GV17

Naohu

Star

腦戶 (Nǎohù) — Brain's Door

Du (Governing) channel · point 17

Not yet clinically reviewed

Meeting point of the Du Mai and the Bladder channel

Traditionally used for

Headaches
Dizziness
Eye health
Mood & calm
Nerves & recovery
Pain & joints

Location

On the head, on the posterior midline, 1.5 cun above GV16, in the depression above the external occipital protuberance, level with BL9.

How to locate: With the patient seated and the head slightly flexed, palpate the external occipital protuberance on the midline; the point is in the depression at its upper border, 1.5 cun above GV16 (2.5 cun above the midpoint of the posterior hairline).

Regional anatomy: Beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissue the needle runs through the occipital belly of occipitofrontalis and its aponeurosis into the loose connective tissue beneath the galea.

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

Body map, back: GV17 · Crown & occiput — Fig. — GV17 · Crown & occiput After Albinus, 1747

Side view of the skull — Gray's Anatomy plate — Side view of the skull 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: Between the bilateral mastoid processes: 9 B-cun (WHO 2008, General Guidelines, Proportional Bone (Skeletal) Measurements, p. 12).
Needle angle and depth: Transverse (parallel to the skin), 0.5–1 cun, superiorly or inferiorly. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 550

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 — superiorly or inferiorly

Depth 0.5–1 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. 550 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun

Angle: Transverse

Functions

Expels wind and activates the channel
Calms the spirit and settles epilepsy
Benefits the eyes and the voice

Indications

Epilepsyheadache and dizzinessstiff neckloss of voiceblurred vision

Combinations Using This Point

Naohu and Naokong

Naohu and Naokong, the two 'brain' points above the occiput, paired for headache, dizziness, stiff neck, seizures, ataxia and developmental delay.

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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