Verscienta
GV16

Fengfu

Star

風府 (Fēngfǔ) — Wind Mansion

Du (Governing) channel · point 16

Not yet clinically reviewed

Window of Heaven pointMeeting point of the Du Mai with the Yang Wei Mai

Traditionally used for

  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Nose & throat
  • Colds & fever
  • Mood & calm
  • Nerves & recovery
  • Pain & joints

Cautions & contraindications

  • No moxibustion

Location

On the nape, on the posterior midline, 1 cun within the posterior hairline, directly below the external occipital protuberance, in the depression between the two trapezius muscles.

How to locate: With the patient seated and the head slightly extended to relax the trapezius, slide a finger up the midline from the posterior hairline until it stops beneath the external occipital protuberance; the point is in the depression there between the two trapezius origins, about 1 cun inside the hairline.

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

Body map, back: GV16 · Nape of neck
Fig. — GV16 · Nape of neck After Albinus, 1747
Body map, back: GV16 · Nape of neck

GV16 · Nape of neck · 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 on the 3D model couldn't be checked against its location text, so it is not shown. The 2D maps above show it.

  • The 3D view is not available for this point, so the medulla oblongata is not drawn. The spinal cord / medulla risk above still applies.

Needling

Cited needling

  • ⚠ Spinal cord / medulla
  1. Perpendicular insertion — slightly inferiorly
    Depth 0.5–1 cun
    skindeeper

Case reports: central nervous system injury after needling at this point (3 cases in Wu et al. 2015, including a death).

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. World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.2 (Central nervous system), p. 25 Supports: spinal cord / medulla (names this point)
  2. Wu J, Hu Y, Zhu Y, Yin P, Litscher G, Xu S. Systematic review of adverse effects: a further step towards modernization of acupuncture in China. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:432467 — Table 2 (Central nervous system injury associated with acupuncture) Supports: spinal cord / medulla (case report)
  3. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 548 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

  • No moxibustion
Depth: 0.5–0.8 cun
Angle: Perpendicular or slightly downward, toward the mandible
⚠ Cautions: High-risk point. Never angle upward or insert deeply — the medulla oblongata lies beneath. Moxibustion is classically contraindicated.

Functions

  • Expels both external and internal wind
  • Benefits the sea of marrow and calms the spirit
  • Clears the mind and benefits the neck
  • Benefits the throat and the voice

Indications

Headache and stiff neckdizziness and vertigocommon cold with chills and feverstroke and hemiplegiaepilepsy and maniasore throat and loss of voicenosebleed

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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