Treatment of an HAil Block

the-right side to the left side' Start with

Generaltreatment principle. Transfer energy from
Water, then Metal and Wood' End
the block betweenMetal and Water, then Earth and
with the source points on the left side of Fire'

spreadAE through the meridians'

L check for AE so that the ensuingtransfersdo not

points in water:
2. Transferfrom Metal to water. use the tonification
BL 67 J'
Kl 7J'

Earth point in
3. Transfer acrossthe Ke cycle from Earth to Water. Use the
Kidney:
KI 3 J

point in
4. Transfer acrossthe Ke cycle from Metal to Wood. Use the Metal
Liver:
LR4 -|:'
Controller back
5. Toniff sourceson Heart and Small Intestine.This puts the Supreme
on the throne:
SI 4 J,
HT 7 .[,
steps
Check pulsesbetweeneachstepto determineif the block remains. Usually the above
will break the block. If not, one or more of the following options may be used.

Option One

Dispersesourceson the right-sideOfficials and toniff sourceson the left-sideOfficials:

Dispene Toni$
LU I -19 Kl 3 -r,
LI 4 -E BL64 I
ST42-E LR3 J,
SP3 -|9 GB4O J,

you mayinsertthe dispersion needlesandleavethemin for a while.Whilethe needlesare

still in, tonifuthe left-sidepoints.

58
Option Two

Tonify the AEPs of Liver and Kidney.

BL 18 -E
BL23-|:

Option Three

Dispersethe AEPs of Lung and Spleenand tonify the AEPs of Liver and Kidney.
Dispcrse Toniff
BL 13 -E BL 18 J,
BL 20 -E BL 23 -|j,

Option Four

Disperse all wife AEPs and tonify all husbandAEPs at the sametime:

Disperee Tonif
BL 13 -I9 BL 15 J
BL 14 J9 BL 18 -t,
BLzO J9 BL23 X

Option Five

Use four-needletechnique.'e

Continue treating until the block is broken. Check the pulses after each step in treatment.
Stop treatment once the block is broken.

Considerations

This is a dangerousimbalance,do as much as you can in one treatment.

Have a strong intentiorq the issueis one of control and the strong side may not give up
easily.
The imbalanceis serious becauseit createsa lack of movement;the patient is stuck and
everything seemsout of order.

2e
Worsley, J.R, Traditional Chinese Acuounc-hue.Volume I: Meridians and Points, Elemcnt Books, 1982,page299

59
 Umbilical Pulse
Definition

An umbilicalpulsethat is oflcenter canbe a block to treatment.

The umbilicafpulseis testedduringthe physicalexamandbeforetestingandcorrecting
Akabanes;it canbe testedeverytrlatmentandshouldbe testedfrom time to time'
is
Eachpersonmeetsthe world from the Dan Tierqan areajust below the umbilicus' It
bestto meetthe world "centered"from this area'

Diagnosis

l. Explainto the patientwhat you are aboutto do.

2. Considerthe patient'scomfort. Ask the patientto emptyhis/herbladder.You mayalso
askthe patientto bring their kneesup astheykeeptheir feet flat on the treatment
table.
3. Placethe thumbandfirst threefingerstogetherforminga North/South/East/West a>ds.
4. Ask the patientto take a deepbreathandexhale.As he/sheexhales, gently pressdown
insidethe umbilicuswith the four fingers.
5. Note which finger(s)feel the pulse. If the umbilicalpulseis centered,it will pulse
equallyon all four fingers. A strongerpulseon one or more fingersindicatesthe
direction in which the pulse is of,F-center.
6. Annotate your findings by placing a circle on a

Centered Off-center, to the top and right side of patient

Treatment:

l. Correctan umbilicalpulseby massaging it to the center-

2. Usethe thumbsor the threemiddlefingersto gentlypushthe pulsebackto the center.
Follow the breath. Do a few gentlestrokesandthenrecheck.
3. Correctingan oFcenter umbilicalpulsemaycolrect the Akabanes.
4. Do not massage the pulsetoo long. It maybe the resultof a structuralanomaly.

%l
T
the pulsebackto center
Massage

60
 Akabane
Definition

A techniquethat teststhe leff/rightbalanceof enerryof a singlemeridian.Akabanesdo not

compareonemeridianto another.
TestedduringTraditionalDiagnosis(TD), afterAE andanytime thereareone-sided
symptoms.
If manyof the Akabanesare ofi the patientmayhaveAE.
Developed by Dr. Kobe Akabane(1895- 1983)in Japan.30 Thistreatmentis not foundin
traditionalChineseacupuncture.

Diagnosis

The Akabanetest is the definitivemethodof diagnosis.

SupportingSignsto indicate an Akabanetest - LE-b FLr+qS

PersonfeelsoFcenter.
Onesidedsymptoms.
Personhasexperienced injury, trauma,or surgery.
A tick-tock pulse.

Testing

Note: Do not test Akabanes on thefeet of a diabeticwith neuropathy!

l. Check the umbilical pulse first; correct if necessary.

2. Instruct the patient to tell you when the point begins to feel hot
but not burning. This is not a test of endurance.
3. Beginning on the left side of the patient, move a lighted incense
stick over the nail point of the meridian at a heiglrt of 1 to 2
fen. Bring the stick as close as possibleto the point, passing f5('
over it and going an equal distanceon either side of the
point. Use the inside of the noil of the little toe to test
Kidney. Left Fishl
4. If for any reason you cannot test the nail point, move up the SP
meridian to the next point availableon both sides of the LR
meridian. ST
5. Count each pass.Record the number of passesfor each meridian
separately.The left side is always recorded first.

$
Ak b-., K, Method of Hinaishin- Idono-Nippon-sha, Yokosuka 1950. ln Japaaese.

61
Evaluation

Readingsthat differ by at leastone-thirdareconsideredunbalanced'

longerfor the
The sidewith the mostn r-ber of passesis the deficientsidebecauseit took
heatto connectwith the energy-

Treatment

1. Tonify the junction point on the deficientside'RecheckAkabanes'

2. If theimbalance hasnot corrected,tonify the sourcepoint on the deficientside'Recheck
Akabanes.
3. If not corrected,ton$ bothjunction andsourcepoints' RecheckAkabanes'
4. If not corrected,addmoxaon the junction and/orsourcepoints. RecheckAkabanes'
junction point
5. If not corrected,dispersethejunciion point on the excessside,toniff the
on the deficientside.Recheck.
6. If not corrected,tonify the AEP on the deficientside.RecheckAkabanes'
7. Treatthe CF for a while.RecheckAkabanes.
8. If the abovemethodsdo not rectify the imbalance,a structuralblock may be impeding
the energy.The patientmayrequiresomeothercare,suchaschiropractic,
osteopathy,or bodYwork.

Example: The Akabaneon Lung reads10/6

Treatmentin successive attemptsto correctthe imbalance:

LU7LJ,
1. Tonify the junction point on the left.
L U9Ll'
2. Tonify the sourcepoint on the left.
LUTLI andLUgLl,
3. Tonifyjunction andsourcepointson the left.
4. Moxa on junction and/orsourceon the left. LUZLAandJorLUgL.A
5. Dispersejunction on the right; tonify thejunction on the LU 7R ,f and LU 7L -l:
left. BL 13LI
6. Tonify the AEP of the Lung on the left.

Treatment of Multiple Imbalances

You mustdecidewhichmeridianto treat first. The optionsare:

If an imbalanceis on the CF, correctthe CF meridian(s)first'
Treatthe Mother of the CF.
Treat the onethat is mostoff.
Treat a meridianthat hasa one-sidedimbalancethat showsup in the patient.
Go aroundthe Shengcycle,startingwith CF or first unbalancedmeridian
afterthe CF.

Treat the first meridianandcontinueto treat until it balances.

Recheckthe other Akabanes.Often corecting oneor rwo imbalances will causethe rest of
the meridiansto comebackinto balance.

62