Shouwuli and Binao
Star手五里、臂臑 (Shǒuwǔlǐ, Bìnào)
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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Upper-arm point of the Large Intestine channel; frees the channel and transforms phlegm nodules.
Elbow flexed: on the lateral upper arm, 3 cun above LI11 on the line joining LI11 and LI15. Insert perpendicularly 0.5–1.0 cun through the subcutaneous layer into brachialis, seeking a local aching, numb feeling.
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Meeting point of the Large Intestine channel with the Yang Wei Mai; dissipates nodules and relieves arm and shoulder pain.
On the lateral upper arm, 7 cun above LI11, in the hollow at the lower insertion of deltoid where it meets brachialis. Insert perpendicularly 0.5–1.0 cun into deltoid, seeking a local aching, numb feeling.
Treatment Principle
Expel wind and free the channel; regulate qi and transform phlegm.
Indications
Method
Both points on the lateral upper arm are needled perpendicularly 0.5–1.0 cun. The book gives no retention time or moxibustion instructions for this pair.
⚠ Cautions
Do not needle LI13 deeply — the radial nerve and the brachial vessels lie close to it. Some classical traditions list LI13 as a point forbidden to moxibustion.
About
Two adjacent points on the Large Intestine channel over the upper arm, used for pain, swelling and weakness of the arm and, through their phlegm-transforming action, for scrofula (tuberculous or chronic lymph-node swelling of the neck).
Rationale
The Large Intestine channel runs up the lateral arm to the shoulder and neck. LI13 and LI14 sit a few cun apart on it, so together they reinforce the flow of the channel through the upper arm; both points transform phlegm and dissipate nodules along the channel's course to the neck. LI14 is also a meeting point with the Yang Wei Mai.
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 4, combination 8.
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