PICKING GAOHUANGSHU FOR ACUTE DISEASE

Zhao Yongjiu

(Wuzhai County Hospital, Shanxi)

Indication

An acute disease often comes as a result of indigestion which is caused by improper diet or affection due to exogenous pathogenic factors. Its symptoms are chills and fever, headache, lethargy and drowsiness or stuffiness and oppressed feeling in chest, cold and numb limbs; or fidgets, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea etc. With deep and slow pulse, or hidden pulse. These often present in "Jue Syndrome" (syncope) in traditional Chinese medicine. It does not specially refer to a certain disease. Serious patients may suddenly fall into a coma, or die.

Treating method

To locate the acupoint and patient's position: Gaohuangshu is 3 cun lateral to the lower border of the 4th thoracic spinous process of vertebra. Prone or sitting position is suitable.

To find the spot and pick: One can find the varisized stagnated blood spots after scrapping around Gaohuangshu with a coin or a piece of china dipping some edible oil. It is the picking spot where the hollow can not rise after pressuring it with the handle of a needle and the patient doesn't feel pain when pricking.

Sterilizing the spot with alcohol, the doctor pinches the skin around the spot with the left hand, and then picking it by a three-edged needle with the right hand. At the beginning, the patient does not feel pain, and there is no bleeding. The doctor can not stop picking until the decayed blood is out and extreme pain is felt, then covering it with a sterilized gauze.

Results

Wonderful result or full recovery in accordance with the following conditions: scrapping (stagnated blood spots are present), acupuncturing (no pain), and picking (until the decayed blood is out), when the patient has more than one of the above symptoms in a clinical acute disease.

A typical case: one of syncope

A barber, male, 52 years old. One day at noon when he came back in the heavy rain with strong wind, he suddenly fell into a coma with the symptoms of profuse cold sweat, pale face, cold extremities, hidden pulse, purplish tongue proper, white and thin coating, upward looking eyes, weak breathing, difficult talking and frequent scraping the chest with his hands. Examination: It is hard to hear the heart sound and get the blood pressure. The western medical doctor considered it coronary heart disease. There was no response to the drugs.

Through the analysis of pulse, symptoms and signs manifested, the disease was considered to be the attack of the pathogenic wind which caused the obstruction of meridians and collaterals, exhaustion of Yang of the heart, discharge of Zong Qi (pectoral energy). No marked relief after needling on the following points: Hegu, Neiguan, Zusanii, Sanyin-jiao, Gongsun on both sides, and moxibustion on Guanyuan, Shengque. Then blood letting was applied on Gaohuangshu of left side, and immediately the patient felt much relieved and comfortable with ceasing. of cold sweating, recovery of consciousness, weak speaking, but he still felt fullness and heaviness in the chest. Follow up visit was carried out in the evening and it was found with moderate pulse, red and moisture tongue proper. The only complain was slight discomfort in the epigastria region. During the third visit in the following morning, the patients said with a smile: "Thank you very much for your wonderful needling which saved my life."

My personal experience:

This therapeutical method was summed up through practical experiences under the enlightenment of folk picking method of "Yangmao ding" (a disease similar to those symptoms mentioned above) and with the reference of the treatise of "Sha Zhang Yu Heng" and "Yi Zong Jin Jian" etc. I have different opinions with the physicians through the ages in the theory that point Gaohuangshu is only good for nourishing Qi and blood, clinically this method is really effective. In spite of my limited knowledge, here I'd like to say something about the mechanism of acupoint Gaohuangshu: Gaohuangshu is an acupoint of the Urinary Bladder meridian of foot Taiyang which runs from head to foot and connects the whole body internally and externally. Traditional Chinese medicine recorded and explained like this "Gao is located below the heart and Huang is above the diaphragm". "The disease has attacked the vitals" means that the disease has gone deep or is beyond cure. Acupoint Gaohuangshu is located between acupoints Pohu (Lung is in charge of vital energy and stores souls) and Shentang (Heart controls blood circulation and is in charge of mental activities). Internally it is the essential of heart and lung, and serves as a hub where Qi and blood exchange. In addition, Gaohuangshu is also considered as a boundary and the fortress of the upper and lower portions of the body cavity (between heart and diaphragm). Externally, it belongs to the Urinary Bladder Meridian and dominates the superficial portion of the body. Therefore, the retention or stagnancy of indigested food internally associated with the six exogenous pathogenic factors externally would cause the disturbance of Qi and blood, and breakdown of the equilibrium of Yin and Yang, with critical symptoms of deep and slow or hidden pulse or slow and uneven pulse. Blood letting by picking on Gaohuangshu has the property to remove the obstruction of Qi and blood of Zang Fu and meridians regulate Yin and Yang, moderate the exterior and interior. This method gives instant results.