A Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patient Resolved Dry Mouth by Pressing Ququan (LR8)

Patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma may develop lifelong dry mouth and dry tongue after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In the past the author also tried many methods to solve this problem, but all relied on medication.

Today the author encountered a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) who had undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He developed NPC symptoms in April 2015 and was diagnosed that year with nasopharyngeal carcinoma with multiple metastases, after which he received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. After treatment he once had dry mouth and dry tongue; he saw two TCM doctors in succession, and the dry-mouth problem was somewhat relieved.

But this year, because of the pandemic, he could not promptly return to his previous TCM doctor for follow-up, and a series of symptoms appeared. So he came to the author for remote help. During the conversation the author learned that the patient had again developed dry mouth and dry tongue some time earlier, but because of the pandemic could not see a doctor. He therefore tried for himself, following the method of pressing Ququan (LR8) introduced in an article, and unexpectedly resolved the dry-mouth problem.

The dry-mouth problem after radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients is very stubborn; in some patients this side effect lasts a lifetime. Pressing Ququan is a natural therapy the author had not previously tried. Sometimes we must learn from patients; it is precisely their attempts that let us learn new methods of treating disease. This patient's experience is such a case.

Ququan is one of the acupoints of the Liver Meridian of Foot-Jueyin. It is found by bending the knee, in the depression at the front edge of the insertion of the semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles, above the medial end of the popliteal crease; hence the name "crooked spring." Among the five transport points, Ququan belongs to water; qu means hidden, and quan means spring water. According to traditional TCM theory, Ququan is the place where the water-dampness of the Liver meridian gathers.

TCM holds that Ququan can treat gynecological diseases such as irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, excessive vaginal discharge, uterine prolapse (阴挺), genital itching, and postpartum abdominal pain; it can also treat seminal emission, impotence, hernia, difficult urination, swelling and pain of the knee and patella, and flaccidity and pain of the lower limbs.

This patient using it to treat dry mouth counts as a relatively uncommon effect of this point. The patient used this method because others had used it to treat dry mouth and written articles introducing it. Evidently pressing Ququan has some efficacy for dry mouth, which is why it has been recommended by patients. Explained in TCM terms, pressing Ququan, a water point, indeed has the action of nourishing yin, moistening dryness, stopping thirst, and generating fluids, so this effect is not surprising.

The patient reported that when he first began pressing Ququan, the pain was unbearable, but after two days of pressing, the pain was greatly relieved, and the dry-mouth symptom was likewise greatly relieved. The author records and shares this experience in the hope that it may also be of some help to other patients with dry mouth and dry tongue after radiotherapy.