Asthma — kidney deficiency
StarEssentials of Chinese Acupuncture (Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing Colleges of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1980) — the standard prescriptions of the Chinese colleges.
Points
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Back-Shu of the Kidney; reinforces kidney qi
Reinforcing method; moxibustion advised.
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Governing Vessel point between L2 and L3; reinforces kidney qi
Reinforcing method; moxibustion advised.
-
Conception Vessel point below the navel; an essential point for strengthening qi
Reinforcing method; moxibustion advised.
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
-
Influential point of qi on the sternum; regulates qi and calms wheezing
Reinforcing method; moxibustion advised.
Needling Safety
Cited hazards for these points. Tick what applies to the patient to see the cautions that follow from it.
Treatment Principle
Reinforce kidney qi so that the kidney can receive qi again, with reinforcing needling and moxibustion.
Indications
Method
Reinforcing method; moxibustion is advisable.
⚠ Cautions
An asthma attack with inability to speak in sentences, cyanosis, exhaustion or a silent chest is a medical emergency; acupuncture must not replace the patient's prescribed inhalers or delay emergency care. Breathlessness on exertion with cold limbs may reflect heart failure or chronic lung disease and needs medical assessment. Moxibustion or strong stimulation at CV6 is contraindicated in pregnancy.
About
The textbook's prescription for the deficient type of asthma from a weak kidney that fails to grasp the qi drawn in by the lung.
Rationale
BL23 and GV4 reinforce kidney qi at its root. CV6 is the book's essential point for building qi, and CV17, the Influential point of qi, regulates qi in the chest and calms the wheeze.
Clinical Notes
For long-standing, persistent asthma, the book adds GV12 and BL43 with indirect moxa on garlic; for accompanying spleen deficiency, add moxa at CV12 and BL20. The book's asthma includes bronchial asthma, asthmatic bronchitis and the breathlessness of other diseases, and advises other measures besides acupuncture for symptomatic dyspnoea. It also gives an ear-acupuncture option during attacks.
Sources
- Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, et al. Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1980. Chapter III, Asthma, p. 347–348.
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