Acute Tonsillitis & Bleeding Local Points
abstracted & translated by
Honora Lee Wolfe, Lic. Ac., FNAAOM
Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, bleeding, tonsillitis
By now, readers of this journal know that I am a strong proponent of bleeding therapy. In my experience, bleeding is one of the nondiscretionary techniques of acupuncture. Therefore, I am always on the lookout for studies validating the efficacy of this technique. One such was published in issue #6, 2003 of the Yun Nan Zhong Yo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (Yunnan Journal of Chinese Medicine & Chinese Medicinals). The title of the article was “A Survey of the Therapeutic Efficacy of Treating 60 Cases of Acute Tonsillitis with Bleeding of Local Points,” it was authored by Zhou Chun-jun, and it appeared on page 24 of that journal. A summary is presented below as part of my collection of the contemporary Chinese medical literature on bleeding.
Cohort description:
All 60 patients in this study were seen as out-patients in the acupuncture-moxibustion department of at the Nantong Municipal No. 1 People’s Hospital in Jiangsu. Among these, there were 44 males and 16 females aged 15-54 years with an average age of 35. The shortest course of disease was one day and the longest was three days. The body temperature ranged from 37.4-38 degrees C in 19 cases, from 38.1-39 degrees C in 31 cases, and 39.1-40 degrees C in 10 cases. Twenty cases had first degree tonsil swelling and enlargement, 34 cases had second degree, and six cases had third degrees. Fifty-four cases had elevated neutrophills, while the remaining six patients’ neutrophils were within normal parameters.
Treatment method:
Bleeding was performed with a three-edged needle in the acupuncturist’s right hand. The left hand of the acupuncturist held a tongue depressor. The patient was seated with his or her head tilted slightly backward and their held immobilized. After depressing the patient’s tongue, each tonsil was pierced once in order to let out 2-4 drops of blood and any pussy matter. The patient then spit out the blood and pus. This was done once per day.
Study outcomes:
Cure was defined as disappearance of the clinical symptoms and normalization of the size of the tonsils. Marked effect was defined as disappearance of the clinical symptoms and marked decrease in the size of the tonsils. Improvement was defined as decrease in the clinical symptoms and the size of the tonsils. No effect was defined as no improvement in either the clinical symptoms or the size of the tonsils. Based on these criteria, 45 patients were cured, seven got a marked effect, six improved, and only two got no effect. Fifteen patients were cured in a single treatment, and 30 were cured with 2-3 treatments.
Discussion:
According to Dr. Zhou, acute tonsillitis corresponds to the traditional Chinese medical disease category of milk moth since the affected tonsils look like a milky moth on the side of the throat. Typically, this condition is due to external contraction of wind heat or evil heat transmitted to the interior. Lung and stomach fire flames upward, and heat toxins mix with phlegm. Therefore, this condition is mainly categorized as lung channel replete heat. Based on the treatment principle of draining replete heat, the local area is pierced to bleed. This promotes the external discharge of heat toxins from the local area. Depression and binding are able to obtain coursing and free flow and the lung and stomach qi are able to obtain clearing. Congealed phlegm and swollen matter are dispersed and scattered. This results in the dispersion of hyperemia and swelling in the tonsils. Thus the throat is disinhibited and pain is stopped.
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