Herbs and Acupuncture for Pemphigus

[Guest guest]

Howard:

 

When you think of the immune system, you should first think of the

earth/metal/water triangle in 5-Phases. Earth (spleen, white blood

cells) and metal (wei qi) are the basis of immune function in 5-

Phases; but you would still need to consider how the other organs are

involved, of course. It would be interesting to read his pulses and

do a complete examination.

 

Since it is a disease characterized by blisters on the skin and

mucous membranes, accompanied by itching or burning sensations,

consider it as heat/wind attacking the tissue. There are several

things to look for in the pulses if this is the case: (1) examine the

5-Phase balance in the earth itself (the general character of the

pulse movement, but use 5-depths as described in the Nan Jing), and

(2) look for a discrepancy in the pulse quality of the skin depth of

the lung and the skin depth of the LI (you will need to divide the

right distal position into zang/fu and, then, each of them into 5-

depths---try to examine the surface or top portion of each half).

 

Normally these two depths should be undifferentiated or copy each

other. If they show a wiriness, heat, or dampness with an unrooted

character, needle Lu5 and LI11 deeply with tonification skill to

reconnect the metal to the water element, skin and organ energy. In

doing this, when the needle first touches the surface of the skin,

use qi gong to contact the excessive heat movement and " push " it

inward to connect it to the water depth (we can also divide an

acupuncture point into 5-depths, similar to the Nan Jing's

description of the pulses for qi gong-style needling). This helps

cool and harmonize the surface and reconnect it to the water element.

Since the knees are the intersection of spleen, stomach, and kidney

energies, then tonify the kidney and spleen to support the Zheng qi.

 

This procedure is good if these autoimmune symptoms are the branch

and the root is a breakdown of 5-Phases due to depletion or vacuity.

In cases of acute or strong infection, you wouldn't do this kind of

needling technique. For more general information about what I'm

talking about, you may want to look through my notes in the Files

section of AdvancedPulseDiagnosis the

forum I set up for my seminars.

 

For general immune system support, to strengthen the spleen and

stomach, dispel swelling and toxins, regulate the blood, and

circulate the qi, try Tuo Li Xiao Du Yin. It's available from

QualiHerb and can be modified in a wide variety of ways according to

both the Chinese and Korean literature. Andy Ellis said it's popular

in China but I find it's hardly used here. It works great when

modified correctly---the way I modified it for general use is in my

catalog in the Files section of my forum.

 

There are a variety of theories about why autoimmune disorders occur.

One of the more interesting theories is proposed by a distributor of

the Standard Process Company (who make supplements made from whole

foods). Due to infection, injury, or chronic degeneration, cells can

die off and break down at an unprecedented rate. When too much

cellular and nuclear material are in the dumped into the blood, the

immune system responds to these proteins as foreign invaders, and

then the source tissue is attacked.

 

If you get any definitive details about the case, let me know and I

will try to be specific.

 

Jim Ramholz