or simply from old age, may cause this condition.
This person will feel exhausted, depressed and will lack will-power. In the same way that there is
physical stiffness in the back, this person may tend to be rather rigid in his or her mental attitude.
Case History 9.14
Mental-Emotional Problems: Liver-Yin Deficiency-Female, Age 39
A 39-year-old woman complained of an irregular menstrual cycle (being always late) with some
premenstrual tension, a lack of will-power and insomnia (waking up during the night). Her eyes
felt often very dry. She also felt generally very tired both physically and mentally. She had had a
lot of stress in the past due to a difficult divorce and she now felt aimless, was undecided about
her current relationship and did not know what direction to take in her life.
Her tongue was Red, with a Heart crack, almost entirely without coating (Plate 9.9(274)), and
her pulse was Empty on the deep level on the left side and Choppy on the right. The pulse also
completely lacked any wave.
Diagnosis This is a clear pattern of Liver-Yin deficiency even though there are not
many symptoms. However, the pulse and tongue clearly indicate Yin
deficiency and the insomnia, late menstrual cycle and dry eyes allow us
to locate the Yin deficiency in the Liver. Most of all, the feeling of
being aimless, the indecision and lack of direction in life clearly point to
the Ethereal Soul being deprived of its root in Liver-Yin. Secondary to
Liver-Yin deficiency, there was some Liver-Qi stagnation manifested in
the pre-menstrual tension.
The lack of wave in the pulse, as described before in this chapter,
points to sadness as the emotion at the root of the problem. Different
individuals react in different ways to the stresses of life. When going
through a painful and stressful divorce, some may feel angry, some
worried, some discouraged, etc. This woman reacted by feeling very sad
about the breaking-up of her marriage and sadness weakened
Liver-Blood and Liver-Yin.Treatment principle Nourish Yin, strengthen the Liver and root the Ethereal Soul.
Acupuncture This patient was treated only four times with very good results.
The first treatment consisted only in the opening points of the Yin
Linking Vessel, i.e. P-6 Neiguan on the right and SP-4 Gongsun on the
left. This extraordinary vessel nourishes Yin and roots the Ethereal
Soul.In the second treatment the opening points of the Yin Linking Vessel