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Psoriasis

How Chinese medicine differentiates psoriasis, 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. Psoriasis usually needs dermatological diagnosis and management; acupuncture is a complementary, not a replacement, approach.
General Acupuncture Points

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

PointKey action
Du-14Clears Heat. Releases the Exterior and expels exterior Wind.
L.I.-11Clears Heat from the Yangming channels. Cools Blood.
L.I.-4Expels exterior Wind, stops pain, removes obstructions from the channel.
SP-10Cools Blood, invigorates Blood and eliminates stasis.
SP-6Strengthens the Spleen, resolves Dampness, nourishes Blood and Yin.
ST-36Benefits Stomach and Spleen, tonifies Qi and Blood.
BL-18Nourishes and invigorates Liver-Blood. Resolves Damp-Heat.
BL-23Tonifies the Kidneys, nourishes Kidney-Essence and Kidney-Yin.
The Three Patterns

reinforcing   reducing   even method — technique below follows standard Excess/Deficiency treatment principle for each pattern, not tied to a specific point-by-point source. None of this condition's three patterns has a genuine match in the site's pattern decks (checked pattern-by-pattern below) — this is expected, consistent with the site's established finding that skin-condition patterns rarely find a genuine cross-reference, since deck slides sharing similar Heat/Blood-stasis vocabulary are almost always framed around a different body system (digestive, gynecological, respiratory).

1. Heat in the Blood

Clinical manifestations: Bright red plaques that feel warm or hot to the touch; lesions that spread rapidly; intense itching; pinpoint bleeding when scales are scraped away (the Auspitz sign); irritability and restlessness; thirst with a craving for cold drinks; scanty menstrual blood; brought on by emotional stress, spicy or heating foods, or an underlying constitutional tendency to Heat; eased by cooling foods and a calm environment.
Tongue: Red with red spots or prickles, thin yellow dry coating. Pulse: Rapid, Wiry, forceful.
Treatment principle: Clear Heat, cool the Blood, calm the rapid spread of lesions.
Clear Heat, cool Blood
Support Yin and fluids
Note: no moxa. No deck anywhere on this site has a "Heat in the Blood" or "Blood-Heat" slide, so no pattern link is given here.

2. Blood Deficiency with External Wind

Clinical manifestations: Pale-red, dry plaques with fine dry scales that flake easily; itching that worsens at night; a pale complexion and lips; dizziness or light-headedness; brittle, dull nails; scanty or pale menstrual blood; an aversion to wind or drafts; brought on by chronic illness, blood loss, or long-standing untreated Heat-pattern skin disease consuming Blood; eased by warmth, rest, and avoiding wind exposure.
Tongue: Pale, thin, thin white slightly dry coating. Pulse: Fine, Wiry, Floating.
Treatment principle: Nourish Blood, dispel Wind, restore proper nourishment to the skin.
Note: moxa applicable. The closest deck slide, "Liver-Blood deficiency generating Wind," is a neurological internal-Wind pattern (tremor, facial tic, numbness) with no skin content, so no pattern link is given here — the same finding already used unlinked on this site's Eczema page.

3. Blood Stagnation with Heat

Clinical manifestations: Dark red or purplish, thick, infiltrated plaques that don't blanch under pressure; fixed, stabbing pain in the lesions, worse at night; dry, rough, scaly skin; irritability and restlessness; brought on by long-standing untreated Heat-in-the-Blood congealing into stasis, or chronic emotional stress; eased by gentle movement and stress reduction.
Tongue: Reddish-purple with stasis spots, distended sublingual veins, thin dry yellow coating. Pulse: Choppy, Rapid, often Wiry.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, open the channels and clear the underlying Heat.
Invigorate Blood, clear Heat
Support Qi and Blood
Note: no moxa. The site's "Liver-Blood stasis" slide is gynecological/hepatic-framed with no Heat component and no skin content, so it isn't a close enough match to link here.
Related conditions

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