Bloodletting can be a commonly used technique, depending, of course, on the preferences of the practitioner. However, on children we tend not to use it very often because of the difficulties of applying the technique and such issues as getting parent approval, or not upsetting the child. The most common uses are to bleed jing points or stab and remove some blood from small blood vessels such as vascular spiders. The techniques and details of these methods are covered in detail in the book Japanese Acupuncture: A Clinical Guide (Birch and Ida 1998, pp. 209–242).

For bloodletting we no longer use the three-edged bloodletting needle that has been used historically in Asia. It is much easier using the lancets that diabetic patients use. They are finer, sterile, inexpensive, and disposable. They have been manufactured and improved for use by diabetic patients who routinely check their blood sugar levels by taking blood from the fingertips—a very sensitive area.

Of course, when you are to come in contact with the body fluids of a patient you must protect yourself and be careful about contamination. The following basic rules need to be followed:

Always wear latex or rubber gloves.

Prepare the lancet needles, alcohol-soaked cotton balls, and dry cotton balls in advance. Place these on a non-porous surface that can either be sterilized afterwards (such as a metal tray) or disposed of (such as a plastic surface).

Wipe the skin to be punctured with alcohol. Let the alcohol dry.

Apply the lancet needle (as described below), remove the small amount of blood desired—being careful not to touch anything with your contaminated hands and placing the needle and contaminated cotton balls only on the non-porous surface.

More details of this are given in the book Japanese Acupuncture (Birch and Ida 1998, pp. 216–217).

In the section below I list indications that have been edited from Maruyama and Kudo (1982) and describe the techniques in each style of bloodletting (jing points and vascular spider).

Bloodletting can be used if one modifies the manner of needle use and blood removal so that one can modify and control the dose of treatment and make the technique completely painless. Bloodletting jing points can be very helpful for certain pediatric conditions as indicated in the edited list from Maruyama and Kudo (1982) below. But it is also good to remember that any symptom in the related channel can also be targeted. The primary findings that indicate the use of jing point bloodletting are location of symptom, channel affected, signs of blood stasis, and reactions at the jing point such as redness, swelling, puffiness, or pressure pain. For details of the methods of jing point blood-letting, its precautions and doses see Japanese Acu-puncture (Birch and Ida 1998, pp. 233–241) and Shimada (2005).

Indications for the Nail Corners of the Fingers

Thumb: mainly applied at the radial corner (LU-11), but can be applied at both corners

Good for: