Oily Sweat

How Chinese medicine differentiates oily, sticky sweat with a bitter taste and greasy tongue coating into the three 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. Sticky oily sweat with burning heat, extreme thirst, and critical weakness together is a medical emergency needing immediate hospital care, not home treatment.

General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for oily sweat — 8 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

Point	Key action
L.I.-11	Clears Heat and cools the Blood. Resolves Dampness.
SP-9	Regulates the Spleen. Resolves Dampness.
ST-36	Tonifies Qi and Blood. Tonifies the Stomach and Spleen.
ST-44	Clears Heat. Regulates the Intestines and resolves Damp-Heat. Calms the Mind.
LR-3	Subdues Liver-Yang. Invigorates Blood and regulates menstruation.
G.B.-34	Promotes the smooth flow of Liver-Qi. Resolves Damp-Heat. Benefits the sinews.
LR-2	Drains Liver-Fire and subdues Liver-Yang. Cools Blood and stops bleeding.
P-6	Opens the chest and moves Qi and Blood. Calms the Mind.
KI-7	Tonifies the Kidneys. Resolves Dampness. Regulates sweating.
SP-6	Strengthens the Spleen. Nourishes Blood and Yin.

The Three Patterns

↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.

1. Damp-Heat in Stomach and Spleen View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Sticky, oily sweat staining clothing yellow, bitter taste in the mouth, bloating and upper abdominal fullness, loose sticky stools, heavy foggy head and limbs, irritability and restlessness.

Tongue: Red body, possibly swollen with teeth marks, thick yellow greasy coating most pronounced in the center and root. Pulse: Soggy and rapid, often slippery, especially at the right Guan position.

Treatment principle: Clear Heat and drain Dampness, regulate Qi, harmonize the middle burner.

L.I.-11 ↓ SP-9 ↓ ST-36 ⊥ ST-44 ↓

Note: no moxa. Matched to this site's own Damp-Heat-in-the-Stomach slide — this pattern's own bloating/sticky-stools/bitter-taste picture lines up closely.

2. Liver and Gallbladder Damp-Heat View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Bitter taste in the mouth, pain or distension below the ribs, sticky oily sweat staining clothing yellow, irritability and restlessness.

Tongue: Red body, especially red sides, thick yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Wiry, slippery, rapid, strongest at the left Guan position.

Treatment principle: Drain excess Fire from the Liver and Gallbladder, clear Damp-Heat.

LR-3 ↓ G.B.-34 ↓ LR-2 ↓

Note: no moxa. Direct match with this site's own Damp-Heat-in-the-Gall-Bladder-and-Liver slide.

3. Collapse of Yin

Clinical manifestations: Sticky, oily sweat beading like oil, burning hot body with warm extremities, irritability and restlessness, extreme thirst desiring cold drinks, dry cracked lips and throat, flushed red face, critical weakness and exhaustion.

Tongue: Deep red or crimson, completely dry with no coating (mirror tongue), possibly cracked and shrunken. Pulse: Fine, rapid, weak on deep pressure.

Treatment principle: Rescue Yin urgently, generate fluids, astringe sweat — a medical emergency.

P-6 ⊥ KI-7 ↑ SP-6 ↑ ST-36 ⊥

Note: this is a medical emergency requiring immediate hospital care, not home treatment. This site has no standalone Collapse-of-Yin slide on any deck (only Heart-Yang-Collapse, a different Yang-collapse mechanism) — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.

Related conditions

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