LV14

Qimen

Star

期門 (Qīmén) — Cycle Gate

Liver channel · point 14

Not yet clinically reviewed

Front-Mu point of the LiverMeeting point of the Liver and Spleen channels with the Yin Wei Mai

Traditionally used for

Digestion
Menstrual & women's health
Mood & calm
Heart & circulation
Liver & jaundice

Cautions & contraindications

Liver conditions
No deep needling

Location

On the chest, in the sixth intercostal space, directly below the nipple, 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline.

How to locate: With the patient supine, find the nipple in the fourth intercostal space (ST17) and count down two spaces to the sixth intercostal space directly below it, 4 cun lateral to the midline; in women, use the midclavicular line rather than the nipple.

Regional anatomy: Beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissue the needle passes through the intercostal muscles of the sixth space and must stop short of the endothoracic fascia; the pleura and lung margin lie beneath, with the liver below on the right.

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

Body map, front: LV14 · Chest — Fig. — LV14 · Chest After Albinus, 1747

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

Needling

Cited needling

⚠ Major vessel

Oblique insertion — medial or lateral

Depth 0.5–1 cun

skindeeper

Case reports: vascular injury or haematoma after needling at this point (1 case 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 (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 4 (Organ injury) and Table 8 (Hemorrhage) Supports: major vessel (case report)
Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 490 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

Liver conditions
No deep needling

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun

Angle: Oblique or transverse along the intercostal space

⚠ Cautions: Pneumothorax risk on deep perpendicular insertion. The liver lies deep on the right.

Functions

Spreads Liver qi and relieves constraint
Harmonises the Liver and Stomach
Invigorates blood, dispels stasis and disperses accumulations
Cools blood
Benefits the breast and the hypochondrium

Indications

Hypochondriac and chest pain and distensionbreast distension and mastitisbelching, hiccup and acid regurgitationdepression and emotional constrainthepatitis and jaundiceabdominal massespostpartum pain

Clinical Notes

The Front-Mu of the Liver and the terminal point of the whole channel cycle — the qi passes from here back to LU1. Usually tender in Liver qi constraint.

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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