This Acupressure Point Healed My Cold Quickly — The Power Of TCM
Getting poked isn’t the only way to benefit from it
It’s an aha moment that got me hooked on the meridian (经络 jīngluò) system in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).
Although I grew up surrounded by TCM i.e., both my parents are in this field, we lived on the campus of a TCM university, plus I had a preference for drinking bitter herbal soup over taking pills or getting shots when I got sick, my reconnection with TCM took quite some years.
Not even in adulthood when I witnessed how my mom, a TCM gynecologist, “accidentally” helped out a woman to overcome her struggle to get pregnant and have her dream baby.
But an aha moment became the turning point when I experienced the magic power of a pressure point along the meridian.
I didn’t consciously practice self-care for quite some time in my adult life.
When catching a cold every now and then, I just let the body handle itself.
According to medical experts, the common cold due to viral infection is usually harmless. The symptoms can be annoying though.
For me, the typical discomforts were a sore throat and coughing. Sometimes it took a week to recover, while on other occasions it could be a lot longer, especially for coughing.
Until I started to listen to the body’s voice and decided to try acupressure myself.
Gradually I realized there was a pattern. In the case of my cold, a sore throat was usually the first sign of discomfort. Almost without exception, it would then turn into a cough. Sometimes sneezing preceded a sore throat.
Whenever I sensed a sore throat, I started to check Lung Meridian and could often detect certain pressure point(s) more sensitive and tender than usual, especially the pressure point 孔最 (Kong Zhui) LU 6, on the inner side of the forearm between the elbow and wrist.
I would finger massage the sensitive spot for a few minutes. To my pleasant surprise, the discomfort in the throat would usually disappear quickly, from minutes to hours, practically keeping the cold at bay. It worked like a charm.
I recall the aha moment when it worked for the first time. I was on cloud nine, also feeling blessed and grateful: body’s healing power, ancient wisdom…
As I continue to experience positive benefits along the way, my confidence in self-care has soared, and so has my interest in meridian and TCM.
Meridian is one key framework of ancient TCM established more than 2000 years ago.
It serves as a strong guiding principle for diagnosis and treatments, not only for acupuncture but also for Moxibustion, Cupping, Gua Sha, Tu Na, and even herbal medicine where one of the ways to categorize herbs is associated with the herbal effect on certain meridians(s) aka 归经.
Among the key pillars of TCM, the meridian system is the most intriguing to me. It acts like the information highway of the human body, connecting the body from head to toe and interior to exterior.
Had I not experienced it myself, if anyone told me a spot on the forearm could effectively reverse the discomfort of a sore throat, I would have thought it was an idea from a different planet.
How did our ancestors establish this sophisticated system more than 2000 years ago? Simply fascinating.
It is still being actively applied in the 21st century, while modern research continues the attempt to uncover the true nature of the mysterious system.
As someone into failure analysis, I consider the meridians to be practically the natural fault isolation system inside our body, and the pressure points act as the probe spots to isolate and detect anomalies in the body.
They are applicable for diagnosis, treatment, and preventive care for the body and mind. Its power is far beyond just helping pain management, which is best known because of the widespread popularity of acupuncture across continents.
And getting poked is not the only way to benefit from it, as acupressure could be just as effective in the early stage of discomfort. The earlier, the better.
It’s the best-hidden gift from nature to us.
This post is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered health advice.
Thank you for reading. I write about culture, work-life learning, and the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine for better living. Click here if you would like to be notified when I publish.
