Logout 📊 Admin
🏠 Home

Urticaria (Hives)

How Chinese medicine differentiates urticaria, the five 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. Severe or rapidly spreading hives with breathing difficulty is a medical emergency; acupuncture is a complementary, not a replacement, approach.
General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for urticaria — 11 key points, used across most of the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

PointKey action
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, relieves itching.
G.B.-20Expels exterior Wind. Clears Heat. Benefits the head and neck.
Du-14Clears Heat. Releases the Exterior and expels exterior Wind.
ST-36Benefits Stomach and Spleen, tonifies Qi and Blood.
ST-25Regulates the Intestines. Resolves Dampness. Clears Heat in the Stomach and Intestines.
ST-40Resolves Phlegm and Dampness throughout the body.
SP-6Strengthens the Spleen, resolves Dampness, nourishes Blood.
Ren-6Tonifies Qi and Original Qi. Reinforces the body's defenses.
BL-40Clears Heat and cools Blood. Removes obstructions from the channel.
The Five 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 five patterns has a genuine match in the site's pattern decks (checked pattern-by-pattern below) — the site's exterior Wind-Heat and Wind-Cold slides are purely respiratory (cough, sore throat), and no deck anywhere carries a Toxic-Heat/Fire-poison category, so this outcome is expected.

1. Wind-Heat

Clinical manifestations: Red, raised wheals with a burning sensation; lesions that appear and disappear quickly, shifting locations; itching that intensifies in warmth and eases with cool; a sore throat; mild fever; thirst; brought on by exposure to wind and heat, or an allergic-type reaction; eased by cool air and rest.
Tongue: Red at the tip and edges, thin yellow coating. Pulse: Floating, Rapid.
Treatment principle: Disperse Wind-Heat, clear Heat, resolve toxicity at the skin's surface.
Note: no moxa. The site's "Invasion of Lungs by Wind-Heat" slide is purely respiratory (cough, nasal discharge) with no skin content, so no pattern link is given here.

2. Wind-Cold

Clinical manifestations: Pale or light-red wheals that worsen with cold exposure; chills without sweating; headache and body aches; no thirst, or a preference for warm drinks; brought on by exposure to cold wind or a sudden drop in temperature; eased by warmth and covering the skin.
Tongue: Normal or slightly pale, thin white moist coating. Pulse: Floating, Tight.
Treatment principle: Dispel Wind-Cold from the exterior, harmonize Nutritive and Defensive Qi, induce a mild sweat.
Note: moxa applicable. The site's "Invasion of Lungs by Wind-Cold" slide is purely respiratory/exterior-invasion with no skin content, so no pattern link is given here.

3. Damp-Heat in Stomach and Spleen

Clinical manifestations: Bright red wheals; abdominal bloating or pain; sticky or loose bowel movements; a bitter or sticky taste in the mouth; thirst with little desire to drink; a heavy, foggy sensation; brought on by a diet heavy in greasy, spicy, or sweet food, or damp weather; eased by light, plainly-cooked food and a drier environment.
Tongue: Red with a thick yellow greasy coating (center and root). Pulse: Soggy, Rapid, often Slippery.
Treatment principle: Clear Heat and Dampness from the Stomach and Intestines, unblock the bowels, expel Wind to stop itching.
Clear Damp-Heat
Harmonize Stomach
Note: no moxa. This site's "Damp-Heat" slides (Stomach and Spleen decks) are purely digestive/jaundice-framed with, at most, a passing skin-eruption mention, not a genuine wheal-specific match, so no pattern link is given here.

4. Qi and Blood Deficiency

Clinical manifestations: Pale or skin-colored wheals, not bright red; symptoms that worsen at night and after fatigue; dizziness or light-headedness; persistent fatigue; poor appetite; brought on by chronic illness, long-term overwork, or an underlying constitutional weakness; eased by rest and nourishing food.
Tongue: Pale, possibly thin with tooth marks, thin white coating. Pulse: Fine, Weak.
Treatment principle: Tonify Qi and Blood to rebuild the protective Wei-Qi, strengthen the Spleen to generate reserves.
Tonify Qi and Blood
Support, local
Note: moxa applicable on the Tonify points. No deck anywhere on this site combines Qi and Blood deficiency into one generic pattern — a gap confirmed across many prior conditions — so no pattern link is given here.

5. Toxic-Heat

Clinical manifestations: High fever and chills; bright red wheals merging into large, burning plaques; intense thirst for cold drinks; restlessness and irritability; constipation with dark, scanty urine; brought on by a severe or rapidly progressing allergic-type reaction; eased by cooling measures and prompt treatment.
Tongue: Red with prickly thorns, dry yellow coating. Pulse: Rapid, forceful, often Surging or Slippery.
Treatment principle: Drain Fire, resolve toxicity, clear Heat from the Three Burners to cool the Blood.
Note: no moxa. BL-40 is often bled rather than needled with standard technique in this pattern. No deck anywhere on this site has a Toxic-Heat/Fire-poison category, so no pattern link is given here.
Related conditions

Spot an error, or have more to add? Send it to admin on WhatsApp and it'll be corrected/added here.