First:Patient was a 78-year-old male. He had suffered from pain beneath the right kneecap for several months. He was unable to bend and extend the knee smoothly, which greatly affected his daily life. Examination found the skin temperature of his right knee was cold but without much swelling, which indicated he was of the cold syndrome in TCM. Needling therapy was applied at Xiyan (EX146) (two needles per point), Bindi (EX147), Liangqiu (ST34), Xuehai (SP10), Yinlingquan (SP9), and Zusanli (ST36). Infrared radiation was also applied at the affected areas during the needle-retaining period. Since the initial session,

he felt much better. After the second session that was applied one week later, the knee Pam was completely relieved, and he was able to walk or run as normal. To stabilize results, he came for acupuncture once weekly for a total of seven weeks. At the 6-month- follow-up, the patient had not seen any recurrenceof the knee pain.

Second: Patient was a 30-year-old male. He had suffered from constant pain in the lateral area of his left knee for a year. He was diagnosed with collateral ligament inflammation in the left knee, the same one that was injured 8 years ago and had a subsequent surgery that removed some fragments of the cartilage. Because he did not notice any significant results from anti-inflammatory medications, he came for acupuncture. Examination showed the pain was mostly centralized between Yanglingquan (GB34) and Xiyangguan (GB33), but no local swelling or changes of skin temperature were observed. Needling was applied once weekly at these tender spots as well as Xiyangguan (GB33), Yanglingquan (GB34), and Dubi (ST35). By the sixth session, the pain was completely alleviated. However, whenever the weather changed or after an excessive exercise, he still experienced some recurrence of the pain. Fortunately, with each reoccurrence, one or more sessions of acupuncture as shown above could instantly relieve the pain.