Lieque and Taiyuan
Star列缺、太淵 (Lièquē, Tàiyuān)
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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Luo-Connecting point of the Lung and command point of the head and nape; releases the exterior and expels wind.
On the radial forearm 1.5 cun above the wrist crease, just above the radial styloid, between the tendons of brachioradialis and abductor pollicis longus. To find it, interlock the thumb webs of both hands with the index finger resting on the other wrist's styloid process; the point is in the small notch under the fingertip. It also lies about 1.5 cun proximal to LI5. Insert obliquely upward along the channel 0.2–0.3 cun, through the abductor pollicis longus tendon toward pronator quadratus, seeking a local aching, heavy, numb feeling.
- Pregnancy: contraindicated
-
Yuan-Source point of the Lung; tonifies Lung qi, transforms phlegm and stops cough.
Palm up: at the thumb end of the wrist crease over the palpable radial pulse, on the lateral side of the artery. Insert perpendicularly 0.2–0.3 cun, passing between the cephalic vein and the superficial branch of the radial artery, through the forearm fascia lateral to the radial artery and vein, to the periosteum of the radius between the tendons of abductor pollicis longus and flexor carpi radialis. A local numb, distended feeling is sought.
- ⚠ Major vessel
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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LU9 Taiyuan
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⚠ Major vessel close by: risk of arterial puncture and haematoma. World Health Organization 1999, Section II §5.2 (Other points), p. 26
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Treatment Principle
Release the exterior and expel wind; stop cough and transform phlegm.
Indications
Method
Two shallow insertions near the wrist on the Lung channel: LU7 obliquely upward 0.2–0.3 cun, LU9 perpendicular 0.2–0.3 cun beside the artery. The book gives no retention time or moxibustion instructions for this pair.
⚠ Cautions
Palpate the radial artery before needling LU9 and insert on its lateral side; do not puncture the artery.
About
Two Lung-channel points at the wrist that together release wind from the exterior and settle the Lung, for cough, wheezing and blood-streaked sputum, and for the headache, sore throat and stiff neck of an external invasion.
Rationale
LU7 is the Luo-Connecting point of the Lung, the confluent point of the Ren Mai and the command point of the head and nape, which is why it reaches the headache and neck stiffness. LU9 is the Yuan-Source point of the Lung and the Hui-Meeting point of the vessels. One point disperses the exterior while the other supports the Lung's own qi, so the pair suits cough that has both an external trigger and an underlying weakness.
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 7.
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