Acupuncture Healthcare

One dark and stormy evening, my roommate and I decided we had had enough studying (Chinese Medicine) and so walked to the local video store for a movie.  Upon arrival we learned that free massages were available to customers.  I immediately plopped myself down in the massage chair while my roommate perused the videos.  At some point in my massage I was aware that my roommate was talking to a customer about his hiccups.

All too soon my ten minutes were up and my roommate was urging me off the massage chair while simultaneously explaining that I needed to help this man with his hiccups.  First glance confirmed he needed help.  His hiccups were constant, relentless, whole diaphragm spasms.  He was pale and sickly looking, and standing in his bathrobe and slippers.  Those hiccups had been hounding him for three solid days.  I did a quick scan of his tongue and pulses, and explained that because I didn’t have any needles on me, I was going to have to push his acupuncture points with my fingers.  And to do that, he was going to have to lay down.

Well, three days of hiccups and I imagine you’ve lost all dignity, you’ll do anything, even lay down in the middle of a video store and have some strange woman lift up your shirt and stick a finger in your belly while her other hand digs into your wrist.  Those two points, Ren 12 and Pericardium 6, are major Harmonize Qi points and regulate the Middle Jiao.  In translation that means they are good for hiccup, emotional upset, motion sickness, vomiting, chest pain, etc.  The man with the hiccups and I talked while I sat there pushing those points for fifteen minutes.  At some point the store told us it was time to close up.  The hiccups hadn’t stopped, but their intensity had lessened and the interval between hiccups had lengthened, so we said goodbye and wished him well.

Two days later I returned to the store and was told by the store owner that the man with the hiccups had come in the very next morning when the store opened and bought my roommate and I ten videos.  His hiccups had completely stopped by the time he arrived home. 

I want to share the location of these points with you today, in case you should ever need them.  Ren 12 is located on the upper abdomen.  It is on the midline of the body and the midpoint between the bottom of the sternum (feel around for the tip of the xyphoid process) and the navel.  The photo above shows how to locate it with two hands.  PC 6 is on the inside of the wrist, three fingers up from the base of the hand.  Simply put your first three fingers on the wrist crease to measure.  The point is located between the two tendons or on the midline of the wrist if you can’t feel the tendons.

One last note:  It’s always easier to have someone else hold these points for you.  The pressure should be firm.  In fact, I believe I used my elbow on Ren 12 when my fingers wore out.  Twenty minutes is standard treatment time for adults.  And I recommend pushing both points simultaneously.

Tags: hiccups, motion sickness, vomiting