ST8

Touwei

Star

頭維 (Tóuwéi) — Head Corner

Stomach channel · point 8

Not yet clinically reviewed

Meeting point of the Stomach and Gallbladder channels with the Yang Wei Mai

Traditionally used for

Headaches
Dizziness
Eye health

Cautions & contraindications

No moxibustion

Location

On the head, 0.5 cun within the anterior hairline at the corner of the forehead, 4.5 cun lateral to the midline.

How to locate: Find the corner of the forehead hairline; the point is 0.5 cun inside the hairline there, 4.5 cun lateral to GV24 on the midline, where the temporalis can still be felt moving when the patient chews.

Regional anatomy: Beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissue the needle runs over the galea aponeurotica at the upper margin of temporalis; the frontal branch of the superficial temporal artery lies nearby.

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

Body map, front: ST8 · Head & face — Fig. — ST8 · Head & face After Albinus, 1747

The skull, from the front — Gray's Anatomy plate — The skull, from the 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

Transverse insertion

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. 135 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

No moxibustion

Depth: 0.5–1.0 cun

Angle: Transverse, directed posteriorly

⚠ Cautions: Moxibustion is classically contraindicated here.

Functions

Expels wind and clears the head
Benefits the eyes and stops pain

Indications

Frontal and temporal headachedizzinesseye pain and excessive tearingblurred vision

Combinations Using This Point

Touwei and Toulinqi

Touwei and Toulinqi along the front hairline — a pair for headache, painful red eyes, tinnitus, deafness and loss of consciousness.

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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