TCM diagnosis is not easy and sometimes we need little tricks and tips to help us get great results in practice when we are stuck with our TCM diagnosis. This is why today I am going to share with you the seven most powerful acupuncture point combo I use in clinic over and over again to get effective results even when I'm not really sure of my TCM diagnosis. You know that one of these combos is going to be the four gates, but the other ones might surprise you. Are you ready? Let's go. Welcome back to my channel. If it's your first time here, I'm Clara from Acup Academy, and I create Chinese medicine and acupuncture content for students and practitioners, making it easy to grasp and fun to learn. Let's dive in. Combo number one, liver three and large intestine 4. Often I get asked why are they called the four gates? Well, liver three moves chi. Large intestine four moves blood. In TCM foundation, chi moves blood. Blood is matter. So it's more yin in nature. Right? In order for blood circulation to occur, we need good strong chi circulation first. So when you combine liver three which move chi and large intestine 4 which moves blood now we get fantastic circulation we open the gate for better flow right the gate is not closed there's no interruption of flow the flow is fantastic I love that the fact that large intestine 4 is at the same location on the hand that liver three is on the foot it's between the first and second metatarsal and large intestine for is between the first and second metacarpo. So really they are connected right four gates because we needle bilaterally. Let me give you some example on when we would use those four gates. When there is any kind of acute pain, a sprain, a strain, sciatica, low back pain, whatever the pain is, we have to use those point two fake headaches. We are going to use the open the gate and get the flow moving to relieve the pain. When there is pain, there is stagnation always. The other way we can use this combo is for women during PMS. It is a great combo to lessen the headaches, the moodiness, the constipation, all those PMS, breast tenderness, sighing, clumsiness. This is going to relax the person, open the flow and allow for the PMS to be lessened if we should say that. We can also use this for constipation for example if the constipation is due to excess and there's stagnation right so that is a really good combo specifically because large intestine 4 is the urine source point of the large intestine so it's really good for constipation or digestive system issue so we can use this 4 gate combo for so many things I know you use this combo a lot so do I remember that large intestine 4 is counter indicated during pregnancy. So, we do not use that for pregnant women. Combo number two, spleen 9, stomach 40. If you've been around, you know that stomach 40 is my favorite point of all time. Spleen 9 is the best point when it comes to excess dampness. Stomach 40 is the best point when there's excess fleg. Now, often with diagnosis, we're not really sure, is this excess fleg? Is this excess dampness? Maybe both of them are here. So, it's really good to combine both when you're not sure of your diagnosis to differentiate between fleg and dampness. By the way, I created a whole video on how to differentiate flem and damp. I'll put the link for you below so you can watch it if you haven't yet. It'll really clarify for you how we can differentiate those two. So we can use this combo split nine and stomach 40 when there is excess flem and dampness and you're not sure if it's one or the other. Often it could be both, right? But of course we always want to try to make a full diagnosis because it is going to give us good results. This combo works really well for excess mucus, excess water retention, edema, flem, dizziness, and so much more. Love me some stomach 40 combo number three. Ren six, spleen six and do 20. Ren six is called chi high or the sea ofqi. Spleen six is connected to liver, kidney and spleen. And do 20 as we know lifts energy. Obviously it can also calm the mind. When we want to lift energy, we always want to needle due 20 in the direction of the meridian flow. What does that mean? The flow of due meridian or the due vessel starts at the bottom of the spine and comes up all the way to the front. So the flow is going this way towards the front. So we are going to needle towards the front in order to lift energy. And the reason this combo is fantastic, ren six, spleen six and do 20 is for extreme fatigue. It lifts up that energy. Also can be used for prolapse. Prolapse of any organs, the uterus, the transverse colon, the bladder, the rectum, anything that's prolapsing. Ren six, spleen six, do 20. but also for extreme fatigue. Someone has adrenal fatigue. This is a great combo. If you're not sure what your diagnosis is, often it's a spleen she sinking or spleen deficiency. It could also be a kidney deficiency, a kidney young deficiency. There's a lot of option. It could also be a blood deficiency, right? You want to narrow your diagnosis. But if you're not quite sure because when we see a patient for the first time, sometimes we don't have all the information because maybe the patient doesn't think that sharing some information is relevant. So maybe after a few weeks we learn more, we get more clues, more information, and we figure out the diagnosis. That's why those combos are powerful to use in the meantime. Right? So remember combo number three, ren six, spleen six, do 20 lifting. I always think of this combo as, you know, a puppet that just has no energy and then you have a little string that lifts you. So, the puppet is kind of perky and now it's working really well. That's the combo. Before we continue, I just want to make sure that you have joined my weekly newsletter. This is where I share exclusive tips and tricks that I don't share anywhere else. Don't miss out. It's completely free. The link is below for you. Combo number four, the digestive diamond. I know you've heard about this one, but you might not know a couple of nuances, so stick around. The digestive diamond is ren six, ren 9, and stomach 25. So all around the belly button. These points together can be used for any digestive system issue. Constipation, diarrhea, IBS, diverticulitis, anything, bloating, whatever is happening in the digestive system, we can use this. This is so key to great results because sometimes when we ask patients question when it comes to the digestive system we don't always get all the information and it's not always easy right so that takes time specifically because with the digestive system there are so many possible patterns spleen can be affected liver can be affected large intestine small intestine there are so many pattern if you're treating diarrhea you want to go counter counterclockwise from the flow of the stool. The stool flows goes through the ascending colon, transverse descending rectum. Right? So if we want to go reverse from that, we going to start with putting stomach 25 on the left side, then ren 9, then stomach 25 on the right side, and finish with six. That is counterclockwise from the flow of the stool. Because people always ask me counterclockwise from my perspective, the patient perspective. Think of the flow of stool. Much easier. If it's constipation, we're going to do the opposite. We're going to go with the flow of the stool. So the flow of the stool as we know is ascending transverse descending rectum. Right? So we're going to start with stomach 25 on the right and that is the right of the patient. and then ren stomach 25 on the left and then ren six. Yes. Okay. Now there's a little bit of a nuance on the digestive diamond. A lot of people like to put ren six and instead of ren 9 put ren 12. Still keep stomach 25 because ren 12 is the front m point of the stomach. So if the digestion also affects the stomach, not just the lower digestive tract, but also the upper digestive tract as well, then ren 12 may be a better bet than ren. You can decide depending on the symptoms which combo is best for each patient. Combo number five. Remember that song, mumbo number five. I feel like I'm saying mumbo number five. Oh my gosh. Combo number five is one of my favorite. Lung seven on the right, kidney six on the left, spleen four on the right, and paricardium six on the left. This combo really is helpful to balance reproductive hormones specifically for the female patients. So when I see female patients that come for fertility, endometriosis, painful menstruation, menopause, pregnancy issues, I always put this combo because it's using four points that are confluent point of the eight extra vessels. And remember the eight vessels connect to essence. So they connect to the reproductive system. Now why is it more female oriented? It's because spleen 4 is the confluent point of the chong vessel and the chong vessel is the sea of blood. So it's really related to the uterus, the blood production which during pregnancy transform into fluid and later on for milk for breast milk. So this is really a good combo to help balance hormones when you're not really sure what your diagnosis for any female reproductive system issues. I have an entire video on the eight extra vessels and how to use the confluent point in clinical practice. I'll have the link for you below so you can watch it if you missed it. Number six is going to follow number five for a reason. We're going to talk about menstruation cramps. We see a lot of women that suffer from this menora due to many reason including endometriosis. So what do we do? Spleenate, liver six and kidney five. Again, spleenate, liver 6 and kidney 5 are all she cleft point. The sheft point of the yin meridian always related to issue with blood. The sheph point of the yong meridian always related to issue with pain. But spleenade, kidney 5 and liver 6 which are all yin porn from yin meridians not only are used for blood issue like masturation issue but also for pain during masturation. So they are so powerful. I use this combo when women come and see me and they are in their cycle and they are in pain. I will do those three points. It works really well. I also show patients how to acupressure those so they can utilize them when they're at home and they're not getting treatment. I also like to use this combo prior to menstruation for preventative measure. So the week before and even the week before that. So sometimes if the patient is here specifically for this manora I will do these points every single week I see the patient and they are very powerful. So, next time you see a woman with cramps in your clinic, spleen 8, kidney 5, liver six. Perfect. By the way, all the graphics you're seeing today are from my most popular book, Acupoint Made Easy. If you don't have your copy yet or the digital version, which has a lot of video links to complement it, I'll have the link for you below. You can download the sample to see if it's really what you were looking for in an illustrated guide to all the acupuncture points. Last but not least, combo number seven, the Buddha's triangle. Oh, you're going to love the Buddha's triangle. Three points that form a triangle. Paragardium six, heart seven, and long nine. As you know, heart 7 is one of the best point to calm the mind for insomnia, anxiety, anything. Paricardium 6 is also one of the best point to calm anxiety specifically when it's affecting the digestive system. Really calming the mind for depression as well. And lung seven is a great point for grief, sadness, and depression. These three points together are called the Buddha's triangle because they're supposed to make the person calm, collected, zen like a Buddha, right? It is so powerful when it comes to depression, anxiety, but also repressed emotion which create worry, overthinking and so much emotional trauma that the person cannot function. So, anytime you're not sure of your diagnosis, but someone is struggling with their mental health, you've got to use the Buddha triangle. There are many more acupuncture point combo that I use in clinic, but I wanted to start with those seven because they're so powerful. Let me know in the comments below which combo is your favorite. For me, I would say it's really, really hard, but I will say the Buddha's triangle and then the long seven, kidney 6, spleen 4, and PC6 for hormonal balance are probably my favorite ones. I truly hope this benefited you. If you want more, go to my website, acuporacademy.com. I have tons of free resources. In the meantime, watch this video next. And no matter what, keep rocking it using TCM because after all, Agubong to Ross.