The Regularity Of Facial And Oral Meridians And The Characteristics Of Peripheral Meridian Meridian Examination

Meridians closely relate to human internal organs. The two influence each other physiologically and pathologically. The pathological changes of the internal organs will be reflected in the corresponding meridians of the body surface, often producing irregular nodules, cords, lumps, dents, tenderness and other positive reactions in lesions. Therefore, meridians can be used not only to treat diseases but also to diagnose diseases. Clinically, combining with the results of four diagnoses and the syndrome features, the doctors use the meridian examination methods based on the meridian theory to sense the meridians, internal organs and the exact location of pathological changes. In this way, the objective basis for further selecting acupoints is provided. In the light of the perspective of researching ancient and modern literature and serving clinical practice, this research mainly includes two aspects: The one is to study the law of meridian systems circulating around face and mouth as well as the law of related syndrome. The other is to explore meridian examination features of peripheral facial paralysis.ObjectivesThere are two major objectives of this research. One is to help us systematically understand the law of meridian systems circulating around face and mouth as well as the law of related syndrome so as to further diagnose related diseases. The second one is to help to form a more thorough understanding of the meridian examination methods, encouraging to apply it to the practical treatment.MethodsThe author mainly referred to the ancient classical literature Huangdi’s Canon of Medicine and other relevant materials to analyze, compare and explore the distributing law of meridian systems circulating around face and mouth as well as the law of related syndrome. In addition, the author selected the disease of peripheral facial paralysis as the research object. Firstly more than 20 acupuncture classics and modern literature of high impact factor in recent 30 years were retrieved and collected. The selected meridians, acupoints and points times in terms of treating peripheral facial paralysis were then summarized from these ancient and modern literature. The author then analyzed the statistical results in details and clarified the difference between ancient and modern treatments, trying to explore the meridian examination features of peripheral facial paralysis.ResultsAll the meridian systems circulating around face recorded in the ancient classical literature are as follows:1.Meridian system:the meridians of Hand-Yangming and Foot-Yangming, the meridians of Hand-Taiyang and Foot-Taiyang, the meridians of Hand-Shaoyang and Foot-Shaoyang, the meridian of Foot-Jueyin; 2. Divergent meridian system:the divergent meridian of Foot-Yangming, the divergent meridian of Foot-Shaoyang, the divergent meridian of Hand-Shaoyin, the divergent meridian of Foot-Jueyin; 3. Tendon system:the tendons of Hand-Yanging and Foot-Yangming, the tendons of Hand-Taiyang and Foot-Taiyang, the tendons of Hand-Shaoyang and Foot-Shaoyang; 4. Collateral system:the large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming collateral; 5. Eight extra meridians system:Du Meridian, Ren Meridian, Yinqiao Meridian, Yangqiao Meridian and Yangwei Meridian.All the meridian systems circulating around mouth recorded in the ancient classical literature are as follows:1.Meridian system:the meridians of Hand-Yangming and Foot-Yangming, the meridian of Foot-Jueyin;2. Divergent meridian system:the divergent meridian of Foot-Yangming; 3. Tendon system:the tendon of Foot-Yangming; 4. Eight extra meridians system:Du Meridian,Ren Meridian,Chong Meridian,Yangqiao Meridian.77 original ancient literature were searched, with 34 acupoints,160 points times found; 336 modern literature were retrieved, with 80 acupoints,3792 points times found.By summarizing the selected acupoints while treating peripheral facial paralysis from ancient and modern literature, the author tried to probe into the distributing regularities of relevant acupoints of peripheral facial paralysis on meridians and body parts and study its meridian examination features.ConclusionsThe author found yang meridians outnumber yin meridians by studying the law of the meridian systems circulating around face and mouth. Generally speaking, yang meridians mainly treat excess syndrome and heat syndrome, whereas yin meridians treat deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome. So the author thought it is the excess syndrome that is most frequently seen in the pathological nature of peripheral facial paralysis.The meridian examination features of peripheral facial paralysis are as follows:The pathological meridians are mainly related to Hand-Sang-yang meridians and Foot-San-yang meridians, with the Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yang-ming being the most important. The Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin and Liver Meridian of Foot-Jueyin should also be noticed. The most frequently examined body parts are head and face, arms and legs and abdomen. What’s more, meridian examination mainly involves the acupoints such as Dicang acupoint, Jiache acupoint, Chengqi acupoint, Hegu acupoint, Yingxiang acupoint, Yangbai acupoint, Shuigou acupoint and Chengjiang acupoint.It’s worth noting that in the course of the meridian examination, the doctors should pay attention not only to the abnormal changes of the meridians and acupoints associated with diseases, but also to the observation of positive reaction between the meridians and between the acupoints. Therefore, the doctors should follow rigorous examination ideas and adopt proper meridian examination methods to get accurate information concerning the patients’ diseases during the process of clinical diagnosis.