Yaoshu and Yaoyangguan
Star腰俞、腰陽關 (Yāoshū, Yāoyángguān)
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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Lumbar Shu at the sacral hiatus; strengthens the lower back and legs and regulates menstruation.
Prone. On the midline at the sacral hiatus, level with the lower end of the sacrum just above the coccyx. Insert obliquely, angled upwards, 0.5–1.0 cun (the source says perpendicular; the upward oblique angle is the standard one for entering the hiatus). The needle passes the subcutaneous tissue and the ligament covering the hiatus into the sacral canal. An aching numbness should spread through the lumbosacral region.
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Lumbar Yang Pass; warms Kidney yang and strengthens the lower back and legs.
Prone. Locate the hollow below the L4 spinous process, level with the tops of the iliac crests. Insert perpendicularly or obliquely (angled slightly upwards) to 0.5–1.0 cun, through the subcutaneous tissue and the supraspinous ligament to the ligamentum flavum (interarcuate ligament), which should not be pierced. An aching numbness should form locally and spread into the lower limbs.
Treatment Principle
Tonify the Kidney and regulate menstruation, and strengthen the lower back and legs.
Indications
Method
Patient prone. GV2 is needled obliquely upwards 0.5–1.0 cun until an aching numbness spreads across the lumbosacral region; GV3 is needled 0.5–1.0 cun, either straight in or at an oblique angle until it reaches the lower limbs.
⚠ Cautions
At GV3 do not pass the ligamentum flavum. At GV2 keep within the stated depth, as the needle enters the sacral canal.
About
Two Du Mai points on the lumbosacral midline, used to tonify the Kidney, regulate menstruation and strengthen the lower back and legs. The indications combine lumbosacral pain with bowel disorders (bleeding with the stool, constipation, diarrhoea) and reproductive ones (spermatorrhoea, impotence, irregular periods).
Rationale
GV3 at L4, level with the iliac crests, warms Kidney yang and strengthens the lower back and knees; GV2 at the sacral hiatus strengthens the lower back and regulates menstruation. Both lie on the Du Mai, which rises from the lower abdomen through the sacrum, so the pair treats the lumbosacral spine along with the pelvic organs.
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 3, combination 20.
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