That bandaid in the middle of the tattoo is a tack!
This point is an absolute favorite of mine. People who suffer from panic disorders respond so unbelievably well to acupuncture, Pericardium 6 has become a magic point for me.
I like to say I have a bag of magic acupuncture points. They're the quick and easy points that give a patient instant relief. They're the 'Aha! This works!' of Chinese medicine. Pericardium 6 is definitely in my bag of tricks. A patient who suffers from chronic anxiety or frequent panic attacks benefits greatly from Pc 6.
First let's discuss what a pericardium is really quick. The pericardium encases and protects the heart (literally, in Western medicine. Not a figurative Chinese thing... this time). The Pericardium channel travels to the chest, right over the heart. Anxiety is (usually) seen as an imbalance with the Heart's Qi or Blood and possibly Yin- it's ok if that went over your head, it took years of school for that sentence to not make me want to quit trying to understand TCM. Long story short is that the Pericardium deals with the Heart and thus deals with anxiety like a pro.
So what happens when you have chronic anxiety or you're in the middle of a panic attack? Your palms get sweaty. Your heart races and pounds and palpitates. You get tunnel vision or that sensation of looking through the bottom of an empty glass.You get nauseated or as I coined it, "anxiety tummy" that cramps up and makes it impossible to eat. You get dizzy. Your chest gets tight. And you can't think straight. Phew, this paragraph makes me anxious!
This handsome fellow is courtesy of meridiatech.com
Pericardium 6 goes to the chest- opening it up and allowing you to breathe, stopping the racing heart and thumping palpitations. This point stops vertigo and dizziness. It is an empirical point for nausea and vomiting, they even sell wristbands that put pressure on Pc 6 for motion sickness. Your spirit or 'Shen' is housed in the heart and is going crazy all over the place during an attack, which is what causes the racing and fragmented thoughts. Guess which point calms the Shen? Yep. Pericardium 6.
So how do I employ this magical acupuncture point in my practice? Well when a patient is on the table I combine it with Yin Tang which is smack-dab in the middle of the eyebrows. These two points combined stops a panic attack dead in its tracks. I not only needle it in conjunction with other points to work on your constitution (such as that Heart Blood or Heart Qi I mentioned up above), but I put tacks in there. A tack is a small bandaid with a teeny tiny eentsy weentsy needle in it measuring only .02 millimeters. This tack constantly stimulates the point, working on that anxiety and panic around the clock. I use these on myself when I have something stressful planned for the day- a job interview, an important test, dental work, even while I'm working on my budget.
If you or someone you know suffers from a pretty debilitating disorder, let them know that acupuncture can work wonders for them. And a treatment will include this amazing point, but is so much more than that.
