Clove sore

A small, hard sore with a deep root like a clove or nail, appearing most commonly on the face and ends of the fingers. A clove sore arises when fire toxin enters the body through a wound, and then heat brews and binds in the skin and flesh. It may also arise when anger, anxiety, and preoccupation or excessive indulgence in rich food or alcohol lead to accumulated heat in the bowels and viscera, which effuses outward to the skin. Sometimes, a clove sore may have a single red threadlike line stretching from the sore toward the trunk. This is known as a red-thread clove sore. Severe forms are known as toxin clove sores, whose toxin can spread to penetrate the blood aspect and attack the organs, causing clouded spirit. This is called a running yellow.

Medicinal therapy: Clear heat and resolve toxin. Use Five-Ingredient Toxin-Dispersing Beverage (五味消毒饮 wǔ wèi xiāo dú yǐn) or Coptis Toxin-Resolving Decoction (黄连解毒汤 huáng lián jiě dú tāng) for oral medication, and apply Thoroughly Pounded Paste (千捶膏 qiān chuí gāo). Clove sores of the limbs can be lanced to allow pus to drain. However, clove sores that are lanced and squeezed too early can cause running.

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on GV and LI. Select GV-12 (Body Pillar, 身柱 shēn zhù), GV-10 (Spirit Tower, 灵台 líng tái), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), and BL-40 (Bend Center, 委中 wěi zhōng); needle with drainage or pricking to bleed with a three-edged needle.

Point selection according to affected area: When lying on the large intestine channel pathway on the face, add LI-1 (Shang Yáng, 商阳 shāng yáng) and LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí). When lying on the gallbladder channel pathway on the face, add GB-34 (Yáng Mound Spring, 阳陵泉 yáng líng quán), GB-41 (Foot Overlooking Tears, 足临泣 zú lín qì), and GB-44 (Foot Orifice Yīn, 足窍阴 zú qiào yīn). Affecting the end of the index finger, add LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí) and LI-20 (Welcome Fragrance, 迎香 yíng xiāng). Affecting the end of the little toe and second toe, add GB-34 (Yáng Mound Spring, 阳陵泉 yáng líng quán), and GB-2 (Auditory Convergence, 听会 tīng huì). When growing on the lower limbs, add KI-9 (Guest House, 筑宾 zhú bīn) and SP-10 (Sea of Blood, 血海 xuè hǎi).

Point selection according to signs: For high fever, add LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí) and GV-14 (Great Hammer, 大椎 dà zhuī). For clove toxin attacking the inner body and clouding the spirit, add GV-26 (Water Trough, 水沟 shuǐ gōu), SI-8 (Small Sea, 小海 xiǎo hǎi), and HT-7 (Spirit Gate, 神门 shén mén), and prick Ten Diffusing Points (十宣 shí xuān) to bleed.

Etymology

Chinese: The character 疔 dīng is composed of the character 丁 dīng meaning a nail or clove with the illness signifier 疒.