Naohu and Naokong
Star腦戶、腦空 (Nǎohù, Nǎokōng)
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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Governor Vessel 'door of the brain' above the occipital protuberance; calms the spirit and settles seizures.
On the posterior midline in the hollow just above the external occipital protuberance — 2.5 cun above the midpoint of the posterior hairline and 1.5 cun above GV16. Insert transversely, 0.5–0.8 cun; the needle crosses the subcutaneous tissue and the occipital belly of occipitofrontalis and lies in the connective tissue under the aponeurosis. Seek a local ache with distension.
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Gallbladder–Yang Wei meeting point level with GV17; clears the head and extends the effect laterally over the occiput.
Patient sitting or lying prone. Directly above GB20, 2.25 cun lateral to the midline, level with GV17 at the upper border of the external occipital protuberance. Insert transversely, 0.5–0.8 cun, through the subcutaneous tissue and occipitofrontalis. The ache and numbness should spread over the back of the head.
Treatment Principle
Benefit the head and eyes and calm the spirit.
Indications
Method
With the patient seated or prone, needle Naohu on the midline and Naokong on both sides, all transversely under the occipital scalp; the sensation at Naokong should fan out over the back of the head.
About
A row of three needles across the top of the occiput — Naohu in the centre and Naokong on each side — for the head and the spirit. Beyond headache and dizziness, the source directs it at seizures, fright, neck stiffness, unsteady gait and delayed development.
Rationale
Naohu is a Governor Vessel point where the Bladder channel meets it, and Naokong is a meeting point of the Gallbladder channel with the Yang Wei Mai. Both names contain nao, 'brain', and in the classical account the Governor Vessel enters the brain at the nape just below them. Placed level with one another over the occiput, they treat the back of the head, the neck and the brain together.
Clinical Notes
Both points are listed at 0.3–0.5 cun in our point records; the source's 0.5–0.8 cun remains a shallow transverse scalp insertion.
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 5.
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