CV16

Zhongting

Star

中庭 (Zhōngtíng) — Central Courtyard

Ren (Conception) channel · point 16

Traditionally used for

Digestion

Location

On the chest, on the anterior midline, at the midpoint of the xiphisternal junction (the sternocostal angle), level with the fifth intercostal space.

How to locate: Run the fingers of both hands up along the lower borders of the rib cage until they meet at the sternocostal angle; the point is on the midline in the shallow depression where the body of the sternum joins the xiphoid, roughly level with the fifth intercostal space.

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

Body map, front: CV16 · Chest — Fig. — CV16 · Chest After Albinus, 1747

The thorax, from in front — Gray's Anatomy plate — The thorax, from in front Gray's Anatomy, 1918

3D view

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: From the suprasternal notch to the midpoint of the xiphisternal junction: 9 B-cun (WHO 2008, General Guidelines, Proportional Bone (Skeletal) Measurements, p. 12).
Needle angle and depth: Transverse (parallel to the skin), 0.5 cun, directed superiorly or inferiorly along the midline. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 517

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.

Needling

Cited needling

Transverse insertion — directed superiorly or inferiorly along the midline

Depth 0.5–0.5 cun

skindeeper

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 (1)

Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 517 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun

Angle: Transverse

Functions

Unbinds the chest and descends rebellious qi
Regulates the Stomach

Indications

Chest and hypochondriac fullnessdifficulty swallowing and vomitingpoor appetite in children

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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