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Jaw Stiffness

How Chinese medicine differentiates jaw stiffness — distinct from Jaw Pain and TMJ Disorder already covered — the four patterns you'll actually meet in practice, and the points for each. 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. Sudden inability to open the mouth, especially with fever, rigid neck, or loss of consciousness, is a medical emergency needing immediate care, not acupuncture first.
General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for jaw stiffness — 7 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

PointKey action
ST-6Expels Wind. Removes obstructions from the channel.
ST-40Resolves Phlegm and Dampness. Calms the Mind and opens the Mind's orifices.
LR-3Subdues Liver-Yang. Extinguishes interior Wind.
G.B.-20Extinguishes interior Wind. Subdues Liver-Yang. Clears Heat.
DU-14Clears Heat. Releases the Exterior and expels exterior Wind.
P-6Opens the chest and moves Qi and Blood. Calms the Mind.
KI-1Nourishes Yin and clears Empty-Heat. Restores consciousness.
The Four Patterns

↑ reinforcing   ↓ reducing   ⊥ even method.

1. Wind-Phlegm

Clinical manifestations: Sudden inability to open the mouth, often during an episode of dizziness or collapse, gurgling or rattling sound in the throat, copious white frothy sputum, numbness or trembling in the hands and feet.
Tongue: Slightly pale, swollen with teeth marks, thick white greasy coating. Pulse: Wiry and slippery.
Treatment principle: Expel internal Wind and transform Phlegm obstructing the facial channels.
Note: no moxa. This site has no standalone Wind-Phlegm slide anywhere in its decks (confirmed a third time, after Seizures and TIA), so no pattern link is given; points still link fine individually.

2. Liver Wind Agitating Internally Due to Liver-Yang Rising View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Severe dizziness, throbbing headache, irritability, numbness or tingling in the limbs, neck stiffness.
Tongue: Red body, stiff or trembling, possibly deviated, thin yellow coating. Pulse: Wiry, fine, possibly rapid.
Treatment principle: Subdue rising Liver-Yang and extinguish internal Wind to relax the sinews.
Note: no moxa. Linked to this site's plain Liver-Yang-rising slide rather than either Wind-generating slide — this pattern names no explicit tremor, so it is treated as the milder \"template\" Yang-rising picture rather than forced onto a Wind-specific slide, the same discipline used for Loss of Consciousness (batch 27).

3. Liver Wind Agitating Internally Due to Extreme Heat View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: High fever that does not break, violent convulsions or seizure-like spasms, loss of consciousness or delirium, red flushed face and intense thirst, stiff neck and arched-back spasm.
Tongue: Deep red to crimson, dry with prickles, stiff, yellow dry coating. Pulse: Wiry, rapid, forceful.
Treatment principle: Clear extreme Heat and extinguish Wind while nourishing depleted Yin fluids.
Note: no moxa, medical emergency. Direct match with this site's own Extreme-Heat-generating-Wind slide, itself badged Emergency.

4. Heat in the Pericardium View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: High fever with delirium or loss of consciousness, crimson tongue that may be stiff or shortened, cold hands and feet despite burning hot skin, severe thirst or dry mouth.
Tongue: Crimson body, stiff or shortened, yellow dry or minimal coating. Pulse: Fine and rapid.
Treatment principle: Clear extreme Heat from the Pericardium, open blocked orifices, and restore consciousness.
Note: no moxa, medical emergency. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Heat-in-the-Pericardium slide — the same one used for Heat Stroke and Febrile Seizures.
Related conditions

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