SI13

Quyuan

Star

曲垣 (Qūyuán) — Crooked Wall

Small Intestine channel · point 13

Not yet clinically reviewed

Traditionally used for

Pain & joints

Cautions & contraindications

No deep needling

Location

In the depression superior to the medial end of the scapular spine, midway between SI10 and the spinous process of T2.

How to locate: Follow the scapular spine medially to where it widens and curves upward; the point is in the slight hollow just above its medial end, at the medial end of the supraspinous fossa, midway between SI10 and the T2 spinous process.

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

Body map, back: SI13 · Upper back — Fig. — SI13 · Upper back After Albinus, 1747

The vertebral column — Gray's Anatomy plate — 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 lung is not drawn: the anatomical model used here does not include it as a surface. This is a limit of the model, not of the anatomy. The pneumothorax risk above still applies.

Needling

Cited needling

⚠ Pneumothorax

Techniques — the source gives these as alternatives:

Perpendicular insertion

Depth 0.3–0.5 cun

skindeeper
Oblique insertion — lateral

Depth 0.5–1 cun

skindeeper

Reported mean safe needling depth, mm — Taiwanese adults (CT)

	Underweight	Normal	Overweight
Men	43.1	47.6	53.6
Women	30.8	43.2	51.6

CT-measured mean safe needling depths from Taiwanese adults, by sex and body size (Lin et al. 2013); population-specific and a guide only — adjust to the patient in front of you. Case reports: pneumothorax after needling at this point (1 case in Wu et al. 2015).

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 (4)

Lin JG, Chou PC, Chu HY. An exploration of the needling depth in acupuncture: the safe needling depth and the needling depth of clinical efficacy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:740508 — Tables 9 (male) and 10 (female), back acupoints Supports: safe depth (measured)
World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.2 (Lung and pleura), p. 25 Supports: pneumothorax (names this region)
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 1 (Pneumothorax associated with acupuncture) Supports: pneumothorax (case report)
Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 243 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

No deep needling

Depth: 0.5–1.0 cun

Angle: Perpendicular or oblique

⚠ Cautions: Do not needle deeply between the ribs medial to the scapula.

Functions

Activates the channel and relieves scapular pain
Relaxes the sinews

Indications

Pain and stiffness of the scapula and shouldercontracture of the shoulder

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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