The Four Gates.

My favorite happy-ending-feel-good-story involves The Four Gates.

A young woman came to me with excruciating migraine headaches. She was prescribed an arsenal of very strong medicine by her doctor. Not only did she, obviously, want to get rid of the headaches, but she wanted to get pregnant, however, she was advised to not conceive while taking so many different drugs. We discussed her symptoms and her history, and by the end of the interview my head was spinning. I seriously had no idea even where I should start. There was so much going on with her in a physical sense and she had some emotionally challenges as well.

I walked out of the room. Took a deep breath and started to go through different point combinations in my head. None of them felt right. All of a sudden, I remembered an acronym that one of my teachers taught us.

KISS. Keep It Super Simple.

So I KISS. I used The Four Gates. Liver 3 and Large Intestine 4. One on the foot and one on the hand. Together they work to move energy and to smooth the energy flow. They are analgesic and calming. Certainly a very popular point pair which is used in many different point prescriptions or on its own.

My patient reported a relaxing session in which she had been able to relax deeply and even fall asleep. I sent her off with the usual first visit parting speech, i.e explaining the different scenarios she could expect. No relief. Some relief. Complete relief. Increase in pain which a day or so later will give way to relief. Relief for a short period of time or relief for a longer period of time. More energized. Less energized. We just never know how each individual person reacts to the treatment, especially the very first time.

She came back the next Thursday. I could tell from the moment I saw her in the waiting room that something was different. She was so grateful because the KISS treatment had completely eliminated her otherwise daily migraines for about three days. Yes, the pain returned, but not as intense. I kept treating her weekly for about two months and she slowly (with her physician’s blessing) decreased her medication so she could finally begin to think about conceiving.

The two heroes in this scenario was Large Intestine 4 and Liver 3. They have similar location but one on the hand and one on the foot. Both of them are located, roughly described, between the first and second digit. LI4 is the more known point in the combination. It is the “headache point”. In case of a headache, you can stimulate the point with your opposite thumb. The point is easy to find as it is often sore when squeezed. That is all that is to it. Grab the point with your thumb and index finger and SQUEEZE. Rub the point. Squeeze and let go with different intervals. That action saved me while traveling and I got a headache all of a sudden. As long as I held on to the point, the headache was gone.

LI 4.

Lv 3 is a very important point on the Liver channel. The Liver is the organ which make sure that the energy (qi) circulates evenly throughout the body. Pain is a byproduct of obstructed qi. The Liver is represented by the emotion anger. Stress, irritability, anger and tension are all emotions that can cause Liver qi stagnation OR be caused by Liver qi stagnation. By treating Lv 3, the smooth flow of qi is restored.

Lv 3

Personally, I find it difficult to needle myself. But if I choose to treat myself, then I typically choose The Four Gates. That treatment is very calming and fantastic at times of menstrual cramps or PMS.