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Cellulitis

How Chinese medicine differentiates cellulitis, the two patterns you'll actually meet in practice, and the points for each. Acupuncture only — no herbs; this is a bacterial skin infection and antibiotics remain standard care alongside any acupuncture support.

This page is educational, for practitioners and students — it is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace a proper in-person assessment. Spreading redness, red streaking, high fever, or facial involvement needs urgent medical evaluation — cellulitis can progress quickly and requires antibiotics; acupuncture here is supportive, not a substitute for that treatment.
General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for cellulitis — 4 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

PointKey action
L.I.-4Expels exterior Wind, regulates Defensive Qi, clears heat and alleviates pain.
L.I.-11Clears Heat and cools Blood.
LR-3Subdues Liver-Yang, clears interior Wind, clears heat from Blood.
DU-14Clears Heat, releases the Exterior and expels exterior Wind.
The Two Patterns

↑ reinforcing   ↓ reducing   ⊥ even method.

1. Toxic-Heat Stagnation

Clinical manifestations: Localized redness and swelling without pus formation; burning or throbbing pain at the site; dark, scanty urine; restlessness and irritability. The person typically feels well systemically, with no fever yet.
Tongue: Deep red body with prickly papillae and a thick, dry yellow coating. Pulse: Rapid and forceful, often overflowing.
Treatment principle: Disperse the trapped heat and move Qi to prevent pus formation and deeper progression.
L.I.-4 ↓ L.I.-11 ↓ LR-3 ↓ DU-14 ↓
Note: no moxa. No standalone Toxic-Heat slide exists on this site, so no pattern link is given here.

2. Toxic-Heat

Clinical manifestations: Pus formation or abscess development; high fever with chills; intense thirst for cold beverages; red, swollen, burning pain; restlessness and irritability — systemic symptoms indicating the infection has progressed beyond localized containment.
Tongue: Red body with prickly thorns, dry yellow coating. Pulse: Rapid and forceful, often full or overflowing.
Treatment principle: Aggressively clear systemic heat and resolve toxicity, drain pus, cool the blood.
L.I.-4 ↓ L.I.-11 ↓ LR-3 ↓ DU-14 ↓
Note: no moxa. Same absence as Pattern 1 — this site has no standalone Toxic-Heat slide.
Related conditions
Boils Skin Abscess

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Acupuncture-only reference — structure adapted (not text) from how other condition-lookup sites organize this kind of content. Let us know what to add or change.