Hey, it's Nicholas! 👋

It's still really hot!

At least where I am, it hasn't cooled down and it doesn't look like it's going to anytime soon.

Last week we talked about 🍉foods to beat the heat and help you stay cool. This week we'll talk about the other side of it: acupuncture points to treat Summer-Heat...

But real quick, I wanted to let you know that the CEU course Beyond Four Gates: Clinical Alternatives for Moving Liver Qi is now out.

This is a podcast-style course with my friend Patrick where we talk about the history and uses of Four Gates, plus other pairs on the Jueyin and Shaoyang channels for moving Liver qi.

It's been approved for 2 PDAs/CEUs by the NCBAHM and California, and it's free.

So if you need a couple free CEUs, check it out and leave me a review when you're done!

⛱️ Now, back to the Summer-Heat...

Like we said last time, Summer-Heat is one of the six external pathogens. It's basically heat that occurs during the summertime and is similar to heatstroke or sunstroke.

One of the points that is specifically indicated for Summer-Heat is BL-40 (Weizhong).

You're probably familiar with BL-40 as a point for low-back pain: it's a Ma Dan-Yang Heavenly Star point for "lumbar pain with inability to straighten up," and it's a Gao-Wu command point for disorders of the lumbar region and back.

But it also has a strong heat-clearing action. It cools the blood, it can be used alongside LI-11 (Quchi) to treat rash, and it's one of the only points in our textbooks with the specific action, "clears Summer-Heat."

(Remember, LI-11 is located in the pit of your elbow where it tends to get hot and sweaty, so it's good for clearing heat. Similarly, BL-40 is located in the pit of the knee, so I like to think of that area getting hot and sweaty during the summer, even when you have shorts on.)

Bleeding the Point

The standard name for BL-40 is Weizhong, which means "middle of the crook," referring to its location. But an alternate name for this point is Xue Xi, which means "blood cleft."

According to the Ling Shu, the Taiyang channel is abundant in blood but limited in qi. This makes it suitable for pricking-to-bleed, both for lumbar pain due to blood stasis and for situations of heat.

BL-40 and PC-3 (Quze), both He-Sea points located in a sweaty crook, can be bled to treat Summer-Heat stroke.

A Point Prescription for Sunstroke

Sunstroke is an acute case occurring in the summer, presenting with high fever, irritability, nausea, or even collapse and loss of consciousness. It's usually caused by prolonged exposure to the sun or a high-temperature environment.

Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (CAM) lists a point prescription for this type of heat stroke that includes BL-40.

It actually has two different prescriptions for mild and severe sunstroke:

Mild Sunstroke

This manifests as headache, dizziness, profuse sweating, hot skin, coarse breathing, dry mouth and tongue, and dire thirst. The pulse is floating, large, and rapid.

Summer-Heat is yang, so it tends to attack the head and cause headache and dizziness. The dryness and thirst are due to the evaporation of fluids.

The point prescription for this presentation is: DU-14, LI-11, BL-40, PC-6

• DU-14 is the meeting point of all the yang channels, so it's commonly used to clear heat and release the exterior.
• LI-11 and BL-40 are important points for clearing heat, as discussed above.
• PC-6 is the Luo-Connecting point of the Pericardium channel. It clears heat and protects the Heart. (You don't want to get so hot that you become delirious and start talking with ghosts.)

Severe Sunstroke

The severe type of sunstroke begins with headache, dire thirst, and shortness of breath. But once the heat penetrates to the interior, it causes collapse, loss of consciousness, and sweating. The pulse will be deep and forceless.

(This usually occurs in people doing physical labor in the scorching summer sun.)

So in this situation, we would switch over to points that promote resuscitation as well: DU-26, DU-20, PC-3, BL-40, Shixuan

• DU-26 and DU-20 revive consciousness
• BL-40 and PC-3 clear blood-level heat
• Shixuan is pricked-to-bleed to reduce heat and promote resuscitation

Now obviously, this is an emergency situation. In modern times you would call for help if someone has collapsed. Please don't stick needles in unconscious people without their consent.

Scraping the Heat Away

Besides acupuncture, CAM also lists another possibility for treating mild cases of sunstroke: gua sha.

It recommends to "dip a smooth spoon into water or vegetable oil and scrape both sides of the spine, the neck, intercostal spaces, shoulder regions, cubital and axillary fossae until purplish red color appears."

This was actually kind of surprising to me. I know that cupping is often used for wind-cold, and gua sha for wind-heat, but I guess I forgot that it could be used for Summer-Heat as well.

So if it's getting too hot for you, go stick a spoon in your armpit and elbow pit!

Heat on the Skin

So hopefully the intensity of this heat wave isn't causing you to pass out.

But the heat and sweat of summer will often give you skin problems.

(Especially if you're like me and your thighs are constantly rubbing together...)

So one option is to turn to BL-40 and LI-11. These are both He-Sea points on yang channels, so they're especially useful for clearing heat and treating the skin.

Another option is to use herbs externally.

And for that you can use Emily Hot Skin Soother: it's got Huang Lian, Chi Shao, and Bai Xian Pi to clear heat, plus Ru Xiang to heal damaged skin.

They also have an Herbal Ice soap with all three huangs.

There's a 10% off sale going on in July, so go order online to make sure your skin stays cool.

And if you're a practitioner, you can also set up a wholesale account and sell it in your clinic. It's a great way to add extra revenue to your practice.

(This isn't a paid ad or an affiliate link. It's just that Mike is a cool guy and we should be supporting our fellow acupuncturists.)

It's hot here!

And it's not just hot. We're also on fire! 🔥

Everything is fine where I am, but we're getting ready to help once the fires die down. There's going to be a lot of dead trees to cut down and houses to clean out.

(After a major fire, erosion is a problem. The ground becomes hydrophobic, so water just washes over it and carries hazardous ash and sediment.)

So it may be busy the next couple months.

But I've also been putting together a new newsletter archive, so if you want to look at past articles are share this one with a friend, you can go there.

And I'm going to get to work on an allergies course. Hopefully I can get it done before allergy season is over.

Hope you're having a nice summer!

Nicholas

This is a weekly newsletter to let you know about the weekly updates like livestreams, office hours, and Q&A's. It's also a way to share whatever little TCM tidbit is on my mind. If you prefer not to receive this each week, you can unsubscribe from just the newsletter. You'll still receive major updates when new videos are added, you just won't get this newsletter.