In my last blog, I told you about a woman who came in complaining of excruciating pain after having surgery to remove anal fissures. If you missed it, click on the link below so you will be up to date before we begin analyzing her graph.
Giving Birth to a Bowel Movement–Part 1
As always, I graphed the patient before deciding how to treat.
The first two graphs I always review before deciding treatment are the Baseline Graph and the Yin/Yang Graph. Let’s take a look.
Baseline Graph
Notice that the Small Intestine, the Triple Energizer and the Large Intestine channels are all out of balance. Typically, when I see all three of these out, I like to think tendinomuscular because often the yang channels relate to tendinomuscular problems. Also, because the pathway of each of these channels crosses directly through the shoulder.
Yin/Yang Graph
Obviously, there was some shoulder tension because of everything she was going through, but I knew from her story that she was experiencing considerable stagnation in her intestines. In fact, let’s analyze this graph in relation to the Triple Energizer–or the upper, middle and lower jiao.
- Upper Jiao: The trauma from this surgery left the patient emotionally zapped. Notice how the Pericardium is low and the heart and lungs are ‘borderline’ low.
- Middle Jiao: The small intestine organ is physically located in the middle jiao.
- Lower Jiao: The large intestine organ is physically located in the lower jiao and, of course, the large intestine runs into the anus–where the surgical procedure took place.
For this patient, I knew it was important to get energy moving through all three jiao (aka Triple Energizer) to have the most effective treatment.
TREATMENT
Balance the Graph:
I used my favorite Triple Energizer treatment first.
- TE 6 and GB 41: to eliminate clumping (*I choose TE 6 because she had clumping in the channel based on palpation. If she only had qi stagnation, I would have used TE 5)
- Ren 17: to focus on the upper jiao
- ST 25: to focus on the middle jiao
- Ren 7: to focus on the lower jiao
This portion of the treatment was my own ‘advanced strategy’ as a root treatment to balance the graph. I didn’t need to use the tonification or sedation points because I was treating an overall problem in the Triple Energizer. All imbalances were covered with this treatment.
Symptom Relief:
This is where I incorporated my TCM training as a branch treatment to help with symptom relief.
- GV 20: Classic point for hemorrhoids; mirror opposite of the anus
- Si Shen Cong: Extra points on the top of the head which surround Du 20–to bring extra healing energy to the anus (*I learned this in a seminar along the way)
- BL 57: Classic point for hemorrhoids
- SP 6 and ST 36: To strengthen the Spleen and Stomach to help keep the bowels moving
- ST 37: Lower He Sea of the Large Intestine channel to help keep the bowels moving
- Ear points: Anus, Heart, Shen Men
- Massage of the abdomen: Clockwise to help move obstructions in the bowels
This patient experienced amazing results from treatment. I couldn’t guarantee how long it would take to experience relief from her anal fissure surgery, but I do know she came into my office in horrible pain and an emotional wreck. When she left, she wasn’t experiencing pain or extreme emotions.
The message she sent me two hours after treatment confirmed the results of her treatment.
I called my patient five days after treatment to see how she was doing. She confirmed that her acupuncture treatment was still working great. She came back into my office 9 days after treatment–and this is what her graph looked like!
You have heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again: I love my job! I especially love having so many great resources to help me become the best in my field. For this patient, I was able to use my TCM education, AcuGraph, Auriculo 360 and Points PC.
Having a great education is one element of becoming a great acupuncturists–but truly loving your patients AND having the right tools at your fingertips can help you achieve a level of excellence in your clinic that you never imagined.
Have a fantastic week!
If you want to learn more about Graph Analysis, check them here.
Kimberly Thompson, L.Ac.
kimberly@miridiatech.com
R8 – moxa?
No Ellen, I did not do moxa on Ren (CV) 8. Actually, I didn’t even think about that. Tell us about your experience with moxa on Ren 8? I’m assuming that you put salt in the umbilicus if you are using direct moxa. Honestly, I don’t ever treat that point. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
~Kimberly
your articles are very interesting.thanks a lot.always eagerly looking for your article.i think you have used ren7 in the article #5 for treating TW
If you treated ren 8 as stated in the article and you didn’t use moxa, are we to assume you needled it?!
I had the same question as Ellen. If you didn’t do moxa on Ren 8, is it maybe a typo and you used Ren 6 ?
You found a mistake in my blog! NO–I would never needle REN 8. Ren 7 is the point that I used to focus energy into the lower jiao.
Ren 8 is contraindicated for needling. It is mostly used as a reference point for location. Some practitioners will put salt in the umbilicus and use moxa cones on the salt, but you would never needle it. I don’t ever use Ren 8.
Thanks for finding my mistake! It’s been fixed. Sorry about the confusion.
Best regards~
Kimberly