Confessions-of-pulse-master.pdf




Confessions of a Pulse Master

Which Approach to Acupuncture is BEST?

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Confessions of a Pulse Master Introduction: Why Would a TCM Practitioner Choose AcuGraph? I’m a mother of nine, successful business owner, blogger, columnist, and research analyst. My name is Kimberly Thompson and I’m an Acupuncturist. Degree: MSTOM University: Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Specialty: Expert Graph Analysis, Meridian Therapy This report is not just about me. It’s about YOU and thousands of other acupuncturists around the world. With so many styles of acupuncture, all of which have their own benefits, you can choose which styles to master. Similarly, with so many ways to diagnose a patient—beyond typical tongue and pulse diagnostics—you can choose the elements that become part of your diagnosis. In this report we will explore some life-changing learning opportunities I’ve experienced since graduating college with my TCM education. I graduated thinking TCM was the absolute BEST way to treat patients. But after a couple of years, I found out there’s more.

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Don’t get me wrong. I love my TCM education. I think it was a great foundation. But TCM isn’t the end; it’s the beginning.

Background: In this report, one thing I’ll discuss is a tool called AcuGraph. The content of this report was written two years after I began using AcuGraph. I thought AcuGraph was a great product. I especially loved it for patient education and attracting new patients. As for diagnostics and treatment strategies, I didn’t see the need for AcuGraph. I was a TCM practitioner. Although I graphed every patient, I only used TCM theory for treatment. Two years after I started using AcuGraph, I took training with Dr. Jake Fratkin on Meridian Balancing (a Japanese style of Acupuncture). I’ll share what I learned from Dr. Fratkin and how my whole perspective toward acupuncture diagnostics and treatment changed. This report is about how THAT weekend became a game changer in my practice. That’s all I’m going to say for now. I’ll let you read the report and develop your own opinion. You just might be surprised at what you learn.

Kimberly Thompson, L.Ac., MSTOM Meridian, Idaho

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The Weekend I have a massive library packed full of books on Chinese Medicine—many that I used in college, and many more that I picked up along the way—with a plan to someday study them in more detail. I’m sure you can relate. This summer I took the opportunity to force myself back into learning mode by signing up for a weekend seminar with Jake Fratkin, OMD, L.Ac. The subject was Meridian Balancing— using Japanese-style acupuncture; and to my surprise one of the books on his suggested reading list was Meridian Therapy by Shudo Denmei. Since I had the book sitting on my shelf, I tucked it into my suitcase as I headed off to Colorado for the training weekend. There was so much to learn at Dr. Fratkin’s seminar.

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Jake is an expert in the field of Acupuncture and Herbology, and it was quite an honor to study with him. He has a thriving practice in Boulder, Colorado and is a renowned teacher of Chinese medicine. He’s also the author of Chinese Herbal Patent Formulas, The Clinical Desk Reference and Essential Chinese Formulas. His clinical experience—more than 30 years—was exemplified in every aspect of his presentation.
 


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I wanted to learn all he had to teach; but the information that actually stuck in my mind at the end of the weekend is only the tip of the iceberg in comparison to what he presented. Although there is no way that I could come home after only three days of studying under his tutelage and call myself a master—I will say this: “Little did I know that one weekend of studying with Dr. Fratkin, would completely change my understanding of how Chinese Medicine works—and forever transform the way I practice acupuncture.” I have seen miracles happen in my clinic since I returned from Dr. Fratkin’s training. Patients send me e-mails and thank-you letters on a regular basis—because they are so excited about their treatment results. Many patients who have been coming in for months with chronic conditions are now being released from care because their graphs are almost completely green and their symptoms are gone.

Background Green bars on a meridian graph indicate meridians that are in proper, healthy balance with the other meridians. It’s not unusual for over half the meridians to be non-green at any given time. How would you like your patients’ graphs to start looking like this?

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I consider myself a fairly good acupuncturist–but results like those in the above graph have been few and far between. Nevertheless, I can honestly say I am now getting graphs like these quite regularly. As we move through the rest of this report, I’m going to share with you some of the things I learned. I’m convinced this report will bring you better results as a practitioner. Before we go any further, let me get to the most surprising thing I learned from the weekend: Dr. Jake Fratkin uses AcuGraph when diagnosing and treating his patients.  Yes—he really does… Jake Fratkin, world-renowned pulse master and TCM herbalist, computer-graphs every single patient that comes in for treatment! I was amazed—and awed—by his perspective on graphing, along with his conviction and testimonial regarding Meridian Therapy and the use of AcuGraph. When I got on the plane to head home at the end of that weekend, my head was spinning. I learned so much.

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Yin Leads, Yang Follows After I got home from the seminar, I pulled Meridian Therapy out of my suitcase and began devouring it from cover to cover. Stephen Brown autographed the book and wrote these words in the front cover back in 2006: “Yin Leads, Yang Follows.” The essence of the entire book is the fact that disease starts in the yin meridians. When a patient presents in your office with symptoms, this is a direct reflection of imbalances that first appeared in the yin channels. Chinese pulse diagnosis is another example of how excess or deficiencies can be detected in the body before symptoms appear. Denmei says:

!“Turning one’s attention to the yin aspect, or the whole picture, is given precedence over consideration of apparent problems or symptoms, which are yang.”  The real problem lies in the yin channels. Dr. Fratkin taught me that the deficiencies in the yin channels must be addressed first—and that if you treat the imbalances presenting in the yin channels—the yang channels will follow suit on their own. He made a bold statement:

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“If you only treat the imbalances in the yin channels, 80% of the patient’s symptoms will be alleviated.” Think about that for a moment. If eighty percent of the problems are eliminated by simply treating the yin channels—imagine the results you could receive if you focused on those imbalances first… I had only been focusing on TCM. Never had I considered treating channel imbalances. I needed to change the paradigm of my treatment strategies.

How Does AcuGraph Figure into this New Understanding? Here’s what I learned about changing my thought process on treatment after training with Dr. Fratkin: After you graph a patient, focus your treatment on the problems that are presenting specifically in the yin channels. Then the yang channels will balance on their own. The initial goal in treatment is to find out which yin channels are weak and treat them first. Balancing the graph is easy. Simply follow the basic treatment recommended by the AcuGraph system. If a channel is deficient—treat the tonification point on that channel. If there is an excess in the channel—simply treat the sedation point on that channel. Split means there is a major difference between the left and right sides of the same channel. Simply treat the Luo point of the channel to treat the split. This is considered a root treatment.

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NOTE: The tonification and sedation points AcuGraph recommends are based on the mother-son-relationship in Japanese-style Acupuncture Theory. Remember when you memorized those in school? I had to memorize them to in order to pass exams, but I never used them in practice before this weekend.

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Shudo Denmei says that if we do not treat the root of the problem first, the rest of the treatment will be less effective.

! The graph above shows a picture of what is happening in the body. Start taking a look at your graphs from a little different perspective by selecting the Yin/Yang graph. In this graph, the yin channels will be on the left. For now, just ignore the yang channels that you see on the right. This patient has two concerns: #1: The Spleen meridian is low/deficient #2: The Pericardium meridian is high/excess   How would you treat this patient? Treat the tonification point for the Spleen—which is Spleen 2. Treat the sedation point for the Pericardium—which is Pericardium 7. My experience is that when the patient comes back the following week, the graph has begun to stabilize–and symptoms begin diminishing. I consider treating the imbalances in the graph a root treatment, which takes care of the first eighty percent. For the last twenty percent I focus on branch treatments such as TCM, auriculotherapy, musculotendino treatment, etc.

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Why Does it Work? Illness or injury is directly related to qi—either the quality of qi or the movement of qi throughout the body. Anytime the body is sick or injured, it is because the energy is not smoothly moving through the channels. The body knows how to heal itself. It will heal if the movement and quality of qi and blood are normal. AcuGraph creates a picture of where the imbalances are in the body—and a plan for how to redirect the flow of qi.

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I have been using AcuGraph in my clinic since 2009. I do not doubt the evidence that electrical conductance in the acupuncture meridians is a valid basis for analyzing qi flow. The part I doubted back then was how effective those tonification and sedation points were for creating balance!

Of course, they didn’t teach me this in school. I wonder why. Seriously...does anyone know why and care to share? I was trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Once I began to expand my research of TCM through the scientific analysis of acupuncture points and meridians, my understanding completely changed. I learned that TCM patterns are more related to herbal diagnosis than to meridian energy balance. In fact, you simply can’t prescribe herbs without understanding the fundamentals of TCM. Acupuncture, on the other hand is NOT related to TCM patterns. How often do you find a patient gets better by simply treating the pattern? Acupuncture is related to the art of becoming master engineer of the energetics in the body. The more you understand how energy flows through the body in the external, internal and musculotendino passageways (and all the intricate secret passageways within its amazing infrastructure) the more success you will find in acupuncture treatment.

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AcuGraph Transition My first year at Miridia Technology was spent analyzing graphs and trying to figure out how to see TCM pattern diagnosis in the graph findings. I would then treat according to my own background and knowledge of TCM and watch for balance improvements in the graph. Did I see graph improvements? Yes—but only to an extent. I had no idea how much BETTER these improvements could be if I followed the recommended treatments in the basic graph analysis. In the beginning, I found AcuGraph helpful for a couple of reasons: #1: My patients loved to see the results of their treatment—especially their P.I.E. score improvements. #2: It is amazing for marketing your practice. Patients are intrigued about a tool which combines the theories of ‘ANCIENT’ Chinese Medicine with ‘MODERN’ technology.

Ponder These Statements for a Moment…

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“I loved what AcuGraph was doing for my business, but I didn’t follow the recommendations for treatment. Why? Because I felt as if my TCM knowledge was greater than the simple tonification and sedation point recommendations that were given.” “Why would I want to simply tonify or sedate a channel when I had studied for four years in a Master’s program geared towards pattern diagnosis?” “My goal for treatment was to drain damp, tonify yin, move blood, and strengthen the spleen. It was drilled into me for four years to “Treat the PATTERN!” Dr. Fratkin was on to something. The whole weekend, I couldn’t get over the surprise at learning that Dr. Fratkin uses AcuGraph in his private practice. I was astonished to realize that after 30 years of practicing TCM, with excellent pulse-taking skills, Dr. Fratkin would make the following statement:

“There is no pulse diagnosis in the world that is better than computer diagnosis.” He further claimed: “AcuGraph gives a very accurate pulse assessment,” which allowed him to get better results. Beyond the fact that I was very impressed with Dr. Fratkin’s seminar, the results he gets with his patients, his incredible knowledge of Chinese Medicine, and his claim that no pulse diagnosis is better than electrical diagnosis—two significant things stood out as I watched him in action, treating 20 volunteer patients. #1: He continually showed us how the pulse matched up with the readings on the graph. #2: He never used TCM theory to treat. He focused his root treatment on the recommended AcuGraph analysis. “I was dumfounded. I’d been using AcuGraph for two years. I worked for Miridia Technology and wrote blog articles about my AcuGraph experience. Yet—I had NEVER treated the tonification and sedation points during treatment. My focus was only on TCM.”

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Trust the Graph What was the result of this new focus? I suddenly began to see amazing changes in my practice. Before, I was getting ‘DECENT’ results; now, patients were getting ‘AMAZING’ results. Not only was I seeing incredible changes in their graphs, but I also saw a reduction in patient symptoms. After making the change in my treatment strategies, I regularly received e-mails and text messages with incredible thank-you notes from my patients.

CASE STUDY Look at this patient’s graph. I had been treating her for Multiple Sclerosis for more than 2 years. She came in every two weeks for treatment because of her high-stress lifestyle. Acupuncture kept her Multiple Sclerosis symptoms under control. Graph #1, above, was typical for her before my treatment strategy changed from Pattern Diagnosis to Meridian Analysis. Now take a look at Graph #2. Once I started treating the Tonification and Sedation points suggested by the graph analysis, her results changed dramatically and so did her symptoms. The new graph results were amazing. In all the time I had been seeing her and tracking her progress, I had never seen such improvement. I learned quickly how important it is to trust the graph!

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Graph #1

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Graph #2

! Results like these have been typical in my practice since I began trusting the graph. Many patients have been released from long-term care and put onto a maintenance program. Patients are getting better twice as fast and the referrals just keep coming in.

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Do you Trust the Graph? Balancing the graph is the same as balancing the pulse. If you are anything like me, and have been using the AcuGraph as tool to fascinate and intrigue your patients but are afraid to step out of your comfort zone and TRUST the graph, I challenge you try it for yourself. AcuGraph is still an amazing tool to impress your patients because it makes acupuncture easy to explain and they love it. But imagine how they will love YOU if you are getting faster results that are LIFE CHANGING!

“The first step in the traditional approach to learning is to follow, faithfully, a method without passing judgment.” —Shudo Denmei

In Meridian Therapy, Shudo Denmei states that “the first step in the traditional approach to learning is to follow, faithfully, a method without passing judgment.” I've got to be honest, I thought that my TCM approach to treatment was the most effective. Once I took that first step and allowed myself to trust the graph—I learned there was so much more I didn’t know! Denmei emphasizes that he eventually came to a point where he was practicing a completely different style of acupuncture from what he was first taught by his TCM ‘Master.’ I can relate to his statement because I have dramatically changed my approach to treatment since I left college. One of my favorite quotes from his book is worth pondering: “I am convinced that the path for acupuncturists today lies in absorbing all of the useful information medical science has to offer, while continually striving to understand the classics so that the art of acupuncture can be refined by drawing from the best of both traditions.” —Shudo Denmei AcuGraph is a model of diagnosis and treatment that combines both modern medical science and the traditional ancient art of acupuncture. If you trust its results, you will push your expertise to a whole new level. As I mentioned above, I started using AcuGraph mostly so my patients would be more engaged with my treatments. Now that I trust the graph, I won’t stop using it because it makes me a much better practitioner. I believe it is our obligation, as healers, to teach what we learn so that the world can be a better place.

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Next I want to teach you how to train your eyes to analyze the graph from a little different perspective and get amazing results.

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I also want you to learn how you can use AcuGraph results more effectively as a root treatment while still treating the branch in the same visit.

Let’s review what we’ve covered up to this point. •

We discussed the Meridian Therapy training I received with Dr. Jake Fratkin based on Japanese-style acupuncture and Shudo Denmei’s book Meridian Therapy.

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We established that 80% of a patient’s symptoms may be alleviated by treating the Yin imbalances found in AcuGraph because Yin Leads and Yang Follows.

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We talked about Dr. Jake Fratkin’s conviction that: “There is no pulse diagnosis in the world that is better than computer diagnosis.”

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I also shared the amazing results I’ve been getting with my patients since I began to trust the graph.

Now I want to spend some time explaining how I treat a typical patient.

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Root Versus Branch Treating the yin channels is considered a root treatment. Once the yin channels are treated, the flow of energy in the body becomes balanced and any work done on the branch/presenting symptoms will get better twice as fast. The emphasis, according to Denmei, is to focus on the root cause of disease, while also effectively treating the immediate symptoms.

“When the yin channels are in balance, then the yang channels will follow.” —Dr. Jake Paul Fratkin

Dr. Fratkin taught that yin channel imbalances are the root cause of the problem and that imbalances in the yang channels are more specifically based on symptoms. His tagline, which is also a common thread throughout Meridian Therapy, was this: “When the yin channels are in balance, then the yang channels will follow.”

Analyzing the Graph As I’ve shown you, it is very easy to analyze the Yin channels in AcuGraph. Simply click on the Yin/Yang view to see the Yin channels on the left and the Yang channels on the right. Dr. Fratkin taught me to be a little more scrutinizing when finding the excesses and deficiencies in AcuGraph. In fact, he believes ANYTHING that falls below the blue line is considered deficient and ANYTHING that goes above the red line is considered excess (even if it shows up on the graph as a green or pink). Let me show you what I mean. First, notice that we are looking at the Yin/Yang view of the graph. Let’s analyze each of the channels on the Yin side of the graph.

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Note: For now, just ignore the imbalances you see on the yang side. We’ll talk about yang channels in a bit.

Yin Channels

Yang Channels

Lung: Low/Deficient

Kidney: High/Excess

The color of the graph actually shows up as ‘normal’ because it is green. Dr. Fratkin taught to look at this as Low because either the left or the right falls below the blue line.

A true high/excess—no modifications will be made. Treat as excess.

Spleen: High/Excess Again, this channel presents as ‘normal’ because it is green. But we are going to call it High because either the left or right extends above the red line. Anything that goes above the Red is excess for this explanation.

Pericardium: Normal A true normal—no modification will be made. Liver: Low/Deficient The liver shows as ‘Normal’ because it is green. But we are going to call his Low because at least one side of it falls below the blue line.

Heart: Normal A true normal—no modification will be made.

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How I Would Treat this Patient The traditional way to treat deficiencies and excesses in the channel is by treating the tonification and sedation points for that channel. Most of the time I am very happy with the toninfication/sedation point choices, except for the occasions when that point winds up being a Jing-well point. No one really likes needles in the Jing-well points, right? Dr. Fratkin taught that you can choose to use either the Tonification point or the Source point for a deficient channel and get the same results. The same holds true for Sedation points. According to Dr. Fratkin, you can effectively switch out a Sedation point for a Xi-cleft point. He also taught that the order in which you treat the points is important. This new approach has been very effective. Here’s the strategy and how it works… #1: First treat the YIN channels that are Low/Deficient with the tonification point for that channel (or the Source point, if preferred). Always treat the deficiencies first. Tonification

Source

Lung

Lung 9

or

Lung 9

Liver

Liver 8

or

Liver 3

  #2: Second treat the YIN channels that are High/Excess with the sedation point for that channel (or the Xi-Cleft point, if preferred.) Sedation

Xi-Cleft

Spleen

Spleen 5

or

Spleen 8

Kidney

Kidney 1

or

Kidney 5

#3: Now that you’ve put the body into balance by doing a root treatment, you can treat the Branch/Chief Complaint with points specific to the symptoms being addressed.

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Here’s where the YANG channels finally come into play. Most of the yang channels relate to musculoskeletal pain. You treat the other 20% of the symptoms by adding a BRANCH treatment. Once the root treatment needles are in, feel free to use whatever skills you have to eliminate the patient’s physical symptoms–local needling, distal needling, auriculotherapy, massage, chiropractic, tui na, gua sha, cupping, herbal therapy, etc. The list goes on. •

Does your patient have shoulder pain? Or back pain? Use the above listed techniques to further alleviate his/her symptoms.

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Is he/she catching a cold or dealing with low immunity? Treat with points to boost immunity, add Spleen 6 and Stomach 36 with some moxa, send him/her home with an herbal supplement, etc.

The main point to remember is that no matter what the chief complaint is—first balance the graph. This is your ROOT treatment. Once the graph is balanced, 80% of the patient’s symptoms such as sleep disorders, musculoskeletal pain, digestive issues, emotional dysfunction, etc. are eliminated on their own. Eighty percent is something to be excited about! It’s the compilation of all your other skills that will take care of that extra 20%.

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By first treating the yin imbalances and then dealing with symptoms through a branch treatment, patients will return with glowing reports of symptom relief AND their graphs should have amazing shifts toward green, even on the yang side!

The end results are AMAZING! Patients will get better TWICE as fast. You will find that patients with chronic pain, whom you’ve been working on for months and months are finally going to get better. Your referral rate is going to go up because you are getting such amazing results with your patients. I am convinced that this technique has helped bring outstanding results to my patients. It works, it makes sense, and it is so EASY. Yes, I have my Master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine, but I am capable of learning more effective ways of treating my patients, using modern science and research.

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Without a doubt, AcuGraph, Dr. Fratkin and Shudo Denmei’s Meridian Therapy have helped me to become a more successful acupuncturist. But, don’t just take my word for it–try it for yourself! Here’s a Chinese proverb that ties it all together.

“I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” I’ve shown you how it works. Now it’s time to put it to the test and find out for yourself, so you can REALLY understand! Expert acupuncturists around the world have found that Traditional Chinese Medicine combined with modern Digital Meridian Imaging leads to outstanding results. Are you ready to be an expert?

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About the Author I hope you enjoyed this report. Thanks for letting me share what I've learned through my AcuGraph journey. I can't wait to hear what happens in your clinic as you perfect the art of Digital Meridian Imaging and treatment based on Meridian Therapy. Being an acupuncturist is FUN—but having tools to help me become the best practitioner possible is REWARDING. I wish you the best as you continue your journey. Hopefully something I’ve shared will inspire you to learn more. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email anytime if you have questions or needs. I’ll talk to you soon.

Kimberly Thompson, L.Ac. Acupuncture Research Analyst

Miridia Technology Inc.  1875 N. Lakes Place Meridian, ID 83646 [email protected] Telephone: 208.846.8448

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