Neiguan and Tanzhong
Star內關、膻中 (Nèiguān, Dànzhōng)
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 Pericardium; regulates the Heart and calms the spirit from the forearm.
Palm up, wrist slightly flexed: 2 cun above the midpoint of the wrist crease on the PC3–PC7 line, between palmaris longus and flexor carpi radialis. Insert perpendicularly 0.5–1.5 cun through the deep fascia and the finger flexors to pronator quadratus, seeking local aching and numbness with an electric sensation to the fingertips.
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Front-Mu point of the Pericardium and Hui-Meeting point of qi; opens the chest.
Patient supine: on the anterior midline of the sternum, level with the fourth intercostal space, where the line joining the nipples crosses it. Insert transversely (subcutaneously) or obliquely 0.3–0.5 cun down to the periosteum of the sternal body, seeking an aching distension that spreads through the chest.
Treatment Principle
Open the chest and regulate qi; regulate the Heart and calm the spirit.
Indications
Method
PC6 is needled perpendicularly 0.5–1.5 cun; CV17 transversely or obliquely 0.3–0.5 cun along the sternum with the patient supine. The book gives no retention time or moxibustion instructions for this pair.
⚠ Cautions
Never needle CV17 perpendicularly: a congenital sternal foramen is occasionally present at this level. The median nerve lies beneath PC6 — stop manipulating once the electric sensation is obtained.
About
A chest point and a forearm point for the Heart and chest: palpitations, chest pain and oppression, restlessness and poor sleep, and hiccup.
Rationale
CV17 is the Front-Mu point of the Pericardium and the Hui-Meeting point of qi, working directly on the chest; PC6 is the Luo-Connecting point of the same Pericardium channel and the confluent point of the Yin Wei Mai. Pairing an organ's Mu point with a distal point of its own channel treats the organ from both ends — the local point opens the chest, the distal point regulates the Heart and calms the spirit — and CV17's action on descending qi accounts for its use in hiccup.
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 5, combination 3.
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