Clinical Observation On The Blocking Of The Propagated Sensation Along Channels By Means Of Mechanical Press

Cheng Lianhu, Zhao Yunling (Baoding District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine)

In order to understand the universality and the fundamental characteristics of this phenomenon, the experiments were performed. The propagated sensation along channels (PSC) was blocked by means of mechanical press on 44 points of 10 channels in 120 patients of different degrees of PSC. A metal rod was pressed at the point either along the course of PSC (i.e. channel block) or 2-3 cm away from the PSC (i.e. para-channel block), or at the points 2-5 cm both above and below the site of needle puncture along the channel simultaneously. The channel block experiment was performed for 300 times, among them 86.7% were completely blocked and 7.3% partially blocked. In the latter cases the PSC was ill-defined, but was still perceivable. And 6% were unblocked. While in parachannel block experiment, in a total of 119 times, the percentage of unblocked cases was 98.3%. However, there was no significant differences observed whether the blocking was applied on different channels or at different points of the same channel. The blocking experiments so far carried out on the points of various sites confirmed the fact that the points which were capable of blocking the PSC by mechanical press lay mostly on the traditional channel course. It verified the characteristic of popularity of blocking of PSC also.


Experiments were performed for 64 times on 7 patients on the effect of the channel blockage on the acupuncture-induced activities of its pertaining organs and the appearance of symptoms. It was found that the effect of acupuncture on the activities of responding organs and symptoms could be eliminated by blocking of the PSC, but both effects would reappear several minutes after removal of the pressure. For example, the PSC of a marked PSC patient was elicited by acupuncturing of his Zusanli, and propagated along the channel to the epigastrium; there and then enhancement of the gastric peristalsis was shown under the X-ray examination, and the patient complained of gastric distension and belching of gas. But when the PSC was blocked at the Liangqiu, the above-mentioned effect and symptoms would disappear, and reappear if the PSC was released from the pressure. The clinical efficacies of the acupuncture therapy could be also reduced by the blocking of the PSC. In treating a case of cardiac insufficiency it was observed that when the patient was under attack of cardiac asthma and a needle was inserted into Shen-men, a sensation was propagating along the Heart Channel from the point acupunctured to the chest. During the treatment the respiratory rate decreased from 32-34  times/min. to 24-26 times/min. within a short period, and the patient became calmed down gradually; but the symptoms of asthma recurred when the PSC had been blocked.


In addition, it was also discovered that the PSC with slow propagation rate was easy to be blocked by a light press, most of the 260 completely blocked cases were of this kind, while the PSC with propagation rate as quick as lightening could not be always blocked and the 18 cases of unblocked PSC belonged to it. It seems that the nature and mechanism of these two kinds of PSC are quite different, and it remains to be declared by further investigations.