BL17

Geshu

Star

膈俞 (Géshū) — Diaphragm Shu

Bladder channel · point 17

Not yet clinically reviewed

Hui-Meeting point of the bloodBack-Shu point of the diaphragm

Traditionally used for

Cough & breathing
Digestion
Skin

Cautions & contraindications

No deep needling

Location

On the back, 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of T7.

How to locate: With the patient prone and arms at the sides, the inferior angle of the scapula marks the level of T7; the point is 1.5 cun lateral to the lower edge of the T7 spinous process, beside GV9.

Regional anatomy: Skin and subcutaneous tissue, then trapezius and the upper edge of latissimus dorsi before erector spinae; the pleura and lung lie beneath, so deep needling risks pneumothorax.

Distances are in cun, a proportional unit — how to measure.

Body map, back: BL17 · Upper back — Fig. — BL17 · Upper back After Albinus, 1747

The vertebral column — Gray's Anatomy plate — The vertebral column Gray's Anatomy, 1918

3D view

Drag, or focus the model and use the arrow keys, to rotate; + and − to zoom; 0 to reset; Esc to close.

Skin Skeleton

Needle diagram for the marked point — a schematic section through the skin, not the model.

Technique 1: Oblique (45° to the skin), 0.5–1 cun Direction (source's words): “towards the spine” Scale: 1 cun as WHO 2008 defines it here — Between the bilateral medial borders of the scapula: 6 B-cun; this scale is half of the 6 B-cun between the two medial borders (posterior midline to one border), 3 B-cun. Deadman gives depth in cun, conventionally the patient's own finger-cun. It is drawn here to this region's proportional (B-)cun, so the bar approximates an approximation. Not a depth in millimetres.

Technique 2: Transverse-oblique (about 20° to the skin), 1–1.5 cun Scale: 1 cun as WHO 2008 defines it here — Between the bilateral medial borders of the scapula: 6 B-cun; this scale is half of the 6 B-cun between the two medial borders (posterior midline to one border), 3 B-cun. Deadman gives depth in cun, conventionally the patient's own finger-cun. It is drawn here to this region's proportional (B-)cun, so the bar approximates an approximation. Not a depth in millimetres.

3D anatomy: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution 4.0 International (licence). Subset, simplified and recoloured by Verscienta — changes and licence details.

Approximate placement, carried over from our 2D body map onto a single adult male model (BodyParts3D) and checked against the point's location text. Shown on one side of the body. Locate the point on your patient by the location text and palpation, not by this model.

Cun on this part of the body: Between the bilateral medial borders of the scapula: 6 B-cun; this scale is half of the 6 B-cun between the two medial borders (posterior midline to one border), 3 B-cun (WHO 2008, General Guidelines, Proportional Bone (Skeletal) Measurements, p. 12).
Needle angle and depth: Oblique (45° to the skin), 0.5–1 cun, towards the spine. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 273
Transverse-oblique (about 20° to the skin), 1–1.5 cun. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 273

The lung is not drawn: the anatomical model used here does not include it as a surface. This is a limit of the model, not of the anatomy. The pneumothorax risk above still applies.

Needling

Cited needling

⚠ Pneumothorax

Techniques — the source gives these as alternatives:

Oblique insertion — towards the spine

Depth 0.5–1 cun

skindeeper
Transverse-oblique insertion

Depth 1–1.5 cun

skindeeper

Reported mean safe needling depth, mm — Taiwanese adults (CT)

	Underweight	Normal	Overweight
Men	41.8	45.5	53.0
Women	35.8	39.2	49.1

CT-measured mean safe needling depths from Taiwanese adults, by sex and body size (Lin et al. 2013); population-specific and a guide only — adjust to the patient in front of you.

Depths describe average adult habitus in the cited population, never a single safe number for the patient in front of you. Palpate and adjust.

Sources (3)

Lin JG, Chou PC, Chu HY. An exploration of the needling depth in acupuncture: the safe needling depth and the needling depth of clinical efficacy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:740508 — Tables 9 (male) and 10 (female), back acupoints Supports: safe depth (measured)
World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.2 (Lung and pleura), p. 25 Supports: pneumothorax (names this region)
Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 273 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

No deep needling

Depth: 0.5–0.8 cun

Angle: Oblique, directed medially

⚠ Cautions: Pneumothorax risk on deep perpendicular insertion.

Functions

Invigorates blood and dispels stasis
Nourishes and cools the blood and stops bleeding
Descends rebellious qi and relieves hiccup
Benefits the diaphragm

Indications

Blood stasis of any kindanaemia and blood deficiencyhiccup, belching and difficulty swallowingcoughing or vomiting of bloodnight sweatschronic skin disordersasthma

Clinical Notes

The Hui-Meeting point of the blood: tonified for blood deficiency, reduced for blood stasis, and one of the Four Flowers with BL19 for chronic depletion.

Combinations Using This Point

Geshu and Danshu

BL17 and BL19 needled together — the classical Four Flowers set, which moves qi and blood and regulates the Liver and Gallbladder.

Sources

World Health Organization. WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2008. (Location.)
Focks C, ed. Atlas of Acupuncture. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2008. (Locating method and actions.)

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