The plus-and-minus scale: how pain and stiffness at a point are graded and written down
Neurotherapy (LMNT) grades each pain point from minus (no pain) to four plus (pain at the lightest touch). The grade is set by how deep the finger goes before it meets resistance, and the two sides of the body are always compared.
Overview
Every therapist must mean the same thing by a finding, so Neurotherapy (LMNT) uses one simple notation. Plus (+) means pain or stiffness; minus (−) means none. The therapist presses with soft fingers on each point around the navel and grades the answer on five steps.
Four plus (++++): the patient cries out at the very lightest touch. Three plus (+++): stiffness or pain is felt once the finger has gone a little way in. Two plus (++): the skin is soft, but stiffness is felt somewhat deeper. One plus (+): soft quite deep down, and only then a mild stiffness. Minus (−): skin and fat soft like butter, with no reaction at all — meaning the blood circulation below that spot is working well.
So the scale is really a ruler of depth. Two therapists will argue forever about whether a patient is ‘quite tender’, but both can answer ‘at what depth did your finger first meet resistance?’ The therapist also notes whether the finding was hardness (what the finger meets), pain (what the patient feels), or both — because a patient who never complains may still have a hard, stiff point.
Almost every point has a mirror on the other side, such as Liv and Mu, or Liv° and Mu°. The two are pressed one after the other, the same way, and compared. Three plus on one side and minus on the other is a real finding; three plus on both may only mean the hand pressed too hard. On the card, an empty box means ‘not examined’, while a minus means ‘examined and quiet’.
Key points
- Plus means pain or stiffness; minus means none.
- The grade runs from four plus (lightest touch hurts) to minus (soft like butter).
- The grade is the depth at which the finger first meets resistance.
- Left and right are always compared — the difference is the finding.
- An empty box means not examined; a minus means examined and quiet.
Go deeper
The Educated Hand: How the Pain Points Are Felt
Guide: The Educated Hand
Liv°
Liv° — the right kidney point
Mu°
Mu° — the left kidney point
Mu° pain (examination sign)
What a tender Mu° can mean
The Record That Shows the Truth: The Patient Card in Neurotherapy (LMNT)
Guide: The Record That Shows the Truth
The Two Kingdoms: Acidic and Alkaline Bodies
Guide: The Two Kingdoms — what the two sides mean
Read the full guide
This topic is part of: The Educated Hand: How the Pain Points Are Felt
Safety: when it is held back
- A soft cord that beats, a little above and left of the navel, is the body's great artery — not a pain point. A pulsing swelling that grows under the hand means no pressure on the belly at all and a doctor the same day. How to tell a patient to see a doctor
Watch
An overview of LMNT's diagnostic pain points — the places around the navel that the therapist presses to read the body before choosing a treatment.
Dr. Diwakar Shukla shows students where the Mu° point lies and how it is pressed, both to examine the body and as part of treatment.
This page explains what a Neurotherapy (LMNT) treatment is for; it is not a self-treatment guide and does not diagnose. Neurotherapy (LMNT) works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed.