Key Diagnostic Points:

• Sore throat is a common syndrome.
• The retropharynx mucous membranes congest, swell and become bright or dark red. Or, the tonsils congest and swell.
• Sore throat includes acute tonsillitis and acute or chronic pharyngitis.

Differential Diagnosis:

1) Wind heat invasion Abrupt onset with chills and fever, cough, congested and sore throat, thirst, headache, and dysphagia.

Tongue: Red body with thin yellow coat
Pulse: Superficial and rapid

2) Accumulation of heat in the Lung and Stomach Severe sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, high fever, thirst, ojostomia (foul breath), thick sputum, constipation and dark urine.

Tongue: Red with yellow sticky coat
Pulse: Full, rapid pulse

3) Dryness of the Lungs due to Yin deficiency Gradual onset without fever or with a low fever. Slightly congested throat with intermittent pain or pain during swallowing, dry throat, worse at night, five center heat.

Tongue: Red tongue with no coat
Pulse: Thready and rapid

Point and Technique Prescription:

1) Wind heat invasion

Treatment Principle: Disperse pathogenic wind and heat. Reduce swelling to relieve sore throat.

Treatment focuses on the Lung channel of hand Tai Yin and the Large Intestine channel of hand Yang Ming.

Lu 11, L.I. 1: The Jing well point of the Lung and L.I. channels. Bleeding them to let out a few drops will clear off the heat from the Lung and Large Intestine channels and relieve pain.

L.I. 4 (reduce) and L.I. 11 (reduce) are important points for fever. L.I. 4 is the key point for the face and mouth.

Lu 5: (reduce) The Water point on the Metal channel. Reducing this point sedates the son, which assists the mother with excess.

2) Accumulation of heat and toxin from Lung and Stomach.

Treatment Principle: Clear heat and relive pain. Treatment focuses on (though is not limited to) the hand and foot Yang Ming channels.

Lu 11, L.I. 1: The Jing well point of the Lung and L.I. channels. Bleeding them to let out a few drops will clear off the heat from the Lung channel and relieve pain.

St 44: (reduce) Ying spring point on the stomach channel. Ying spring points are for clearing heat. This one does so for the stomach channel.

St 40: (reduce) Luo connecting point of Stomach channel, can clear phlegm by its association with the spleen. It also disperses Stomach heat. Heat in the stomach channel burns the Jin Ye leading to sputum.

3) Dryness of the Lungs due to Yin deficiency

Treatment Principle: Nourish Yin, moisten dryness and purge pathogenic fire to relieve sore throat.

Kid 3: (reinforce) Kidney channel runs up to the throat, Kidney 3 nourishes Yin Lu 7, Kid 6, (reinforce) a pair of the eight confluent points. Lung, Kidney, Ren, and Yin Qiao all meet in the throat, the lungs and the chest.

Kidney 3, 6, and Lung 7 relieve sore throat by leading the Xu fire downward by nourishing the Yin.

Lu 10: (even) Ying spring point of the Lung channel, Ying spring can reduce (xu) fire. Ren 23: (even) Local point, plus the Ren channel runs the entire length of the throat. This point is called "Ridge Spring" (Lian Quan) and is a spring of water, kind of.

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