Point Selection for Root Treatment
Point Selection for Root Treatment
Once the sho has been determined, it is time to treat. As we saw earlier, each sho has two deficient meridians associated with it. The most basic approach is to tonify those two meridians. This is known as the root treatment.
Just like Nan Jing 69 (the “mother-child” principle) was applied to selection of meridians, the strictest approach to point selection is to apply the same logic to the points.
This is a method that derives from what has become known as Korean Four Needle Method, in which two points are tonified and two are drained. Practically speaking, though, in JMT generally only the first two steps of this protocol (tonifying the mother and child meridians) are followed.
This is how it looks:
Example: Lung Deficiency: Lung is Metal, Mother of Metal is Earth
Tonify the Mother Point on the Affected Meridian
Example: Lung Deficiency: Tonify LU9 (Earth point on Metal Meridian)
Tonify the Same-Phase (Horary) Point on the Mother Meridian
Example: Lung Deficiency: Tonify SP3 (Earth point on Earth Meridian)
While this is the textbook example, in practice the point selection is usually more empirical than anything, and the choice may be a standard reached by broad clinical consensus, or based on classical references other than Nan Jing 69, or by palpation of the meridians of the individual patient. The one constant is the mother-child pairing of meridians for root treatment.
Standard Consensus Root Treatment Points
In reading textbooks of Meridian Therapy and in taking many seminars, I’ve found there are some common variations in the point selection for the sho - what I’m calling here the Standard Consensus (for lack of a better term). For clarity, I’m only showing the basic tonification points for root treatment. Note that the point selections only differ from Four-Needle in Spleen and Kidney deficiency; Liver and Lung deficiency sho are the same for each method.
Lung deficiency
Four Needle: Tonify LU9 and SP3
Standard Consensus: Tonify LU9 and SP3
Spleen deficiency
Four Needle: Tonify SP2 and H8
Standard Consensus: Tonify SP3 and P7
Liver deficiency
Four Needle: Tonify LR8 and K10
Standard Consensus: Tonify LR8 and K10
Kidney deficiency
Four Needle: Tonify K7 and LU8
Standard Consensus: Tonify K7 and LU5
Bear in mind that the points used in the root treatment can vary greatly, but that the constant is the principle of tonifying the meridian with the primary imbalance and its mother meridian.
Nan Jing 68
There are alternate ways to choose points based on classical theory. For example, symptoms may be addressed by the application of the principles of point selection in Chapter 68 of Nan Jing:
For fullness below the heart, choose Wood points:
Lung Sho: LU11 & SP1
Spleen Sho: SP1 & P9
Liver Sho: LR1 & K1
Kidney Sho: K1 & LU11
For heat in the body, choose Fire points:
Lung Sho: LU10 & SP2
Spleen Sho: SP2 & P8
Liver Sho: LR2 & K2
Kidney Sho: K2 & LU10
For heaviness in the body, or joint pain, choose Earth points:
Lung Sho: LU9 & SP3
Spleen Sho: SP3 & P7
Liver Sho: LR3 & K3
Kidney Sho: K3 & LU9
For coughing or dyspnea, choose Metal points:
Lung Sho: LU8 & SP5
Spleen Sho: SP5 & P5
Liver Sho: LR4 & K7
Kidney Sho: K7 & LU8
For counterflow qi or diarrhea, choose Water points:
Lung Sho: LU5 & SP9
Spleen Sho: SP9 & P3
Liver Sho: LR8 & K10
Kidney Sho: K10 & LU5
Palpation-Based Point Selection
Another way to approach point selection for root treatment is to palpate the two deficient mother-child meridians and choose the most deficient among the command points (five-shu, yuan, luo, xi). As an example, let’s say you decide to treat a patient for Kidney deficiency. You palpate all the command points on the Kidney meridian and find a big depression at KD3. Then you palpate the Lung meridian (mother of Kidney), and notice LU6 in particular has a boggy, sticky quality while the rest of the meridian seems unremarkable. It doesn’t matter that one is the Earth point or yuan point and the other is the xi point, what matters is that they are very treatable points on the meridians corresponding to the sho.
I’ve always been a real point nerd, so I will be circling back to this topic in the future. For now, that should be enough mulch to get something growing.
Note: this post is for information purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please seek the opinion of a health care professional for any specific medical issues you may have.