Points Combinations

Sample traditional points combination

The diagram on the right shows a combination (or formula) of therapy points. The points of this sample are used to treat a common hip pain: “Hip pain in flexion, abduction and outer rotation” (Refer to Routine 38, page 166 in the book) The points of a routine are thumb-pressed one after the other for several rounds as long as improvement occurs, up to ten repetitions. Each point is pressed for 5 to 15 seconds. The amount of pressure should suit the client .When time allows, a general treatment on the therapy lines of the routine is performed prior to the work on the acupressure points. In acute conditions, treatment can be applied daily until recovery. In chronic non-acute conditions, treatment should be given twice a week.

Ready-made points combinations (formulas)

Ready-made sets of point combinations are widely used by different acupuncture and acupressure traditions. An important aspect of the point combinations is that they can be relied on as a very effective therapeutic tool even by practitioners with only basic training in manual therapy and without any knowledge of medical theory. In addition, the use of point combinations establishes a solid foundation for the development of intuitive awareness of the energy lines and points.

The point combinations of Wat Po

My book presents 60 point combinations. They comprise the standard basic collection of Thai medical acupressure routines. They were composed and collected in 1955 during a series of seminars by a group of teachers gathered by the founder of the Wat Po massage school, Mr. Preeda Tangtrongchitr. In these seminars, knowledge was shared and exchanged in order to compose a standard general massage treatment routine and a standard body of well-tried and proven-effective ancient point combinations for the treatment of simple orthopedic disorders. These two bodies of knowledge have been taught since then in the course for basic general massage and in the course for therapeutic massage in the school of Wat Po in Bangkok.

Simple orthopedic disorders

These 60 points combinations treat many of the most common orthopedic pathologies that can be treated by a manual therapeutic method. They treat soft tissue ailments such as muscular hypertonicity and myofascial trigger points, muscular weakness, muscle strains, tendinous disorders such as tendinosis, tendonitis and tenosynovitis, ligament sprains, osteoarthritis, neuro-vascular entrapments and neural tensions. The routines cannot treat serious pathologies such as fractures, joint dislocations, orthopedic ailments created by viral or bacterial diseases nor by internal or systemic diseases. There are many more treatment routines that are practiced in Thailand.