Frequent Sighing

How Chinese medicine differentiates a habitual need to sigh into the three patterns you'll actually meet in practice, and the points for each. Distinct from this site's own Yawning and Globus Sensation pages. Acupuncture only — no herbs.

This page is educational, for practitioners and students — it is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace a proper in-person assessment. This is one diagnostic sign among many — always weigh it alongside the tongue, pulse, symptoms, and history.

General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for frequent sighing — 5 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

Point	Key action
LR-3	Subdues Liver-Yang. Promotes the smooth flow of Liver-Qi. Invigorates Blood and regulates menstruation.
PC-6	Opens the chest and moves Qi and Blood. Calms the Mind. Moves Liver-Qi. Harmonizes the Stomach.
LR-2	Drains Liver-Fire and subdues Liver-Yang. Cools Blood and stops bleeding.
GB-20	Subdues Liver-Yang. Clears Heat. Nourishes Marrow and clears the Brain.
ST-40	Resolves Phlegm and Dampness. Opens the chest and subdues rebellious Qi. Calms the Mind and opens the Mind's orifices.

The Three Patterns

↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.

1. Liver Qi Stagnation View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Frequent sighing, distension in the chest and rib area, irritability and mood swings, worse with emotional stress.

Tongue: Normal or slightly dark body, red or slightly purple sides, thin white coat. Pulse: Wiry, taut like a guitar string.

Treatment principle: Soothes the Liver and releases constraint, moves Qi and alleviates pain, invigorates Blood and dispels stasis.

LR-3 ↓ PC-6 ⊥

Note: no moxa. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Liver-Qi-stagnation slide — sighing is one of the classic keynote symptoms of this pattern.

2. Liver Fire Blazing View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Throbbing headache at the temples or crown, bitter taste in the mouth, intense irritability and quick temper, red, painful or burning eyes, dry mouth and throat.

Tongue: Red body with redder sides, dry yellow coating, possibly with red prickles. Pulse: Wiry, rapid, and forceful.

Treatment principle: Drains excess Fire from the Liver and Gallbladder, clears Damp-Heat from the Lower Burner, clears Heat from the Liver channel.

LR-2 ↓ GB-20 ↓

Note: no moxa. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Liver-Fire-blazing slide.

3. Qi-Phlegm View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Sensation of a lump in the throat (plum-pit Qi), white greasy or slippery tongue coating, chest oppression with sticky phlegm, worse with emotional stress, nausea or queasiness.

Tongue: Normal pink-red body, possibly slightly swollen, with white greasy or slippery coating. Pulse: Wiry and slippery.

Treatment principle: Moves Qi and dissipates nodules, descends Qi, resolves Phlegm.

PC-6 ⊥ ST-40 ↓

Note: no moxa. This site's decks have no dedicated Plum-Pit-Qi/Globus slide; linked to the Pericardium deck's Qi-stagnation-in-the-Pericardium slide, its established generic chest-Qi-stagnation match, flagged since the Phlegm component isn't separately named there.

Related conditions

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