“Is this why I got depressed? Is that why you’re always talking about the heat?” One of my recent patients asked me the following question during a recent acupuncture session: My patient was talking about recent research on the link between body temperature and depression. It suggests that people with depression have higher body temperatures and may benefit from cooling therapy. This patient suffered from depression during the hot Texas summer and experienced dramatic improvement in symptoms with acupuncture.
After dietary modifications and regular acupuncture treatments, her depression resolved. But now she was well aware of her own cause, which, in her words, seemed to be “fueling my depression.” Therefore, this new study was of great interest to her.
connection
Chinese medicine understands that fever can be involved in emotional/psychological distress. The heat contracted externally and the heat generated internally can affect all aspects of the human body. Giovanni Maciosia says:
“The influence of various etiologies on mental and emotional problems can be broadly classified into four categories.
Effect of Qi
Effect on blood
Yin influence
Generation of virulence factors
“Given the inextricable connection between body and mind in Chinese medicine, just as emotional problems affect Qi, Blood, or Yin (due to non-emotional causes), Yin disharmony affects the mind.”
From the list of factors above, we can determine that fever can be caused by issues such as: air stagnation, blood stagnation, blood deficiency, shadow Scarcity and geographical influences. I’ve discussed this concept of warm weather-induced SAD in previous columns.
my patient case
The aforementioned patient was suffering from internal fever, which was exacerbated by continued exposure to geographical heat. She tried cooling down with cold water swimming and ice baths, but she didn’t have much of an effect, so she turned to acupuncture.
Her diet changed a bit to include more vegetables and berries, but overall she ate very well. Her main pattern of fever-related disharmony was depressive fever due to: air Stagnation and air / Deficiency of blood due to excessive sweating.
The protocol used was two acupuncture sessions per week for four weeks, followed by one session per week for four weeks. After a cumulative 2 months of treatment, the patient expressed that her “fear of heat” was completely resolved and her mood improved dramatically. Now she’s working on what she calls “heat conditioning.”
The patient’s tongue was generally very normal, with no cracks or tooth marks, and the tongue coating was normal. However, the sides of the tongue were very red. Her pulse was fast, like a wire. Although her digestion was balanced, she was experiencing mild fatigue and lighter than normal sleep.Acupuncture protocol aimed to resolve liver patterns qI am stagnant with a fever of depression; air / Blood deficiency.
One of the most important aspects of these treatments is cheerfully Acupressure points that remove heat and calm the mind shenrestoration of consciousness, treatment of “fullness under the heart”, and treatment of heart diseases Zan organs. The acupuncture prescription protocol was aimed at eliminating depression and fever. and, air / Nourishes the blood.
There is a wide range of point options for treating these discordant patterns, and since patients always reveal unique features that exist outside of the basic pattern expression, clinicians can tailor the treatment to each patient’s specific nuances. Treatment protocols can be customized.
Acupuncture point prescription options
Targeting patterns of liver suppression air Stagnation and air / In case of blood deficiency, the following point prescription can be used:
- LI 4 + Liv 3 + Sp 1 + Sp 10 + Len 6+BL17
This point prescription utilizes a combination of four gates, air and move the blood.of cheerfully point sp1 It removes heat, strengthens the spleen, regulates the blood, and calms the mind. sp10 harmonize air It cools the blood, removes heat, and removes blood stagnation. I often use this point in conjunction with Four Gates during the hot Texas summers. In many cases, Four Gates and Sp 10 alone can provide powerful results in solving the underlying problem. air / Blood stagnation.
Len 6 tighten airregulates. airstrengthen, Yuan Chi. I use this point often for fatigue due to overexposure to geographic heat. BL17 It nourishes and invigorates the blood, removes fever, and calms the mind.This is usually given again Shu Point the needle first and hold the needle for 10 minutes. Next, remove the acupuncture points on the front of the body and administer.
- PC6+SP6+Liv1+ Len 6+ Do 24+BL17
computer 6 regulate air It harmonizes the blood and stomach and calms the mind. SP6 move airnourishes the blood, cools the blood, strengthens the kidneys and calms the mind. liv 1 Smoothes the flow of the liver airremoves fever and restores consciousness. Len 6 moderate and regulate air. Do twenty four It removes heat and calms the mind. BL17 It nourishes and invigorates the blood, removes fever, and calms the mind.
These two-point regimens were used for two months to resolve my patient’s relationship with uncomfortable fever, with occasional subtle changes based on the patient’s subjective perception.i use that word relationship For this is exactly how the patient described his situation two months later. “Now I can deal with the hot weather better. I’m not scared. I’m very happy about it.”
