Weight Loss and Belly Slimming: Acupressure Massage to Regulate Digestion and Improve Constipation

Technique 1: Thumb Overlapping Press
Overlap your two thumbs and press on the abdomen and related acupoints. The pressure should be light enough to feel a pulse, but not painful.

Technique 2: Wave Pressing Method
With fingers together and naturally extended, place one palm on the back of the other, right hand on top. Press the lower palm and fingers flat against the abdomen, pushing forward; the upper palm presses backward. This push-and-pull motion, moving slowly from top to bottom, resembles waves in water. After applying pressure, use a massage stick or your index finger knuckle to apply firm pressure.

Besides acupressure, you can also gently tap with a mallet or "health hammer" for 5-6 minutes with both legs together. You'll notice an increase in urination.

In addition to these two methods, you can also use a "vacuum cleaner therapy" to "absorb" excess water from your body. The specific method involves removing the vacuum cleaner head and placing the handle's inlet (suction port) directly on the skin, focusing on the Fenglong acupoint. Suction for 5-7 seconds, repeating 4-5 times. Suctioning the Fenglong acupoint promotes skin respiration, purifies the blood, ensures smooth blood flow in capillaries, and accelerates the metabolism of waste products.

It's important to note that the suction power should be relatively low. If the vacuum cleaner has an adjustable switch, set it to a lower setting. Also, since the suction power varies significantly between different vacuum cleaner models, the recommended time and number of repetitions are for reference only. Remove the suction port immediately if you feel heat or pain on your skin.

Of course, the Fenglong acupoint is not only effective for treating edema-type obesity but also for other types of obesity.

Because Fenglong acupoint not only promotes water metabolism, it also regulates appetite. That is, when you have a poor appetite, it can stimulate your appetite; but when you have an excessive appetite, it can suppress it, reducing and inhibiting the feeling of hunger.

However, it's important to note that it's unrealistic to expect to lose your belly fat simply by using one or two acupoints. Besides combining treatment with other acupoints, there's another crucial element – ​​a recurring theme: moderation in diet and moderate exercise.

The natural "laxative" for constipation-related abdominal obesity – Tianshu acupoint. Let's be frank: for people with large bellies, nothing is more satisfying than a smooth bowel movement. It's hard to believe that someone with a large belly doesn't suffer from constipation. Constipation is one of the major contributors to a large belly. If you have a habit of constipation, you're almost certainly struggling with lower body obesity; and if you have abdominal obesity, you're almost certainly also constipated. Therefore, regular bowel movements are a crucial means of reducing belly fat and maintaining health! It's as simple as arithmetic—think about how much food you've put in your mouth? How much of it has come out? Since you already know which foods you should eat and which you shouldn't, you should be someone who goes to the toilet frequently; if you only manage to produce a few rabbit droppings each day, there's definitely something you can't talk about. We've mentioned before that drinking plenty of water helps the body eliminate waste—don't get tired of emphasizing this. Just drink water! If drinking water still doesn't solve the problem, or if you still have difficulty defecating after drinking water, we recommend a highly effective acupoint—Tianshu (天枢).

Bloody Reduction Tips: Acupoint Therapy for Constipation

Yin Deficiency Constipation: These people often feel dry mouth and urinate frequently. Massaging both Tianshu (天枢) acupoints daily can relieve constipation.

Blood Deficiency Constipation: This is mainly common in postpartum women, patients after major surgery, those with chronic illnesses, and the elderly and frail. In addition to massaging both Tianshu (天枢) acupoints, also add Zusanli (足三里) and Sanyinjiao (三阴交) to replenish Qi and blood.

For those with constipation due to Yang deficiency: The location of the Tianshu acupoint is special in this case, situated precisely on the boundary between the upper and lower body. The classic Chinese medicine text, *Huangdi Neijing*, states: "The upper body is governed by Qi (vital energy), while the lower body is governed by Earth Qi." What then defines this boundary? It's the Tianshu acupoint, which means it's not an ordinary acupoint.

Where is Tianshu on the abdomen? It's located two inches to the side of the navel. The Tianshu acupoint excels in regulating the ascending and descending of Qi, harmonizing the upper and lower body, and regulating gastrointestinal function, especially in treating constipation and diarrhea.

In the abdominal reduction class, there was an elderly man surnamed Liao who often worried about going to the toilet when he first arrived. His stools were very dry, and each bowel movement was difficult, requiring a long time on the toilet, with a constant feeling of incomplete evacuation. Sometimes he wouldn't have a bowel movement for four or five days, or even a week. In his case, a typical hospital would prescribe oral laxatives, enemas, or other similar treatments. Since he was in a belly-reducing class, the doctor naturally wouldn't use the methods commonly used by others. This isn't to say those methods are bad, but the doctor had doubts about their effectiveness in addressing the root cause and their potential side effects. Therefore, the doctor used a unique Traditional Chinese Medicine method called "Tianshu Therapy" to solve his difficulty in defecating.

The method involves pressing this acupoint until the urge to defecate is felt, then going to the toilet. After defecating, continue pressing the left and right Tianshu acupoints with both thumbs, applying only a light pressure. If unable to do this independently, assistance can be provided. As the doctor expected, the results were excellent.

A hospital used this method to treat constipation in 138 patients, with 126 showing improvement, a success rate of 91.3%, demonstrating significant efficacy. Therefore, for people with constipation-related obesity, in addition to eating more fiber-rich foods such as corn, barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, fruits, and vegetables, pressing the Tianshu acupoint can also relieve constipation. Of course, there are various techniques. Besides the single acupoint manipulations mentioned above, other acupoints can be used in conjunction to prevent constipation. The specific methods are as follows:

First, massage the Zhongtuo, Tianshu, and Daheng acupoints, then massage the abdomen clockwise.

Next, massage the Pishu, Shenshu, and Dachangshu acupoints along both sides of the spine for one minute each. Then, gently push down the spine from the middle of the waist to the coccyx, a total of 50 times.

With the help of the Tianshu acupoint, you will surely be able to solve your constipation problem and eventually make your protruding belly disappear.

Pressing the back of the hand and chest/abdomen area helps prevent overeating.

If you are a beautiful woman, congratulations! Undoubtedly, your figure is your wealth. Even if you don't expect it to bring you great riches, at least it will be pleasing to the eye for others and yourself. However, to maintain this result, you must put in some effort. But note that this effort is not about applying expensive cosmetics, but about focusing on your health, because health is the only way to maintain beauty.

Even if you're naturally beautiful, if you live too carefree a life, failing to develop healthy habits and indulging in excessive eating and drinking, then without a doubt, you're likely to look 40 or even older when you're 30. By then, you've already lost that natural beauty. You might say now, "No! My skin is still supple and beautiful." But what about your abdomen? Believe it or not, your belly is already noticeably protruding. And what we want to tell you is: abdominal problems will eventually reflect on your face, and the speed will far exceed your imagination.

Here's an example: an 18-year-old girl, perfectly healthy, recently gained 10 kilograms. She used to be a beauty, but now she's become a "fat beauty." The reason for her obesity is simple: for the past few months, she consistently ate snacks, desserts, chocolate, hamburgers, and fries every day—a huge amount of food—without any exercise. She ate late-night snacks every night, and after eating, she went to sleep, sometimes even eating late at night. She gained 10 kilograms in just a few months.

She also had a face full of acne, dark red and black, looking extremely unsightly. Stimulating acupoints can improve appetite; those who have read the doctor's explanation of the Fenglong acupoint will know this principle. Indeed, the doctor used this method to help her overcome her bulimia.

There are many acupoints and areas that can suppress appetite, the most convenient being the back and palms of the hands.

One is the "chest and abdomen area," about 3 cm in diameter, in the center of the back of the hand. Another is the "stomach, spleen, and large intestine area," located on one side of the palm, directly below the index finger to the base of the thumb. The doctor instructed her to firmly press these two areas before each meal, and it was very effective; she ate less than half her usual amount, and after a few days, her acne disappeared.

However, if you also plan to use this method, we must emphasize again that you must control the pressure. If the stimulation is not strong enough or doesn't hurt enough, it will be ineffective. Gently rubbing or massaging these areas can actually stimulate gastrointestinal function, leading to increased appetite.

Mr. Zhong, who was "forced" here by his wife, is a case in point. His wife had already achieved results after a two-week comprehensive weight loss program at a belly-slimming class, so she tried to help Mr. Zhong. However, the more she tried to stimulate his appetite, the more he ate, and eventually, Mrs. Zhong "forced" him to come to us.

Therefore, to prevent excessive appetite due to improper operation, you can use some small tools at hand. The "stomach, spleen, and large intestine area" on the palm of your hand can be pinched with plastic hairpins or paper clips to achieve a stimulating effect (metal objects are too painful and should be avoided).