What’s more important, the journey or the destination? This is a bit of a clichéd question and most of us know the answer to it. In theory, the best part is the journey, or the process of learning and growing and experiencing. The destination, of lesser importance, is the goal or outcome. But if you think about it, it’s not all that cut and dried. Sometimes the destination is what matters and how you get there means a lot less than your much-needed arrival. (I mean… when you need to go to the restroom does it really matter how you get there or is it important to have a bathroom available to you?).
That’s another blog post though. This one is about acupuncture points and the channels of the body, and it provides a sketch of the material in chapter four of my book, Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Points are like destinations, though, and channels, on a micro scale, are akin to the journey. If you are a patient with EDS, it can help you to get a better treatment if you understand the difference. It also is good to know that there is no definitive hierarchy of journey vs. destination in this context.
Chapter IV is titled “Getting to the Point,” and–like any decent Spanish professor would–I do this, as one does, by going in circles. The main part of the chapter, which discusses points and channels, is bracketed by two smaller sections. The one that precedes it gives a short introduction to Chinese ways of looking at the body from a historical standpoint. The one that follows the middle section and concludes the chapter discusses fascia.
Both how we view the body and current interest in fascia are important issues when we consider points and channels.
What is a Channel?
Channels, also referred to as meridians, are geographic regions along the body as per the narratives of Chinese medicine. They very–and I do mean very–accurately map out pathways just the way biomedicine does, albeit via different vocabulary. Science speaks of dermatomes and myotomes, or the maps of nerves, and our inner wrapping, otherwise known as fascial planes. Chinese medicine does this too, after its own fashion and in their own words. Channels are somewhat akin, in this way, to the path or the journey. At the very least, they provide the roadmap for where the qi goes.
BTW: Qi is not a fairy substance that either flows or is (the horror!) blocked in these ancient Chinese mystical meridians. Biomedicine will speak of nerve conduction and firing neurotransmitters and hormone production and activity. We have our version of that story, but we couch it in terms of qi.
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How do Organs Pertain?
The easy version is that the channels have their connection to organs. The Liver channel is not the same thing as the organ itself. Acupuncture points on the Liver channel might help the actual liver (we tend to capitalize the Chinese version of the organ and leave in lower case the biological organ itself). They may interact with nerves that affect the liver. It all depends. Or these points might help with something that is associated with the Liver as an umbrella category. Anger is associated with the Liver, and fear with Kidney, for instance.
I mention Kidney and fear because this is the one most people understand most easily. Being frightened leads to a burst of adrenaline. The Chinese version is that shock shatters the qi (this would be the incident) and Kidney, whose associated emotion is fear, is damaged. And most people have also heard of adrenaline fatigue, which is narrated in Chinese medicine by way of the Kidney.
Shameless plug for my book: This is a complicated subject and if you do want to learn more about points (especially if you want to try acupressure at home) then chapter four really is worth reading in its entirety.
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So What’s the Point?
Chinese physicians from way back were incredibly observant. For example, several of the points we use today have been shown via research to directly affect the vagus nerve or interrupt a histamine response. Have you ever been anxious and rubbed your palms along your thighs just above your knees? You are stimulating an extra point known as baichongwo, or 100 insects burrow. Both anxiety and histamine bursts can cause itchy skin. Soothing that area is instinctual by people since forever and it contains a point your acupuncturist might use at your visit today.
Stomach 36, a point on the side of your leg beneath your knee, communicates with your vagus nerve and can do many excellent things when combined with other points relevant to your issue. Gut health and being able to rest and digest are crucial to thriving on a multitude of levels. Your acupuncturist will have spent years learning the different combinations of points and how to correctly manipulate the flow of qi both in the channels and through the relevant points. Stomach 36 is a point we all use regularly, and different point combinations will guide the treatment.
Points are powerful, and this can go either way. I have some that I avoid specifically when treating MCAS patients, for instance, and others that I am not especially fond of for my EDS patients. Still others are ones that I will teach them to use at home via acupressure. Points are direct conduits and knowledge is power, so…
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Ashi points
There are different categories of points and we memorize those too. One type that most people know today via the so-called dry-needling and advances in trigger point therapy is an “ashi” point. Ashi points are a person’s tender spots that do not correspond with specific acupuncture points.
If your medical care provider does not inject anything into you when the poke you with a needle, that’s dry needling. There’s nothing particularly scientific about that term. When your chiropractor or physiotherapist sticks a needle in you and calls it “dry needling” with the implication that this is somehow better, safer, and/or more scientific, you now know better. Dry needling only means that nothing was injected by said needle.
Trigger points are tightened or otherwise blocked areas in skeletal muscle that can cause any number of issues, including referred pain felt elsewhere. These have been known for centuries as ashi points. You do not need to go to a biomedicine practitioner to get trigger point therapy because Chinese medicine actually does have this covered.
BTW: As I mention in chapter IV, though, there are some times that a PT or other biomedicine practitioner is a better choice for trigger point therapy. We do have points we could use for pelvic floor treatment, for instance, but that’s not something a person trains for in acupuncture school. A pelvic floor PT has specifically be trained in needling the region and is usually going to be the better choice for such treatments.
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The body has a flow
How the body is conceptualized and valued provides a lens. The way Chinese medicine frames the entire picture is through metaphors that reflect social hierarchy (the Heart, for example, is the emperor) and geography (the channels, for instance, can be like roadways with points like rivers and streams and so forth). Our goal is to achieve the balance of yin and yang. Often, joints are places where things get blocked or, as in the case of people with EDS, become weakened and unstable.
Western medicine is not so different from us if you ponder it. Allopathic language refers to homeostasis, or not too much and not too little, somewhat like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears. We will, in Chinese medicine, couch this narrative in terms of yin and yang and balance. There is an additional layer of philosophical thought that burnishes this viewpoint, but the foundation of it is one that resonates world-over: right balance is a good thing.
Channels vs. Points
Speaking for myself as a practitioner, I start with channels and follow up (if it’s appropriate for that patient) with points. There are reasons why I do this when I work with people with EDS, and there are reasons why I do this with my overall practice. HSD/hEDS being better served via channel theory is understandable. Everyone’s body is unique in its presentation, so going with a point prescription without understanding how the individual body holds up, functions, and falls into disorder isn’t wise. Optimal treatment requires knowledge of that person’s channels and big picture before moving on to specific points.
My super-specialty areas are: pain relief (chronic and acute); cosmetic treatment and skincare, including scar revision; gut health; MCAS; HSD/hEDS; men’s health; and preventive care for all persons.
Which of these involve a body that might not have points where they normally are located? Think about scars or a broken bone. Injuries do not necessarily correspond with point locations. Points can help but being able to restore the channel to a healthier course can be much better for the patient. In sum: for the patients I tend to treat most, starting with the channel makes sense. (And if the Chinese medicine perspective doesn’t quite make sense to you yet, then considering the question from the perspective of fascia might clarify things.)
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Fascia
The full title of my book is Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Guide for Practitioners. It’s a good title but slightly inaccurate, because the book is written so that anyone can read it. The only chapter that I think is a little hard, maybe even too hard, for non-professionals is chapter four. Interestingly, my non-professional readers all loved chapter four, so if you do read the book you might want to either skip this chapter or you may find that you read it and absolutely love it.
In the middle section, I outlined channels and identified specific points that I love and use and points that I know to avoid. All of this leads to the third and final section, which considers fascia and how recent biomedical attention to it is similar to the Chinese perspective. Pain and dysfunction (or, conversely, health and wellbeing) do not only come from healthy joints and right balance of yin and yang or proper interaction between glucose and insulin. If the fascia is strong, juicy, and moveable then the individual knows it. If it’s not… well, that makes itself felt too. Interestingly (and if you want to follow up, don’t skip the footnote at the end of this comment), fascial planes and the channel system created by physicians in ancient China correspond to contemporary understanding of fascia in some key ways.1
In conclusion
There are any number of methods to stimulate points in order to achieve a desired outcome. Acupuncture, ear seeds, and light therapy are three good options. Tui na (Chinese manual therapy) has a one-finger technique that is great for discrete acupuncture or ashi points. Patients can also practice self-care, via acupressure at home. When we focus on specific points we can do a lot of good things.
And yet…collagen runs through the entire body. How it presents may differ from one area to the next, of course. Some of us have ribs that pop out, while the next person has sturdy ribs but their ankle rolls constantly or the have excess bone or scarring at one juncture or another of the foot bones. Someone else has prolapsed organs. And so forth. Everyone is unique, and it really does make a difference to take the channels into account, both when assessing a patient and treating them.
Everything is connected in Chinese medicine, and the points are specific but the channels? They cover everything. A single point may or may not be the destination, but the channels? They are truly, if you ponder it, the path.
You do have options as you progress on your health journey and Chinese medicine has considerable resources for you. As the saying goes: all roads lead to Rome (or Beijing, in this instance). So where, then, do you wish to begin?
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Dr. Paula Bruno, Ph.D., L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, an AOBTA-CP traditional Chinese bodywork therapist, an author, and a health coach. She maintains an active and growing practice at Two Hearts Wellness, her Austin, TX office. Dr. Bruno is also available for distance appointments for wellness consultation or coaching.
In her first career, she was a Spanish professor.
Dr. Bruno’s specialties as a Chinese medicine practitioner include: • Musculoskeletal health (acute or chronic pain relief; Ehlers Danlos syndrome & hypermobility support) • Digestive support, gut health, and weight loss • Aesthetic treatment, including scar revision • Men’s health • General preventative care and wellness support for all persons.
She is the author of Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: A Practitioner’s Guide.
When you are ready to discover what traditional medicine plus a vibrant and engaged approach to holistic health can do for you, either contact Dr. Bruno or book an appointment online.
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Two Hearts Wellness/Holistic Health & hEDS does not accept paid advertising on this website
Note: Material on this web site site is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease, illness, or ailment. A Chinese medicine practitioner in Texas identifies syndrome patterns but does not diagnose illness. Material on this web site does not purport to identify syndrome patterns.
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- There are those who argue that the fascial network provides the anatomical framework of the channel system. One of the more interesting contributors to this argument is an Italian practitioner, Luigi Stecco, whose son and daughter are also both key producers of knowledge regarding fascia. From Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: “The Stecco family is fascinating. Luigi Stecco is an Italian physiologist who has produced a number of excellent resources pertaining to his work, which he calls the Fascial Manipulation (FM) method. Stecco’s Acupuncture Western Medicine Fascial Manipulation (2020) outlines both fascial planes and acupuncture meridians in a side-by-side comparison. […] His daughter, Carla, whose name we see on the cover of Fascia [The Tensional Network of the Human Body: The science and clinical applications in manual and movement therapy (2022), edited by Robert Schleip, Carla Stecco, Mark Driscoll, and Peter A Hiujing], is a noted orthopedic doctor in Padua. His son, Antonio, is in the United States, where he holds a position as a research assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.” (p 261, n. 15). ↩︎
Holistic Health and hEDS 