20/04/2024
Case: Bilateral Knee Pain Treated with Non-Invasive Needling (Teishin)
Subjective:
A female patient in her late sixties came to the clinic complaining of bilateral knee pain which had persisted for several years and had made it very difficult for her to walk.
A scan of the patient's knees showed bilateral wear of cartilage severe enough for the physician to recommend knee joint replacement of both knees.
Objective:
On palpation both swelling and nodulation was found both in both knees in the pattellar region as well as behind the knee. The left knee also had a Baker's cyst.
Diagnosis/Treatment:
Abdominal, pulse and meridian palpation first revealed a pattern of Spleen Deficiency Kidney Excess which was treated with a golden Teishin tonifying the left side Kid-3. The patients right knee warmed up and swelling started to subside.
After treating Kid-3 a new pattern emerged. This time it was a a Liver Deficiency Spleen Excess pattern. This pattern is common in Baker's cyste. The pattern was treated using a golden Teishin tonifying the right side Sp-1. The cyst drained almost completely.
After treatment nodulation and swelling of both knees had reduced significantly the knee pain had receded by 70-80%. The remaining pain went completely away within the following 24 hours. The patient has had no pain in her knees since.
Discussion:
The most important thing in acupuncture is to tonify the deficiency and drain the excess. (Kyo Jitsu Ho Sha).
The first pattern to show up was Spleen Deficiency Kidney Excess Pattern.
Tonifying the Earth point on the Kidney meridian shunted the stagnant Ki of the Kidney meridian into the Spleen. This helped the body clear the Dampness (Kidney Excess) which had accumulated in the knees and the surrounding tissues.
The second pattern was Liver Deficiency Spleen Excess Pattern. The stagnant Ki in the Spleen (leading to local Phlegm-Fluid accumulation = Baker's Cyst) was shunted into the Liver by tonifying Sp-1. The Liver now had plenty of Ki so it nourish the sinews properly again and this took care of the nodulation and, in the end, took care of the pain.
