A 38-year-old woman came in with severe back pain, burning in her abdomen, and frightening neurological symptoms — tingling, shocks, and weakness spreading into all four limbs and even her face. Doctors ran tests and even prescribed antibiotics, which helped for a moment, but the pain and strange sensations kept coming back.

In this episode, I walk you through how I approached her case step by step: identifying dampness and heat on top of Spleen Qi deficiency, choosing initial formulas to drain damp, and then shifting to tonify the root. Finally, with the emergence of a wiry pulse and cold extremities, I moved her to a harmonizing formula — Si Ni San — and all of her symptoms resolved, including the back pain from a torn lumbar disc.

This case is a reminder of the power of sticking to fundamentals, following the pattern as it evolves, and trusting the system of Chinese medicine.

Formulas Used:

1. Damp-Heat Clearing Phase
Si Miao Wan + Bei Xie Feng Qing Yin + Si Jun ZI Tang

• Huang Bai 10–12 g

• Cang Zhu 10 g

• Yi Yi Ren 20–30 g

• Bei Xie 10 g

• Qin Jiao 10 g

• Niu Xi (Huai/Chuan) 10–12 g

• Mu Gua — 10g

• • Dang Shen 15 g

  • Bai Zhu 10 g

  • Fu Ling 10–12 g

• Focus: Drain damp-heat from the lower body and channels while reinforcing the Spleen to support long-term recovery.

  2. Harmonizing Phase
  Si Ni San

  • Chai Hu 12 g

  • Zhi Shi 10 g

  • Bai Shao 15 g

  • Zhi Gan Cao 3g

  Focus: Harmonize Liver and Spleen, regulate Qi, relieve constraint. This was the turning point formula that completely resolved the tingling, burning, and back pain.

  
  

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In this acupuncture story, we see a case of back and shoulder pain of 7 years cleared in a single session, without even touching the area of pain!

The way this story is told, it's more for professionals than laymen. It has a lot of advanced terminology. However, whoever you are, I hope you enjoy!

www.azamraacupuncture.com

In this week's acupuncture storytime, we visit a case that blew my mind on a shift at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle 10 years ago. A young mother can't lift her arm above her head. The diagnosis is frozen shoulder. After application of a single needle, she instantly lifts her arm with a full range of motion. I'd never seen anything like this before. That encounter opened my mind to what acupuncture can accomplish and changed the course of my study and practice forever.

Basic Frozen Shoulder Protocol. (LI and SJ Channel Injury)

Opposite Side of Injury: ShenGuan, ST38, LU5, SanChaSan, Ah Shi points around KID3, ST41, LIV4, GB40,

Same Side of Injury: LI3 or LI4, SJ3 or SJ4,

+ Light Tui Na and Exercise to site of Injury

(If pain extends into deltoids and bicep, add CeSanLi, CeXiaSanLi opposite side of the injury)

(If palpation to the shoulder bones is painful, rather than tendons or muscles, add GB31 and gently tap the femur on the same side of the injury. I've seen this work like magic to relieve bone pain instantly as part of a well conceived treatment plan. Just be very gentle)