↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
1. Painful Obstruction With Wind-Cold-Damp
Clinical manifestations: Pain worse in cold, damp or rainy weather, heaviness or numbness in the shoulder and arm, stiffness with limited range of motion, pain relieved by warmth, aversion to cold or wind on the affected side.
Tongue: Pale, slightly swollen with teeth marks and white greasy coating. Pulse: Wiry and tight or slow.
Treatment principle: Dispel Wind-Dampness, tonify Qi, invigorate Blood, unblock channels.
Note: moxa applicable. This site has no organ-nonspecific Wind-Cold-Damp Bi-syndrome slide, a gap confirmed absent many times over — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.
Clinical manifestations: Fixed, stabbing pain that does not move, worse at night and with pressure, dark purple tongue with stasis spots, dark purplish lips or nails.
Tongue: Purple or dusky body with stasis spots and distended dark sublingual veins. Pulse: Choppy or wiry.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, move Qi, alleviate pain.
Note: no moxa. Direct match with this site's own Liver-Blood-stasis slide.
3. Painful Obstruction With Qi and Blood Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dull aching pain worsening with activity, improving with rest, numbness or tingling in the arms, pale complexion, general fatigue and weakness, poor appetite.
Tongue: Pale body, possibly thin with teeth marks, thin white coating. Pulse: Fine and weak, may be slow.
Treatment principle: Tonify Qi and Blood, warm channels, harmonize Nutritive and Defensive Qi.
Note: moxa applicable. This site has no combined Qi-and-Blood-deficiency slide framed as painful obstruction, a gap confirmed absent many times over — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.
4. Painful Obstruction With Liver and Kidney Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dull, chronic aching pain, lower back and knee soreness and weakness, worse in cold or damp weather, fatigue and lack of stamina, numbness or stiffness in limbs, pale or dull complexion.
Tongue: Pale, thin body with thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, weak, and slow pulse, Chi (rear) position particularly weak.
Treatment principle: Dispel Wind-Dampness, relieve painful obstruction, supplement Liver and Kidneys.
Note: moxa applicable. Same reasoning as this site's own Shoulder Pain and Arm Pain pages: this pattern's Cold/pale presentation doesn't match the site's only Liver-and-Kidney-deficiency slide, which is Yin-deficiency/Empty-Heat framed — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.
5. Phlegm in the Channels, Joints and Muscles
Clinical manifestations: Fixed, stabbing pain in the shoulder blade, heavy sensation or numbness, hard swelling or palpable nodules near the shoulder, purplish skin discoloration around the joint, chest tightness or tendency to produce phlegm.
Tongue: Purple body with stasis spots, white greasy coating, distended sublingual veins. Pulse: Wiry and choppy or wiry and slippery.
Treatment principle: Dry Dampness, transform Phlegm, invigorate Blood, dispel stasis, open channels.
Note: no moxa. This site has no Phlegm-in-the-channels/joints/muscles slide on any deck, a gap confirmed absent many times over — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.
Clinical manifestations: Distending or tight shoulder blade pain, pain comes and goes with emotional stress, irritability or short temper, frequent sighing, rib-side distension or bloating, feeling of a lump in the throat.
Tongue: Normal or slightly dark body, red or slightly purple sides, thin white coat. Pulse: Wiry, especially at the left middle (Liver) position.
Treatment principle: Course the Liver, resolve constraint, move Qi, alleviate pain.
Note: no moxa. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Liver-Qi-stagnation slide.