erin: April 6, 2022, 4:25am
Hello SAAM community! I would love any input on this case, I have been struggling with my treatments as of late,
and am trying to figure things out a bit.
61 y/o female
CHIEF CONCERN:
Polyneuropathy +6
Numbness in her feet R>L
Started with right, now both (left only occasionally)
tingling in ankles.
pad of the foot, kidney area,
ww pressing on it, pins and needles.
W shoes, feels like something in her shoe. LIke a dead patch
Started on top of foot, liver area, now mostly on bottom but also on top.
Goes up leg as well.
stomach meridian
indigestion/mild reflux comes and goes
feels an awareness, or hotness in the stomach.
craves sweet, chocolate, coffee
Drinks 2-3 strong coffees / day
Appearance and demeanor: average facial symmetry +3, casually dressed, seems a bit anxious or unsettled, tends to
over talk, bright eyes +1, drives an old car
Lifestyle: works as employment counsellor, puts a lot of energy into work, feeling burnt out
Body morphology and flesh: average frame, extremely dry skin, skin tags and precancerous spots on skin
Has been working out a lot in the last year,
lost 20 lbs.
Feels strong, toned etc.
Benefits end @ end of June start again in July – wants to maximize this
working full time
stressed out,
takes her work personally.
Ego gets wrapped into her work.
BM – daily, well formed
not thirsty, carries water to help remind her.05/01/2024, 11:52Numbness in feet – Bothersome Clinical Problems – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/numbness-in-feet/1812/print2/4
Energy –
distracted, struggles with focus
not linear
7-8/10
Pain –
Left shoulder can get sore. +1
Carpal tunnel +2
Emotions –
feels vulnerable at work, like she is putting in too much.
Feels like she needs to protect herself a bit.
Joy and gratitude for being on the planet.
Body temp – normal, well regulated
Sweat – not easily, takes a lot to sweat
HR runs low.
40bmp at night (up to 140)
Average is 50
HEAD –
right eye watery for a few years now.
REd
Bw Taking omega 3
Skin –
very dry skin.
Skin flakes,
keratosis,
skin tag – precancerous,
red,
spot treatments w Chemical @ home.
Nail – weak, brittle +2
hair – thinner through the top as she has gotten older +2
CHEST – no SOB, no palpitations
ABDOMEN PALP
Very guarded, won t let me in
Pulse:
left soft, chi deep weak
right, soft, cun weak, deep, guan floating
Acu:
1st treatment ST+ L side05/01/2024, 11:52Numbness in feet – Bothersome Clinical Problems – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/numbness-in-feet/1812/print3/4
Numbness was worse
2nd treatment LU+ L side
Numbness is same,
Indigestion is back (hasn t had for a while now)
burning in epigastrium yesterday and today
voice sounds different/ hoarse
Some stomach growling.
Lu: epigastric burning, very dry, flaky skin,
LI: difficulty to focus, ADHD?, dry skin
St: financial strain, drives an old car, dresses in older clothes, numbness
Sp: numbness
Ht: helping others at work at some personal sacrifice, burning in epigastrium
Kid: numbness along kid meridian, feeling strong
SI: numbness along kid meridian
UB: burning in epigastrium
SJ: overthinking, overworking, feeling exposed and vulnerable, guarded abdomen, liver meridian, polite – when I
asked how the foot was she said what do you want me to say?
Liv: liver meridian numbness
PC:
GB:
I am at a bit of a loss where to go now. I am thinking possibly liver +, but this doesn t seem like a fit for numbness.
My other thought was spleen +, but again, seems counterintuitive for a numbness complaint.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!
Daniel: April 7, 2022, 10:47am
A few thoughts . . . .
I have had some patients with this dead wood feeling at the base of the their feet – and I have found typically, not
easy to treat.
The first thing to investigate with numbness is Spleen Excess.
Some more data to collect . . .
Dental health, history of cavities / fillings
Overall positioning on the couch potato – industrious spectrum . . . this can take some questioning . . . she may be
busy but really still couch potato oriented . . . just pushing through it a lot.
Body morphology history . . . she may not present as Spleen Excess fleshy now . . . but she may have been that
way much of her life and just now working it off . . . I have a patient (30 year old woman) now who appears and
is now very industrious in life and morphology does not appear Spleen Excess – but from age 15 to 28, she was
overweight and sedentary . . . I recently did a LI+ treatment on her and it was radical in its impact.
So consider LI+ treatments seriously
I know her very dry skin perhaps makes that counterintuitive . . but it could be that dampness is blocking moisture05/01/2024, 11:52Numbness in feet – Bothersome Clinical Problems – Qiological Community
https://forum.qiological.com/t/numbness-in-feet/1812/print4/4
from getting to the skin . . . the skin tags suggest that to me as they are a sort of distorted attempt for the body to
concentrate / hold dampness / moisture at the surface.
Consider Blood Stasis
What was her menstrual history . . . painful periods?
Surgery history – adhesions, etc
trauma history
pregnancies / childbirth
age of menarche
(I did have with one elderly patient with foot bottom wooden-ness . . . a combined LI+ / SI+ treatment helped)
erin: April 8, 2022, 8:45pm
Hi Daniel,
Those are great thoughts, thank you. Its so interesting when you dig a bit deeper, and start to understand how the
body manifests pathologies. I will ask some more questions at her next appointment and see if there is some hidden
dampness.
When you say consider blood stasis , are you inferring that SI/KID might be another axis to look at?
Daniel: April 9, 2022, 1:34am
Hi Erin . . . . yes, sorry, my reference to blood stasis was me thinking of the SI/Kid axis in Sa Am.