BL42

Pohu

Star

魄戶 (Pòhù) — Door of the Corporeal Soul

Bladder channel · point 42

Not yet clinically reviewed

Outer Bladder line — spirit point of the Lung

Traditionally used for

Cough & breathing
Pain & joints

Cautions & contraindications

No deep needling

Location

On the upper back, 3 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of T3.

How to locate: With the patient seated and the shoulders relaxed, the medial end of the scapular spine is usually level with the T3 spinous process (or count down three from C7). The point is 3 cun lateral to the lower border of T3, level with BL13 and GV12; 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: BL42 · Upper back — Fig. — BL42 · Upper back After Albinus, 1747

The vertebral column — Gray's Anatomy plate — 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

Oblique insertion

Depth 0.3–0.5 cun

skindeeper

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

	Underweight	Normal	Overweight
Men	35.6	37.5	44.0
Women	26.0	35.3	43.5

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)

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. 302 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

Tonifies and nourishes the Lung and descends rebellious qi
Clears heat from the Lung
Settles the corporeal soul and relieves grief
Activates the channel and relieves pain

Indications

Cough, asthma and chronic respiratory weaknesspulmonary tuberculosisgrief and sadness that will not resolvestiffness of the neck and shoulder

Clinical Notes

The outer-line spirit point of the Lung, used where respiratory weakness and unresolved grief present together.

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 BL42 Pohu.

No notes yet.

Back to Points