Overview of Collateral Meridian Therapy in Pain Management: A Modified Structured Formulated Chinese Acupressure

Collateral meridian therapy (CMT) is a recent developed technique according to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) experiences; it differs from traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA) in many ways. In addition to TCA, CMT offers an alternative for different types of pain management. This article introduces the theory of CMT, acupoints localization, general treatment protocol principle, and some published reports. CMT is developed by Dr. Shan-Chih Ko, he combined the TCM and Western medicine, by using two-point acupressure technique, manipulating the control C-point and treatment functional F-point. CMT differs from TCA in three major points. CMT follows a standard formulated treatment protocols, instead of individual experiences in TCA. Secondly, CMT is based on a two-point acupressure maneuver on the C-point and F-point rather than manipulation of a single point as advocated by TCA. The third, CMT provides a standard set of 108 acupoints, instead of 361 in TCA. It allows redistribution of body energy, ”Qi”, from one meridian to another in order to augment or remove the unbalanced ”Qi”. CMT has been used effectively in our pain clinic to treat musculoskeletal pain and even intractable pains. Dr. Ko simplifies the theory and technique that makes CMT easy to learn and perform, by using English letters, it can be used world-widely. The role of CMT in pain management is promising for both acute and chronic pains. Randomized controlled trials are needed to strengthen its scientific evidence.