An Exception When Needling Ah Shi Points

Normally, you needle Ah Shi points different than Classical points. But I forgot to mention when that is not the case. In particular, when the tenderness at the point is not from damage but due to autonomic relationships to know how it should be needled. Maybe you were palpating for points on on one of the “extra” channels not mentioned in TCM. Maybe you were looking for a tender point along a known channel pathway but not a classical point and not a point of known or suspected trauma. Here you should assume the point does have some relationship to a part of the body or a function of the body. So it must be treated like a classical point. Palpation is very useful but you must always think what kind of point it is.