Graph Analysis Series #3: The All GREEN Graph 5/5 (40)

I have a patient who comes in every two weeks for acupuncture. She is always excited when she gets an all green graph. It doesn’t happen very often. But when it does, I always tell her: “Make sure that you tell your husband tonight that you are perfect–Kimberly said!”

So, let’s talk about the all green graph. There are multiple reasons that I see them.

#1: Your patient is in excellent condition.

The few times that I have seen a perfect graph under this condition, my patient was an avid runner or athlete of some sort. This graph is hard to come by and I’ve only seen two in the last three years.

#2: Patients who have really low numbers.

If the qi level is too low, then the AcuGraph cannot decipher what is truly low, high or even split. As you know, AcuGraph calculates an average for all the meridian readings and uses this as the basis for the graph calculations. If this average is very low, this may indicate an overall low Chi level in the patient. Along with balancing the readings, this low Chi level should be addressed. When the Chi level is VERY low, the graph will tend to be all green because there simply aren’t enough variations in the readings to categorize anything as excess or deficient. Here are links to previous blogs that talk about this problem exclusively.  Mystery of the Low Graph & When all Green isn’t All Good!

#3: Sometimes it just happens, even though the patient has problems.

This is the type of graph that I want to talk about in today’s blog. Let’s first take a look at another graph from the “perfect” patient that I was referring to above.

Many practitioners call and ask how to treat when the graph is all green. I have a couple of different approaches.

Let’s look at this graph with a magnifying glass.

The AcuGraph won’t give you any recommendations for treatment because the graph is “perfect,” right? You can still analyze the graph and come up with your own treatment protocol.

The picture above is the Baseline Graph. We don’t see any problems with the Dai Mai.

I would choose my treatment by looking at the Yin/Yang Graph.

Let’s just take a look at the yin side.

• The LU and SP look a little low.

• The PC looks a little high.

This patient tends toward a low lung and spleen.  She also tends towards anxiety. The heart channel looks good today, but the PC seems to be on the verge of being high. The PC is the protector of the heart. Also, the LV isn’t high, but I can see that it is borderline high.

For my root treatment, I’m going to treat the tonification points for the LU and SP, and the sedation point for the LR.

• LU tonification point: Lu 9
• SP tonification point: SP 2 (*I like SP 3 better)
• PC sedation point: PC 9 (*I like PC 7 better)
• LR sedation point: LR 2 (*I like LV 3 better)

*If you have been following my blogs for any amount of time, you realize that you can treat the tonification and sedation points with the source point also.

Now let’s look at the yang side.

• The SI is borderline high on the left.
• The GB is a little high on the left.
• The LI is slightly high, but I’m not going to worry about it because I’m treating the Lung channel. If I treat the yin, the yang will follow, right?

I ask my patient if they have a little tension in the shoulders and lower back on the left. Sure enough, the graph is right.

How do I wind up treating this patient?

• LU 9
• SP 3
• PC 7
• LR 3
• And a really good back treatment to handle the muscle tension that is accumulating in her upper and lower back. I also add in a little cupping to her back to open all of the tendinomuscular channels.

Dr. Fratkin taught me that sometimes a person can be sick and the channels are all green because, even though the patient is sick, their energy is strong and moving well. He suggests that you analyze the graph as I described above or just treat with a basic TCM treatment to mix things up a little. Point combinations such as SP 6/ST 36, LR3/LI 4, and Point Zero, Shen Men, and Sympathetic Autonomic will move qi. The next time the patient comes in, the graph usually shows a better analysis of where the problems are.

A helpful tool:

Have you noticed that I’m pretty good at quickly telling you what the tonification, sedation, source, and Luo points are? I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t have them all memorized. In each of my treatment rooms, I have a handy little-laminated cheat sheet. This is another one of those nerdy college projects that I created back in the day. Miridia Technology has done a great job of recreating it into a tool for you. You can order them from our store.

I love having this resource at my fingertips. I’m sure you will too!  http://www.miridiatech.com/shop/acupuncture-tools/master-plan-acupuncture-reference-card.html

Thanks so much for adding your comments to our Graph Analysis Series. As always, your input, is what keeps me writing more blogs!

Have a great day!

If you want to learn more about Graph Analysis, check them here.

Kimberly Thompson, L.Ac.

kimberly@miridiatech.com