seasonal treatment)

At the end of treatment:  She told me that she knows immediately that something is changing as soon as I palpate for the points, and she felt the difference once I needled Bl 38.  Her colour had changed from a slightly peaky colour to a healthy translucent colour, which I associate with the Bladder.  Very bouncy as she left. 

Time of next treatment:  She will have another treatment in about 2-3 weeks to reinforce today’s treatment.  I will make sure that she comes for her winter treatment in time this year.

Proposals for next treatment:  Possibly III 38 with more moxas, Bl 60, Ki 2 (Fire points to warm Water)

Patient 16: Treatment (Fire) (Inner Fire)

Patient:  Female, age 50

Element:  Fire (Inner Fire)

Number of years coming for treatment:  6 years

Number of prior treatments: At the moment comes every month as she is undergoing many major changes in her work life.

Original problems:  These are so far back that they are now irrelevant, but the original cause for her wanting treatment was a sore back as a result of a fall which bruised her coccyx badly.  Felt the benefit from treatment was so great in many areas of her life that has continued on a regular basis since then.  Particularly pleased that she has been able to work out a good relationship with her family, which had previously been very fraught.

Change since start of treatment:  Very much more able to work out her priorities, particularly in how she approaches her work.  Is in a very senior position, with many responsibilities, and being Inner Fire thinks she has to sort out everything for everybody else.  Is now much better at seeing when she needs to rein herself in. and leave others to do their own sorting.

Problems today:  A very nasty cough and painful chest, many real problems relating to changes at work as a result of financial cut-backs.  As usual when she is in need of treatment arrives flustered and over-excited, talking her way into the practice room almost before I greet her, a sign that her Fire element is in overload.
 
Treatment given:

1                    Co-St block (Co 20, St 1) (Blocked Metal, as shown by the excess energy in the Colon pulse, which probably explains the cough and chest pain)
2                    SI 17 (Window of the Sky)  (SI loves the Windows, and both SI 16 and SI 17 – but not at the same time – give a great deal of relief in helping the sorting mechanism see clearly what needs to be done.  I see SI 17 as slightly stronger than SI 16, since it is the point further along the SI, and therefore will benefit from the action of SI 16 before it)
3                    SI 3, Ht 9

At the end of treatment:  Her colour changed to a healthier pink immediately after the Co-St block was cleared.  She said her chest felt better.  She always loves coming for treatment, because she tells me she knows that she will feel better even before she gets up from the couch.  She was calmer, and moved less jerkily as she left. 

Time of next treatment:  She will have another treatment in about 2 weeks to reinforce today’s treatment.   

Proposals for next treatment:  SI 14, SI 7 or AEPs of SI and Ht