Fengchi, Tianzhu and Dazhui
Star風池、天柱、大椎 (Fēngchí, Tiānzhù, Dàzhuī)
Modern Chinese point-pair (对穴) teaching, as compiled by Guo Changqing and colleagues at the School of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.
Points
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Meeting point of the Gallbladder and Triple Energiser channels with the Yang Wei and Yang Qiao Mai; the principal point for expelling wind from the head.
Patient seated or prone. Below the occiput, in the hollow between the upper ends of sternocleidomastoid and trapezius. Insert obliquely, angled downward and medially toward the tip of the nose, 0.5–1.0 cun, through the subcutaneous tissue toward rectus capitis posterior major, until an ache with numbness is felt locally.
- ⚠ Spinal cord / medulla
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Window of Heaven and Sea of Qi point at the nape; releases the neck and clears the head.
Patient seated with the head bent forward, or prone. 1.3 cun lateral to GV15, at the outer edge of trapezius, level with the top of the C2 spinous process. Insert perpendicularly or obliquely, 0.5–0.8 cun, through the subcutaneous tissue into rectus capitis posterior major, until an ache with numbness is felt locally.
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Meeting point of the Governor Vessel with all six yang channels; releases the exterior and clears heat.
Patient seated or prone with the neck flexed. In the hollow below the spinous process of C7. Insert angled slightly upward, 0.5–1.0 cun, through the subcutaneous tissue, supraspinous and interspinous ligaments, until an ache with numbness is felt locally; the ligamentum flavum (interarcuate ligament) lies just deeper, and it should not be pierced.
- ⚠ Spinal cord / medulla
Needling Safety
Cited hazards for these points. Tick what applies to the patient to see the cautions that follow from it.
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GB20 Fengchi
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⚠ Spinal cord / medulla risk: deep or misdirected insertion can enter the spinal canal. Wu J, Hu Y, Zhu Y, Yin P, Litscher G, Xu S 2015, Table 2 (Central nervous system injury associated with acupuncture); World Health Organization 1999, Section II §5.2 (Central nervous system), p. 25
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GV14 Dazhui
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⚠ Spinal cord / medulla risk: deep or misdirected insertion can enter the spinal canal. World Health Organization 1999, Section II §5.2 (Central nervous system), p. 25; Wu J, Hu Y, Zhu Y, Yin P, Litscher G, Xu S 2015, Table 2 (Central nervous system injury associated with acupuncture)
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No cited needling data yet for BL10. No flag here does not mean no risk.
Treatment Principle
Expel wind and consolidate the exterior; free the flow in the channel.
Indications
Method
With the patient seated or prone and the neck flexed, needle Fengchi and Tianzhu on both sides and Dazhui on the midline, each to a local ache with numbness.
⚠ Cautions
At Fengchi the medulla oblongata lies deep and medial: never angle upward toward the foramen magnum, and keep within the depth limit. Tianzhu likewise must not be angled medially and upward. At Dazhui the spinal cord lies beneath; do not needle deeply or straight in. Infantile convulsions and high fever need medical assessment.
About
Three points across the back of the neck — two pairs at the base of the skull and one on the midline below C7 — used to drive out wind, strengthen the body's surface defences and relieve the neck. The source applies it to headache with fever, cough and wheezing, a stiff neck and aching shoulders and back, rubella, convulsions and inflamed eyes.
Rationale
Fengchi, the 'wind pool', is where the Gallbladder and Triple Energiser channels meet the Yang Wei and Yang Qiao Mai; Tianzhu is a Window of Heaven and Sea of Qi point on the Bladder channel; Dazhui is the meeting point of the Governor Vessel with all six yang channels. The nape is where wind is said to enter, and covering the Gallbladder, Bladder and Governor Vessel there addresses both the invasion and the stiffness it causes.
Clinical Notes
The source's Fengchi depth (0.5–1.5 cun) and perpendicular 0.8–1.2 cun at Dazhui exceed what we publish; we give the conservative 0.5–1.0 cun at both, with Dazhui angled upward.
Sources
- Guo Changqing (ed.). Acupuncture of Acupoint Combinations: Quick Lookups. Daylesford: Heart Space Publications, 2020 (English edition; © China Science and Technology Press). ISBN 978-0-6489215-5-4. Chapter 2, combination 10.
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