Verscienta
HT7

Shenmen

Star

神門 (Shénmén) — Spirit Gate

Heart channel · point 7

Not yet clinically reviewed

Shu-Stream pointEarth pointYuan-Source pointEarth point of the Heart channelSedation (son) point

Traditionally used for

  • Sleep
  • Mood & calm
  • Nerves & recovery
  • Heart & circulation

Location

On the anteromedial aspect of the wrist, on the palmar wrist crease, in the depression on the radial side of the tendon of flexor carpi ulnaris, at the proximal border of the pisiform bone.

How to locate: With the forearm relaxed and palm up, find the proximal border of the pisiform bone, which is more reliable than the wrist crease; the point is in the hollow just proximal to it, on the radial side of the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon.

Regional anatomy: The needle passes through the skin, subcutaneous tissue and antebrachial fascia at the radial border of the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon, just proximal to the pisiform; the ulnar artery and ulnar nerve lie immediately alongside.

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

Body map, front: HT7 · Wrist
Fig. — HT7 · Wrist After Albinus, 1747
Body map, front: HT7 · Wrist

HT7 · Wrist · Albinus, Tabulae sceleti et musculorum, 1747

Bones of the hand, dorsal — Gray's Anatomy plate
Bones of the hand, dorsal Gray's Anatomy, 1918
Bones of the hand, dorsal — Gray's Anatomy plate

Bones of the hand, dorsal · 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 cubital crease to the wrist crease: 12 B-cun (WHO 2008, General Guidelines, Proportional Bone (Skeletal) Measurements, p. 12). On the model, the cubital crease = line between the humeral epicondyles. On the model, the wrist crease = line between the radial and ulnar styloid tips.
Needle angle and depth
  1. Perpendicular (90° to the skin), 0.3–0.5 cun. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 219
  2. Oblique (45° to the skin), 0.5–0.8 cun, proximally, medially or distally. The direction is given in the source's words only. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K, p. 219

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

Techniques — the source gives these as alternatives:

  1. Perpendicular insertion
    Depth 0.3–0.5 cun
    skindeeper
  2. Oblique insertion — proximally, medially or distally
    Depth 0.5–0.8 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)
  1. Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 219 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun
Angle: Perpendicular

Functions

  • Calms the spirit and settles the mind
  • Tonifies Heart blood and yin and regulates the Heart
  • Clears Heart fire and cools the blood

Indications

Insomnia and excessive dreaminganxiety, palpitations and panicpoor memory and difficulty concentratingdepression and manic behaviourepilepsycardiac paindementia

Balance Method partners

Under Dr. Tan's six systems, HT7 at the wrist balances these channels at the regions its segment images.

  • 1. Same Chinese name
    Kidney channel
    Ankle, Heel · Mirror (arm ↔ leg)
    Hip & groin, Buttock · Reversed mirror
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Kidney channel →
  • 2. Branching (Bie Jing / Zang Fu Bie Tong)
    Gallbladder channel
    Ankle, Heel · Mirror (arm ↔ leg)
    Hip & groin, Buttock · Reversed mirror
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Gallbladder channel →
  • 3. Interior–exterior pair
    Small Intestine channel
    Wrist · Same segment, opposite side
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Small Intestine channel →
  • 4. Chinese clock opposite
    Gallbladder channel
    Ankle, Heel · Mirror (arm ↔ leg)
    Hip & groin, Buttock · Reversed mirror
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Gallbladder channel →
  • 5. Chinese clock neighbour
    Spleen channel
    Ankle, Heel · Mirror (arm ↔ leg)
    Hip & groin, Buttock · Reversed mirror
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Spleen channel →
  • 6. Same channel
    Heart channel
    Wrist · Same segment, opposite side
    Front of neck, Nape of neck · Image, head at the hand/foot
    Lower abdomen, Sacrum · Image, head toward the elbow/knee
    Solve for the Heart channel →

Classical calendar method · 子午流注

When the tables open HT7

The hours Zi Wu Liu Zhu names this point at, by method. Times are the double-hour's start in UTC.

  • 辛亥 21:00–23:00 Na Jia Fa, 丁-day sequence · Yuan-Source (原), returning to the source

    「辛亥太淵神門穴」

    Next: Tue 20 Oct, 21:00

  • 丁卯 05:00–07:00 Na Jia Fa, 癸-day sequence · Shu-Stream (俞)

    「丁卯俞穴神門是」

    Next: Sat 17 Oct, 05:00

  • 午 11:00–13:00 Na Zi Fa, HT channel · reduce (瀉)

    「瀉用午時，神門，為俞土」

    Next: Tue 13 Oct, 11:00

A classical reference, not a recommendation: the tables say when the method opens this point, not that it is the point to needle. Open points by the hour →

Clinical Notes

The single most-used point for the spirit. With PC6 and Yintang it forms the standard prescription for anxiety and insomnia.

Combinations Using This Point

Calming the Spirit — HT7, PC6, Yintang and GV20

The four points most reached for in anxiety and insomnia — two distal, two on the midline of the head.

Neiguan, Shenmen and Daling

PC6, HT7 and PC7 at the inner wrist — for cardiac pain, palpitations, insomnia, irritability and low mood.

Similar Points

Ranked by shared patterns and conditions

Sanyinjiao how are these connected? (Sanyinjiao) Guanyuan how are these connected? (Guanyuan) Taixi how are these connected? (Taixi) Zhaohai how are these connected? (Zhaohai) Neiguan how are these connected? (Neiguan) Pishu how are these connected? (Pishu)

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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