Healing from Home: Points for Cold and Flu

While there isn’t a perfect substitute for a full acupuncture treatment, there is much that can be done at home to help support your health when you can’t make it in to your practitioner for some reason. The Healing at Home blog series offers some options for using diet and acupressure to help you support your health between acupuncture appointments.

---

When the inevitable cold comes calling despite your best preventative efforts, you can’t always get to your friendly neighborhood acupuncturist.  There are still ways that you can help to speed it on its way using acupressure at home.  In addition to those points in the Immune Boosting guide, use the points below that best fit your main symptoms.  Rub each point with gentle pressure in small clockwise circle at least once per day.

Conception Vessel 17 (CV17):

Located on the sternum, this point helps to open the chest.  It is helpful for chest tightness and congestion as well as cough.

Large Intestine 11 (LI11):

Located at the thumb side of the elbow crease, this point has two useful actions for colds.  The first is to release heat, making it useful for fever.  The second is to “release the exterior” which helps the body to expel pathogens.

Stomach 40 (ST40):

Located at the midpoint of the calf on the tibialis anterior muscle, ST40 is an excellent point for congested sinuses.

Spleen 9 (SP9):

Located on the medial side of the knee, this point is excellent for dealing with excess damp and phlegm.  It is helpful for colds with mucous and phlegm.

Kidney 27 (KD27)

Located just under the collar bone, KD27 is helpful for chest tightness, cough and phlegm.

Large Intestine 4 (LI4)

Located in the area between the thumb and index finger, LI4 is a control point for the head.  It is helpful for symptoms such as headache and sinus congestion.

---

In Memoriam: Sophie

Many of the patients who have come to see me have had the good fortune to be welcomed by my dog Sophie. She loved going out to the waiting area to greet anyone who came in and to then show them the way into the room. During a treatment she would often let out a deep sigh as if to remind all in the room to just take a breath and relax. Sophie also saw it as her job to show patients back out to the waiting room at the end of their treatment.

The only payment she requested, often with a gentle lean on your leg or by standing right in the middle of the waiting room so you had no choice but to pass by her, was scratches and pats. She helped to hold a calm, accepting and healing space with her quiet presence.

A few months ago, Sophie was diagnosed with lymphoma. After her treatment was started, a second cancer in her hind leg was discovered. Sadly, it recently became clear that the chemo wasn’t putting her lymphoma into remission and the pain from the tumor in her knee became unmanageable.

Thanks to the help of a wonderful vet, Sophie was able to be eased out of her pain at home, surrounded by love on a beautiful day with a gentle breeze and sun on her fur.

Her calming spirit can still be felt, but her physical presence will be sorely missed.

Sophie Revett September 5, 2008 - September 22, 2019