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Infant’s-pillow pain
儿枕痛 〔兒枕痛〕 ér zhěn tòng
Also mother’s blood lump. Postpartum lower abdominal pain caused by static blood. This pattern may stem from incomplete elimination of the lochia or wind-cold exploiting vacuity to invade the uterine vessels causing a collection of static blood. Both patterns involve stasis, but their pathomechanisms differ.
Patterns
Incomplete elimination of lochia (恶露未尽 è lù wèi jìn): Infant’s-pillow pain stemming from incomplete elimination of the lochia is characterized by hardness and pain in the lower abdomen that refuses pressure or a palpable lump combined with retention of lochia.
Medicinal therapy: Quicken the blood and eliminate stasis. Use
Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on CV, SP, and ST. Main points: CV-4 (Pass Head, 关元 guān yuán), CV-6 (Sea of Qì, 气海 qì hǎi), SP-6 (Three Yīn Intersection, 三阴交 sān yīn jiāo), CV-3 (Central Pole, 中极 zhōng jí), and SP-10 (Sea of Blood, 血海 xuè hǎi). For incomplete elimination of the lochia, add LR-8 (Spring at the Bend, 曲泉 qū quán) and LR-3 (Supreme Surge, 太冲 tài chōng), needling with even supplementation and drainage and adding moxa.
Wind-cold (风寒 fēng hán): Invasion of wind-cold is characterized by cold pain in the lower abdomen that likes warmth, accompanied by a white green-blue or white complexion, lack of warmth in the limbs and stagnant inhibited flow of lochia.
Medicinal therapy: Warm the channels, disperse cold, and dispel stasis. Use
Acumoxatherapy: To the main points given above, add ST-25 (Celestial Pivot, 天枢 tiān shū), ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ), ST-29 (Return, 归来 guī lái), and SP-8 (Earth’s Crux, 地机 dì jī), needling with even supplementation and drainage and adding moxa. Compare postpartum abdominal pain.
Etymology
Chinese: 儿 ér, infant, child; 枕 zhěn, pillow; 痛 tòng, pain; probably from the association of the pain with an abdominal mass imagined to be the pillow on which the infant’s head lay.
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