Chest Painful Obstruction Syndrome: Stagnation of Cold in the
Chest-Female, Age 70
A 70-year-old woman had been suffering from a feeling of oppression and pain in the chest for
many years. The chest pain was elicited by exercise and exposure to cold. She was easily
breathless and her complexion was pale.
Her tongue was Pale on the whole, Bluish-Purple on the sides in the chest area, and Swollen
(Plate 13.2(368)). Her pulse was Slippery, Deep and Weak.
Diagnosis This is an example of stagnation of Cold in the chest occurring against a
background of Yang deficiency. The tongue shows very clearly the
location of Cold in the chest.
Treatment principle The treatment principle followed was to expel Cold from the chest and
tonify Yang.
Acupuncture This patient was treated only with acupuncture and the points used were
selected from the following:
P-6 Neiguan, Ren-14 Juque and BL-14 Jueyinshu to move Qi in the
chest and stop pain. Even method.Ren-17 Shanzhong with moxa to expel Cold from the chest.Ren-6 Qihai with moxa to expel Cold in general.ST-36 Zusanli and BL-20 Pishu, with reinforcing method and moxa on
needle, to tonify Yang.This patient made a gradual improvement over a period of 9 months
until the feeling of oppression and pain in the chest subsided almost
completely.Deficiency Type
The Deficiency patterns always underlie the Excess ones. They are better discussed separately as
they correspond to the chronic stage of the disease, in between attacks. In this stage, the
treatment principle is to tonify the underlying deficiency.
The Deficiency patterns are:
- Heart- and Kidney-Yin Deficiency