Verscienta
BL41

Fufen

Star

附分 (Fùfēn) — Attached Branch

Bladder channel · point 41

Not yet clinically reviewed

Outer Bladder lineMeeting point of the Bladder and Small Intestine channels

Traditionally used for

  • Nerves & recovery
  • Pain & joints

Cautions & contraindications

  • No deep needling

Location

On the upper back, 3 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of T2.

How to locate: Find the C7 spinous process (the most prominent at the base of the neck) and count down two spinous processes to T2. The point is 3 cun lateral to the lower border of the T2 spinous process, level with BL12. With the shoulders relaxed and the arms hanging, 3 cun from the midline is at the medial border of the scapula.

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

Body map, back: BL41 · Upper back
Fig. — BL41 · Upper back After Albinus, 1747
Body map, back: BL41 · Upper back

BL41 · Upper back · Albinus, Tabulae sceleti et musculorum, 1747

The vertebral column — Gray's Anatomy plate Needling hazard — see Needling safety
The vertebral column Gray's Anatomy, 1918
The vertebral column — Gray's Anatomy plate Needling hazard — see Needling safety

The vertebral column · Gray's Anatomy, 1918

3D view

3D view not available for this point: its position can't be carried onto the 3D model reliably (it failed a placement check). The 2D maps above show it.

  • 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
  1. Oblique insertion
    Depth 0.3–0.5 cun
    skindeeper
Reported mean safe needling depth, mm — Taiwanese adults (CT)
UnderweightNormalOverweight
Men 43.8 43.7 51.0
Women 30.7 40.7 48.5

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)
  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 301 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

  • No deep needling
Depth: 0.5 cun
Angle: Oblique, directed medially
⚠ Cautions: Pneumothorax risk on deep perpendicular insertion.

Functions

  • Expels wind and cold from the upper back and neck
  • Activates the channel and luo vessels and relieves pain

Indications

Stiff neck and shoulder painnumbness of the elbow and armupper back pain

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.)

📝 Notes

Public notes from the community and your own private notes on BL41 Fufen.

No notes yet.

Log in or register to add your own notes.

Back to Points