Verscienta
CV8

Shenque

Star

神闕 (Shénquè) — Spirit Gate Tower

Ren (Conception) channel · point 8

Not yet clinically reviewed

Traditionally used for

  • Digestion
  • Bowel health
  • Urinary & fluids
  • Fertility & vitality

Cautions & contraindications

  • No moxibustion

Location

At the centre of the umbilicus.

How to locate: At the centre of the umbilicus, level with KI16, ST25 and SP15.

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

Body map, front: CV8 · Upper abdomen
Fig. — CV8 · Upper abdomen After Albinus, 1747
Body map, front: CV8 · Upper abdomen

CV8 · Upper abdomen · Albinus, Tabulae sceleti et musculorum, 1747

The abdominal regions — Gray's Anatomy plate Not to be needled
The abdominal regions Gray's Anatomy, 1918
The abdominal regions — Gray's Anatomy plate Not to be needled

The abdominal regions · 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 midpoint of the xiphisternal synchondrosis to the centre of the umbilicus: 8 B-cun (WHO 2008, General Guidelines, Proportional Bone (Skeletal) Measurements, p. 12).
Needle angle and depth
Not to be needled (cited in the needling safety section). No needle is drawn.

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

⛔ Not to be needled
  • ⛔ Do not needle

Not to be needled: the point lies on an area WHO (1999) lists as not to be punctured.

Sources (1)
  1. World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.1 (Areas not to be punctured), p. 24 Supports: not to be needled (names this region)

Site notes · not cited

  • No moxibustion
Depth: Not needled
Angle: Not needled
Moxibustion: Salt-partitioned moxibustion at CV8 — filling the umbilicus with salt and burning moxa cones on top — is the classical emergency treatment for yang collapse, and a standard treatment for chronic cold diarrhoea.
⚠ Cautions: Needling is contraindicated. Treat by moxibustion only.

Functions

  • Rescues collapsed yang and restores consciousness
  • Warms the Spleen, Kidney and intestines and stops diarrhoea
  • Tonifies original qi

Indications

Collapse with cold limbs and a faint pulsechronic and acute diarrhoeaabdominal pain and borborygmusprolapse of the rectumoedemainfertility

Clinical Notes

One of the few points in the repertoire treated exclusively by moxibustion. Contraindicated for needling in every classical source.

Similar Points

Ranked by shared patterns and conditions

Pishu how are these connected? (Pishu) Qihai how are these connected? (Qihai) Sanjiaoshu how are these connected? (Sanjiaoshu) Taibai how are these connected? (Taibai) Yinlingquan how are these connected? (Yinlingquan) Zhongwan how are these connected? (Zhongwan)

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 CV8 Shenque.

No notes yet.

Log in or register to add your own notes.

Back to Points