TCM: Weather Patterns and Fundamental Substances
I received another request from a viewer for a collection of Heavy Hitters in regards to treating, what I call, Weather Pattern Diagnosis. I’ve also added acupoints for Fundamental Substances as I believe it ties nicely into this topic.
For Heavy Hitting acupoints that treat organ conditions, please check out my workbook in the shop.
Weather Pattern Diagnosis
These elements can enter the body or can be created inside the body due to illness, diet or stress. When the weather changes outside it can affect the already-present Weather Pattern inside the body.
Remember: all Wind-Cold, Wind-Heat, Wind-Damp-Cold, and Wind-Damp-Heat combinations are classified as External. Anything else is classified as Internal. That should help clear some diagnoses up. Let’s look at singular patterns and then I will show the simplicity of building combinations.
WIND
These following acupoints make up The Four Wind Points; Wind Pool, Wind House, Wind Gate, and Wind Market, respectively.
GB20 - Internal and External Wind
DU16 - External Wind
UB12 - External Wind, close to Back-Shu of Lung, can be cupped along with UB13
GB31 - Best for Internal Wind
A concept in Chinese medicine is to Tonify Blood so that Wind has no room to reside. This is akin to turning on a garden hose to maximum to fill the hose and not allow any air inside.
SP10 - Sea of Blood, Tonifies Blood, Breaks up Blood Stasis, Cools the Blood
UB17 - Influential of Blood, Tonifies Blood, Breaks up Blood Stasis, Cools the Blood
SP6 - 3-Yin Channel Meeting
LV8 - Mother, Tonifies Liver Blood
HEAT
The following three acupoints are the best for Clearing general Heat from the body. Well acupoints Clear the most Heat from Channels and Organs, while Spring acupoints are a little more comfortable for patients (and also Clear Heat where Deficiency of Yin is present).
LI4 - Key/Command for Head & Face
LI11 - He-Sea
DU14 - 6-Yang Channel Meeting
COLD
Cold can be chased out of the body by, mainly, warming the lower abdomen and lower back - where the Dan T’ian resides. Therefore, many acupoints chosen also Tonify Kidney Yang.
REN4 - Moxa, Front-Mu of Small Intestine, Tonifies Qi, Blood, Yin and Yang
REN6 - Moxa, Sea of Qi
DU4 - Moxa, Mingmen
UB23 - Moxa, Back-Shu of Kidney
UB52 - Moxa, Nourishes Essence
KD7 - Moxa, Mother, Tonifies Kidney Yang
KD3 - Moxa, Source
DAMPNESS
Dampness is best drained by way of Tonifying Spleen and Stomach. Also, the Triple Warmer can act as a drainage ditch.
SP9 - He-Sea, Drains Damp
ST40 - Connecting, Transforms Phlegm
SP6 - Tonifies Spleen
ST36 - Key/Command for Abdomen, He-Sea, Tonifies Stomach
REN12 - Front-Mu of Stomach, Influential of Zang
REN9 - Water Passage
REN5 - Front-Mu of Triple Warmer
UB39 - Lower He-Sea of Triple Warmer
DRYNESS
Tonifying Yin is a good strategy for combating Dryness. Similar to chasing Cold out by Tonifying Kidney Yang, Dryness can be treated by focusing on Kidney Yin.
KD3 - Source
KD6 - Confluent with Yinqiao, Tonifies Kidney-Yin
SP6 - 3-Yin Channel Meeting
REN4 - Front-Mu of Small Intestine, Tonifies Qi, Blood, Yin and Yang
UB23 - Back-Shu of Kidney
UB52 - Nourishes Essence
UB42 - Treats taxation, Tonifies Yin of Lung, Stomach and Kidney
FIRE
Fire is extreme Heat. Usually when we speak of Fire we are referencing how they affect certain organs. Again, Well and Spring acupoints work well. Instead of writing out just the acupoints, I’d like to highlight which organs are affected by Fire.
Chinese medicine is forever a language game. When beginning to learn Chinese medicine I believe it’s important to become familiar with what patterns affect organs and those that do not.
For example, the Liver can suffer from Blood Deficiency, as so can the Heart. However, we do not say Lung-Blood Deficiency or Spleen-Blood Deficiency. The Spleen is known for Holding Blood in the Vessels, though.
Lung:
While the Lung sufferers from Heat, often treated with LU5 (He-Sea, Son) UB42 (outer Back-Shu of Lung), LU10 (Spring) and LU11 (Well), it’s important to note that the term Lung-Fire is not used.
Large Intestine:
It’s important to note that there are two types of Heat that affect the Large Intestine, and Fire is not a term that is used. One type is called Heat in the Large Intestine and can be treated with the three aforementioned acupoints that Clear Heat. The second is Heat Obstructing the Large Intestine and is caused by an Exterior Invasion. While Clearing Heat should be done, care must be taken to treat the Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat.
Stomach-Fire:
ST44 (Spring), ST45 (Well)
Heart-Fire:
HT9 (Well), HT8, (Spring), HT7 (Source), UB44 (uuter Back-Shu of the Heart)
Small-Intestine:
The Small Intestine is affected by Heat but not Fire. This is even though it often is caused by Heart-Fire. Heat in the Small Intestine can be treated with SI2 (Spring) and HT8 (Spring).
Liver-Fire:
LV3 (Source), LV2 (Spring)
COMBINING PATTERNS
If a patient presents with Damp-Heat, simply combine the two groups of acupoints: LI11, SP9, ST40.
If a patient presents with a Wind-Cold, combine the two groups of acupoints and add a couple more: GB20, LI4, LU7, moxa aforementioned acupoints
If a patient presents with a Wind-Heat, combine the two groups plus another acupoint: GB20, LI4, TW5
Fundamental Substances
There are several Heavy Hitters that help Tonify or Nourish Qi, Blood, Yin, Yang and Essence. I will present them below. Again, these can be combined with what is to be achieved in practice which I will comment on at the end.
Note how some of these acupoints have already been discussed in Weather Pattern Diagnosis and why they are brought up again.
TONIFY QI
DU20 - Lifts Qi
REN17 - Front-Mu of Pericardium, Influential of Qi
REN6 - Sea of Qi
ST36 - Stomach Qi, Best Tonification acupoint
SP6 - Tonifies Spleen Qi
UB24 - Back-Sea of Qi
TONIFY BLOOD
SP10 - Tonifies Blood
UB17 - Influential of Blood, Tonifies Blood
SP6 - 3-Yin Channel Meeting
LV8 - Mother, Tonifies Liver Blood
NOURISH YIN
KD3 - Source
KD6 - Tonifies Kidney-Yin
SP6 - 3-Yin Channel Meeting
REN4 - Tonifies Yin
UB23 - Back-Shu of Kidney
UB52 - Nourishes Essence
TONIFY YANG
REN4 - Moxa, Tonifies Yang
REN6 - Moxa, Sea of Qi
DU4 - Moxa, Mingmen
UB23 - Moxa, Back-Shu of Kidney
UB52 - Moxa, Nourishes Essence
KD7 - Moxa, Mother, Tonifies Kidney Yang
KD3 - Moxa, Source
NOURISH ESSENCE
KD3 - Source
KD7 - Mother
UB23 - Back-Shu of Kidney
UB52 - Nourishes Essence
COMBINING PATTERNS:
When faced with Nourishing, say, Heart-Blood Deficiency HT7 (Source), SP10 (Sea of Blood), and SP6 (3-Yin Channel Meeting) can be used together.
If a patient has stagnant Liver Qi acupoints LV3 (Source), REN6 (Sea of Qi) and REN17 (Influential of Qi) can be used in combination.
I hope by seeing certain Heavy Hitting acupoints used many times in all kinds of diagnoses it increases your pattern recognition and confidence to use the tools you already possess.