Traditionally used for
- Nose & throat
- Cough & breathing
- Nerves & recovery
- Pain & joints
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- No deep needling
- Avoid blood vessels
Location
On the anterior aspect of the neck, in the greater supraclavicular fossa, in the depression superior to the clavicle, 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline.
How to locate: Find the midpoint of the clavicle, about 4 cun from the midline; the point is directly above it in the hollow of the supraclavicular fossa, lateral to the clavicular head of sternocleidomastoid.
Distances are in cun, a proportional unit — how to measure.
3D view
The 3D view is not available on this device. The 2D maps above show the same point.
Drag, or focus the model and use the arrow keys, to rotate; + and − to zoom; 0 to reset; Esc to close.
No needle can be drawn for this point; see the text below.
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.
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.
- Needle angle and depth
-
- Perpendicular, along the posterior border of the clavicle — not drawn: WHO gives no proportional measurement for this part of the body.
- 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.
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
- ⚠ Pneumothorax
-
Perpendicular insertion — along the posterior border of the clavicleDepth 0.3–0.5 cunskindeeper
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)
- 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 — §1 Introduction Supports: pneumothorax (names this point)
- 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)
- Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 140 Supports: techniques (names this point)
Site notes · not cited
- Pregnancy
- No deep needling
- Avoid blood vessels
Functions
- Disseminates and descends Lung qi and relieves cough
- Clears heat and benefits the throat
- Benefits the shoulder and opens the channel
Indications
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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