↑ reinforcing ↓ reducing ⊥ even method.
1. Painful Obstruction due to Damp Heat in Channels
Clinical manifestations: Redness and swelling of the toe joint, joint feels hot to the touch, stiffness worse with warmth and better with cold, heavy aching sensation, worsens in hot humid weather.
Tongue: Red body with a yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Slippery and rapid.
Treatment principle: Clear Heat and dry Dampness, resolve obstruction in the channels.
Note: no moxa. No deck on this site has a dedicated Damp-Heat-in-channels Bi-syndrome category, a confirmed and recurring absence, so no pattern link is given here.
2. Painful Obstruction with Liver and Kidney Deficiency
Clinical manifestations: Dull chronic stiffness worse with rest, lower back soreness and weakness, knee soreness and weakness, fatigue and lack of stamina, worsens in cold or damp weather and with overwork.
Tongue: Pale, thin body with a thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, weak and slow, the rear Kidney position especially weak.
Treatment principle: Tonify Liver and Kidney, dispel Wind-Dampness, nourish the sinews and bones.
Note: moxibustion applicable on ST-36. This pattern's pale tongue and weak pulse point to a Yang/Qi-leaning deficiency, distinct from this site's Kidney-and-Liver-YIN-deficiency slide (which presents with a red, cracked tongue) — no deck on this site has this Bi-syndrome-specific Liver-and-Kidney-deficiency combination, so no pattern link is given here.
Clinical manifestations: Fixed stabbing pain like a knife, toe stiffness worse at night, pain worse with pressure, dark or purplish skin tone around the toe.
Tongue: Dusky or purple with possible stasis spots, dark distended veins under the tongue. Pulse: Rough and uneven, choppy.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood and dispel stasis, restore nourishment to the sinews.
Note: no moxa. Matches this site's Liver-Blood stasis slide — a dusky/purple tongue with stasis spots is the same discoloration marker named there.