Expert: R. Scott Malone L.Ac. - 7/9/2008

Question
Hello, my 19 year old son has been suffering from severe OCD since 13. We've tried conventional treatments first but nothing helped. Then he did acupuncture for almost a year and also took Chinese herbs for 8 months along with the healthy diet, but that didn't help either, not even a little. I would appreciate your opinion on what could be blocking his improvement and what can we do about? Is it any use for him to apply heat to the "point of longevity" (TSZU-SAN-LEE)? Thanks a lot!!!

Answer
Acupuncture and herbal medicine is very effective in treating mental/emotional disorders.

I would say a year without effect and you should look for someone else.  

This is a complex issue, and every patient is different. Is St36 the only point being used? I can not say what the practitioner's reasoning is, so I can't really comment on why it is being used.


Not having much experience with ocd in particular, I would recommend that you look through this excellent article on TCM and OCD.
Cut and paste the link below into your browser.
http://www.myacudoc.com/images/OCD.article.pdf

I hope this helps, I've cut and pasted some of the points of interest, but please look through the whole article as it is full of great information. If I can be of any service to you, feel free to call upon me.

R. Scott Malone L.Ac.

Here are the salient points that might be of interest to you:

It is important to note that the person with OCD performs their rituals in response to fear. This is the root of the disorder, for in the absence of fear, there would be no need for the defensive rituals. So it is left to us to understand this fear, from whence it comes, and how we might reduce it. It is rooted in Water, in the Kidney. The Kidney lies at the root of OCD and other fear-based disorders. A disharmony of Water leads to a shaky foundation upon which to base our lives and our growth.

the Kidney has a control relationship with the
Heart. When the Kidney is deficient, Water fails to control Fire, leading to either an excess or deficient condition of the Heart, depending on other factors, most commonly seen as Heart Fire or Heart Blood Deficiency

Heart disharmonies lead to disturbances of sleep.
Sleep disturbances of various types are very common among people with
OCD. In fact, some researchers feel that sleep disturbances are perhaps the cause of OCD. Drug therapy to normalize sleep patterns has been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of obsessive thoughts in some clinical observations.
Other common symptoms of OCD include restlessness, propensity to
be startled, poor memory and shortness of breath, all of which correspond to disharmonies of the Heart.

Reducing Fear is the first goal. Clearly, to nourish the Kidney is of primary importance. We may approach this task in many ways, though I have found that due to the depth of this disorder I nearly always include some combination of the Ren, Du and Chong extra channels. The goal, however, is to help to connect the patient
to Water, to make them more like Water. Treat Water points, points
that nourish Water, channels that move Water, Organs that regulate Water.

While the Kidney is of primary importance, treating the Heart is crucial to our success as well.