Oedema — excess type
StarEssentials of Chinese Acupuncture (Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing Colleges of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1980) — the standard prescriptions of the Chinese colleges.
Points
-
Luo point of the Lung; activates lung qi to induce sweating for oedema above the waist
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
-
Yuan-Source of the Large Intestine; with LU7 promotes sweating and clears exterior symptoms
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
-
Luo point of the Large Intestine; promotes urination to drain damp
-
He-Sea of the Spleen; promotes urination to drain damp
-
Back-Shu of the Bladder; regulates the bladder's excretion of fluid
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
Needling Safety
Cited hazards for these points. Tick what applies to the patient to see the cautions that follow from it.
Treatment Principle
Strengthen the dispersing function of the lung to move water, sweating above the waist and promoting urination below.
Indications
Method
Acupuncture to activate the lung. Once the exterior pathogen is cleared, treatment switches to the deficiency-type approach.
⚠ Cautions
Oedema can reflect renal, cardiac or hepatic failure, malnutrition or deep-vein thrombosis; these need medical diagnosis. LI4 is contraindicated in pregnancy.
About
The colleges' prescription for oedema of the excess type, in which wind and cold block the lung's control of the water passages.
Rationale
The book's rule is to sweat oedema above the waist and promote urination below it. LU7 and LI4 activate the lung to release the exterior through sweating; LI6 and SP9 drain damp through the urine; BL28 supports the bladder in passing fluid.
Clinical Notes
Add by symptom: facial oedema, Renzhong (GV26, catalogued as Shuigou); constipation with abdominal distension, ST40; swelling of the dorsum of the foot, GB41 and SP5. The book links oedema with acute and chronic nephritis and malnutrition.
Sources
- Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, et al. Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1980. Chapter III, Edema, p. 364–365.
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