Treatise on Heat Needling

In patients with liver heat disease, the urine turns yellow first, accompanied by abdominal pain, a preference for lying down, and bodily fever. When the pathogenic heat contends with the righteous qi, there will be delirious speech and convulsions, distention and pain in the rib-side region, restless movement of the hands and feet, and an inability to lie still. The condition worsens on geng and xin days, and profuse sweating occurs on jia and yi days. If the qi counterflows upward, death will occur on geng or xin days. Acupuncture treatment should select points from the Foot-Jueyin Liver channel and the Foot-Shaoyang Gallbladder channel. If the qi counterflows upward, there will be headache and dizziness—this is due to the channel qi rushing upward to the head.

In patients with heart heat disease, there is first a feeling of unhappiness, and only after several days does fever develop. When the pathogenic heat contends with the righteous qi, sudden heart pain occurs, along with vexation and oppression, a tendency to vomit, headache, a red facial complexion, and an absence of sweating. The condition worsens on ren and gui days, and profuse sweating occurs on bing and ding days. If the qi counterflows upward, death will occur on ren or gui days. Acupuncture treatment should select points from the Hand-Shaoyin Heart channel and the Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine channel.

In patients with spleen heat disease, there is first a heavy sensation in the head, pain in the cheek, vexation, a greenish facial complexion, a desire to vomit, and bodily fever. When the pathogenic heat contends with the righteous qi, there will be lumbar pain preventing flexion and extension, abdominal distention, diarrhea, and pain at both angles of the mandible. The condition worsens on jia and yi days, and profuse sweating occurs on wu and ji days. If the qi counterflows upward, death will occur on jia or yi days. Acupuncture treatment should select points from the Foot-Taiyin Spleen channel and the Foot-Yangming Stomach channel.

In patients with lung heat disease, there is first a sensation like cold water being splashed on the body, with the body hair standing on end, fear of wind and cold, a yellow tongue coating, and bodily fever. When the pathogenic heat contends with the righteous qi, there will be wheezing and coughing, pain that wanders in the chest and back, an inability to take deep breaths, an unbearable headache, and the body becomes cold after sweating. The condition worsens on bing and ding days, and profuse sweating occurs on geng and xin days. If the qi counterflows upward, death will occur on bing or ding days. Acupuncture treatment should select points from the Hand-Taiyin Lung channel and the Hand-Yangming Large Intestine channel, and bloodletting the size of a soybean will bring immediate improvement.

In patients with kidney heat disease, there is first lumbar pain, soreness in the lower legs, extreme thirst with frequent drinking of water, and bodily fever. When the pathogenic heat contends with the righteous qi, there will be pain and stiffness in the neck, cold and soreness in the lower legs, heat in the soles of the feet, and a disinclination to speak. If the qi counterflows upward, there will be neck pain, dizziness, and a swaying, unsteady gait. The condition worsens on wu and ji days, and profuse sweating occurs on ren and gui days. If the qi counterflows upward, death will occur on wu or ji days. Acupuncture treatment should select points from the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney channel and the Foot-Taiyang Bladder channel. In all the above cases of sweating, sweating occurs only when the respective overcoming day arrives.

In patients with liver heat disease, redness first appears on the left cheek. In patients with heart heat disease, redness first appears on the forehead. In patients with spleen heat disease, redness first appears on the tip of the nose. In patients with lung heat disease, redness first appears on the right cheek. In patients with kidney heat disease, redness first appears on the chin. Although the disease has not yet manifested, if redness is seen in these areas and acupuncture is applied, this is called “treating the disease before it arises.”

When a heat disease begins in the corresponding facial diagnostic area of the five viscera, it will resolve on the corresponding overcoming day. If acupuncture treatment violates the appropriate principles (such as improper supplementation or drainage), the condition will take three cycles (i.e., three days or three phases) to improve. If treatment errors are repeated, death will result. In all heat diseases where sweating is appropriate, profuse sweating will occur on the respective overcoming day. In all treatments of heat disease, the patient should first be given cold water to drink, and then acupuncture should be performed. The patient must be dressed lightly and reside in a cool place. When the body becomes cool, treatment is concluded.

In heat disease that first presents with chest and rib-side pain and restless movement of the hands and feet, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Foot-Shaoyang Gallbladder channel, and points of the Foot-Taiyin Spleen channel should be treated with supplementation. In severe cases, the method of the fifty-nine punctures is used.

In heat disease that begins with arm pain, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Hand-Yangming Large Intestine channel and the Hand-Taiyin Lung channel; sweating will occur and the pain will cease.

In heat disease that begins with the head, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Foot-Taiyang Bladder channel on the nape of the neck; sweating will occur and the condition will cease.

In heat disease that begins with the feet and lower legs, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Foot-Yangming Stomach channel; sweating will occur and the condition will cease.

In heat disease that first presents with a heavy body, bone and joint pain, deafness, and a preference for closing the eyes, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney channel. In severe cases, the method of the fifty-nine punctures is used.

In heat disease that first presents with dizziness, fever, and distention and fullness in the chest and ribs, acupuncture should be applied to points of the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney channel and the Foot-Shaoyang Gallbladder channel.

For the Taiyang channel, its red manifestation appears on the cheekbone area—this is a sign of heat disease. If the redness is not yet mixed with the coloration of other areas, it indicates that the pathogen is still superficial, and it can be said, “Sweating is about to occur now”; it will resolve when the appropriate time (the overcoming day) arrives. If the channel coloration of Taiyang and that of Jueyin appear simultaneously, death will occur within no more than three days. In such cases, the heat disease internally involves the kidneys, and it is a manifestation of the Shaoyang channel coloration.

For the Shaoyang channel, its red manifestation appears on the front of the cheek—this is a sign of heat disease. If the redness is not yet mixed with the coloration of other areas, it indicates that the pathogen is still superficial, and it can be said, “Sweating is about to occur now”; it will resolve when the appropriate time (the overcoming day) arrives. If the channel coloration of Shaoyang and that of Shaoyin appear simultaneously, death will occur within no more than three days.

In treating heat disease, the back points: the interspace below the third vertebra governs heat in the chest; the interspace below the fourth vertebra governs heat in the diaphragm; the interspace below the fifth vertebra governs liver heat; the interspace below the sixth vertebra governs spleen heat; the interspace below the seventh vertebra governs kidney heat. In treating heat disease, points at the sacral coccyx are also taken. The depression at the third vertebra above the nape is the Dazhui point, where all the yang channels converge.

Redness on the cheek that descends counterflow to the cheekbone area will form major abdominal accumulation with diarrhea. Redness that descends to the mandibular angle area will form abdominal distention. Redness appearing behind the cheekbone will form rib-side pain. Redness appearing on the upper part of the cheek indicates disease above the diaphragm.