↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
1. Painful Obstruction due to Damp Heat in Channels
Clinical manifestations: Red, swollen, hot ankle joint, heavy aching pain, pain worsens with warmth and improves with cold, thirst and irritability, flares in hot humid weather.
Tongue: Red body with yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Slippery and rapid.
Treatment principle: Clear Heat, drain Dampness, unblock the channels to relieve ankle pain and swelling.
Note: no moxa. No deck on this site has a dedicated Damp-Heat-in-channels Bi-syndrome category, a confirmed and recurring absence, so no pattern link is given here.
Clinical manifestations: Stabbing fixed pain in the ankle, bruising or purplish discoloration, pain worsens with pressure, stiffness and limited range of motion, clear history of a twist or injury.
Tongue: Purple or dark body, possible stasis spots, distended sublingual veins. Pulse: Wiry and choppy.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, move Qi, relieve fixed traumatic pain.
Note: no moxa. Matches this site's Liver-Blood stasis slide — a purple/dark tongue with stasis spots is the same discoloration marker named there.
3. Painful Obstruction with Liver and Kidney Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dull aching ankle pain better with warmth, worse in cold damp weather and with fatigue, lower back and knee soreness and weakness, pale complexion and general fatigue, chronic presentation.
Tongue: Pale, thin body with thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, weak, often slow, Chi position especially weak.
Treatment principle: Dispel Wind-Dampness, relieve painful obstruction, supplement Liver and Kidneys to nourish the sinews and bones.
Note: moxibustion on BL-23. This pattern's pale tongue and weak pulse point to a Yang/Qi-leaning deficiency, distinct from this site's Kidney-and-Liver-YIN-deficiency slide, so no pattern link is given here.
4. Qi and Blood Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dull persistent ankle pain, worse with fatigue and overexertion and better with rest, pale complexion and lips, fatigue low energy and shortness of breath, dizziness or lightheadedness.
Tongue: Pale body, may be thin or have teeth marks, thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, weak, thready.
Treatment principle: Tonify Qi, nourish Blood, strengthen the Spleen to rebuild the fundamental substances that nourish the ankle's sinews.
Note: moxa applicable throughout. No deck on this site combines Qi and Blood deficiency into one slide, so no pattern link is given here.
5. Phlegm in the Channels, Joints and Muscles
Clinical manifestations: Fixed stabbing pain in the ankle, swelling that feels hard or firm to the touch, heavy numb sensation in the ankle and foot, purplish or dark discoloration around the joint, persistent joint stiffness, treatment-resistant pattern.
Tongue: Purple body with stasis spots, white greasy coating, distended sublingual veins. Pulse: Wiry and choppy, or wiry and slippery.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, unblock the channels, transform Phlegm to relieve fixed pain and mobility restrictions.
Note: no moxa. No deck on this site has a dedicated Phlegm-in-the-channels Bi-syndrome category, a confirmed and recurring absence, so no pattern link is given here.