Common Acupressure Points for Self-Treatment
The theories and treatment protocols for acupuncture can be fairly technical, complex, and overwhelming for those seeking to utilize acupressure as a form of self-treatment. In acupuncture, proper treatment requires an appropriate diagnosis in terms relative to acupuncture, which may involve looking at the tongue, checking the pulse, palpating certain points and areas, and asking questions to come to a precise diagnosis. And acupuncture point selection is a complex art and science which takes practitioners years to feel comfortable with.
There are, however, a number of points that are useful for acupressure in the sense that they are easy to apply acupressure techniques with and they have generally useful and precise functions that do not require a more developed diagnosis before use.
Some of the more common acupuncture points useful in acupressure are described below along with links for more detailed information. In general, you can hold and/or massage these points for 3-5 minutes or longer until you achieve a change in your condition. As always, it is often best to receive acupuncture first and ask your acupuncturist which points they would recommend for your condition.
- Note: Acupuncture points are often located by the cun measurement, which is a relative measurement tool.
- You can click on the point names below to find more information about the point and the meridian name to see a graphic of the meridian.
- Head/Scalp Points
- GV 20
- On the Governing Vessel meridian, located 5 cun from the anterior hair line. Generally found by drawing a line between the middle of both ears to the top of your head.
- Uses: headaches, prolapses, low energy, and dizziness.
- Neck/Shoulder Points
- GB 20
- On the Gall Bladder meridian, located in the depression between the upper portion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the trapezius. Generally found by moving your finger from the back of the head (occiput) sideways until it falls into the depression.
- Uses: headaches, dizziness, neck pain.
- GB 21
- On the Gall Bladder meridian, located on the shoulder directly above the nipple at the highest point of the shoulder. Generally found by moving your finger lightly from your shoulder towards your neck until it stops and then pressing down where it is most tender.
- Uses: headaches, dizziness, neck pain, shoulder tension, stress. Do not use if pregnant.
- Arm/Hand Points
- LU 7
- On the Lung meridian, located 1.5 cun above the wrist crease, superior to the styloid process of the radius. Generally found by sliding your finger from the thumb side of your wrist crease over teh styloid process and press where sore.
- Uses: cold symptoms (sneezing, chills, runny nose), sore throat.
- LU 9
- On the Lung meridian, located at the wrist crease on the radial side of the radial artery. Generally found by feeling the pulse in your wrist near the joint and moving your finger towards the thumb.
- Uses: cough, asthma, shortness of breath.
- PC 3
- On the Pericardium meridian, located on the transverse cubital crease on the ulnar side of the biceps brachii tendon. Generally found on the elbow joint on the inside of the biceps tendon.
- Uses: stomach/digestion issues, anxiety, stuffiness in the chest.
- PC 6
- On the Pericardium meridian, located 2 cun above the wrist crease between the tendons of palmaris longus and flexor carpi radialis. Generally found by sliding the finger lightly from the wrist crease between the two tendons in the middle of the arm until it stops and pressing where it is most sore. This is the point where the motion sickness bands are designed to stimulate.
- Uses: anxiety, motion sickness, insomnia, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome.
- HT 7
- On the Heart meridian, located at the wrist crease, on the radial side of the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon, between the ulna and the pisiform bones. Generally found by sliding your finger across your wrist crease from the thumb side towards the pinky side and stopping when you hit the bone and pressing where most tender.
- Uses: anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, depression.
- SI 3
- On the Small Intestine meridian, located at the ulnar end of the distal palmar crease proximal to the 5th metacarpal phalangeal joint at the junction of the red & white skin. Generally found by sliding your finger along the outside of your hand towards your pinky finger stopping in the depression before you get to the pinky joint.
- Uses: neck pain, headaches at the back of the head, earaches, ringing in the ears.
- LI 4
- On the Large Intestine meridian, located in the middle of the 2nd metacarpal bone on the radial side. Generally found by sliding your finger from the joint of your index finger towards your wrist stopping in the depression where the thumb and the index finger bones meet and pressing where most tender.
- Uses: headaches in the front of the head, pain anywhere, cold symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, etc. Do not use if pregnant.
- LI 11
- On the Large Intestine meridian, located at the lateral end of the transverse cubital crease. Generally found by bending your elbow and looking for the sensitive point where the elbow crease ends on the outside of your arm.
- Uses: fever, arm/shoulder pain, diarrhea.
- Chest/Abdomen Points
- LU 1
- On the Lung meridian, located 6 cun lateral to the anterior midline, level with the 1st Inter-costal space. Generally found by sliding your finger below the clavicle from the sternum towards the shoulder falling into the depression that is LU 2. Then move your finger down and slightly out about a fingers width to find LU 1.
- Uses: cough, wheezing, asthma, shoulder/chest tension.
- LU 2
- On the Lung meridian, located 6 cun lateral to the anterior midline, below the clavicle in a depression medial to the coracoid process. Generally found by sliding your finger below the clavicle from the sternum towards the shoulder falling into the depression.
- Uses: cough, wheezing, asthma, shoulder/chest tension.
- CV 17
- On the Conception Vessel meridian, located on level with the 4th inter-costal space, midway between the nipples. Generally found by sliding your finger along the middle of the sternum from the bottom towards the top, your finger will fall into a depression that is in-line with your nipples.
- Uses: anxiety, cough, asthma, reflux, chest tension.
- CV 14
- On the Conception Vessel meridian, located 6 cun above CV 8 (umbilicus). Generally found by sliding your finger along the middle of the abdomen towards the bottom of the sternum, your finger will fall into a depression slightly below the end of the sternum (CV 15), then move your finger about a finger width below that and press where it is most tender.
- Uses: anxiety, depression, chest oppression, inability to concentrate.
- CV 12
- On the Conception Vessel meridian, located midway between CV 8 and CV 16, 4 cun above CV 8. Generally found by in the middle of the abdomen half the distance from the sternum to the belly button.
- Uses: stomach/digestive issues such as heartburn, diarrhea, "nervous" stomach, poor digestion.
- CV 6
- On the Conception Vessel meridian, located midway between CV 5 and CV 7, 1.5 cun below CV 8 (umbilicus). Generally found sliding your finger up the middle of your abdomen from the lower abdomen towards the belly button stopping about an inch below the belly button.
- Uses: bloating, edema, prolapse, also an energizing point for general fatigue.
- CV 4
- On the Conception Vessel meridian, located 2 cun above CV 2 (pubic symphysis). Generally found sliding your finger up the middle of your abdomen from your pubic bone until it drops into a depression about 2 inches above.
- Uses: general fatigue, low energy, weakness, diarrhea.
- Leg/Feet Points
- ST 36
- On the Stomach meridian, located 3 cun below ST 35, one finger width lateral from the anterior border of the tibia. Generally found by sliding your 4 fingers together up your shin towards the knee stopping when your hand hits the knee. The point will be one finger width from the tibia on the outside of the leg just in line with the bottom of your pinky finger, pressing where it is most tender.
- Uses: anxiety, depression, low energy, leg pain, low immunity.
- SP 6
- On the Spleen meridian, located 3 cun directly above the tip of the medial malleoulus on the posterior border of the tibia. Generally found by sliding your finger along the inside of the tibia up from the ankle about 4 fingers width and pressing where it most sore.
- Uses: stress, insomnia, anxiety, low energy. Do not use if pregnant.
- LV 3
- On the Liver meridian, located on the dorsum of the foot in a depression distal to the junctions of the 1st and 2nd metatarsal bones. Generally found by sliding your finger in the depression between your big toe and the second toe until you are near where the tendons meet, then press where it is most sore.
- Uses: anger, irritability, stress, headaches, menstrual pain, anxiety.
- KD 1
- On the Kidney meridian, located on your sole, in a depression with foot in plantar flexion, at the junction of the anterior 1/3 and posterior 2/3 of line connecting base of the 2nd and 3rd toes with the heel. Generally found by sliding your finger along the bottom of your foot between the big toe and the second toe falling into a depression slightly below the bottom of the big toe joint, pressing where it is most sore.
- Uses: insomnia, palpitations, anxiety, poor memory, hot flashes, night sweats.
Comments
Could you please tell me the
Could you please tell me the acupressure point to relieve sugar cravings and control appetite? Thanks.
There isn't a specific point
There isn't a specific point as weight loss is usually somewhat complex. There are addiction issues, thyroid issues, hormonal issues, etc. behind weight problems. That said, this previous discussion describes the points that we generally use.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Im an ex service man who had
Im an ex service man who had he scitic nerve severed in the groin, I take morphine twice daily and have a serious constipation problem, Many doctors have informed me to rub my left thigh about two/three inches below my groin for nerve stimulation, helping me to relieve myself, it works more often than not, is this an accupresser point or just nerve stimulation point. I have told many people of this and they also seem to get relief.
While there are meridians
While there are meridians running through that area what you are rubbing is based more on western nerve stimulation than acupuncture/acupressure points. You can read the acupuncture for low back pain page to get an idea of the points we use and GB 30 is an empirical point for sciatica.