Need info on acupuncture point

[Owledge]

Are the TCM acupuncture points only for inducing effects, or can symptoms (sensations) also manifest at them?

 

Specifically I'd like to know the specific meaning for the following point:

right hand, thumb, right side, just below the baseline of the nail

 

Thanks!

[joeblast]

I believe symptoms can also manifest. But that is not an acupoint location you mentioned, LU11 is on the radial side, not the ulnar.

[Birch]

I get full meridian activations with some things. Not fun, but at least i know what's the what.

 

Look into 'sore points', maybe trigger points as well?

[寒月 Hanyue]

Are the TCM acupuncture points only for inducing effects, or can symptoms (sensations) also manifest at them?

 

Specifically I'd like to know the specific meaning for the following point:

right hand, thumb, right side, just below the baseline of the nail

 

Thanks!

 

The location of the "points" (穴 xue) is not anatomically fixed as many TCM texts give the impression. The specific use of anatomical landmarks to locate the xue is a relatively recent direction within Chinese medicine. Much of TCM today expects a memorisation of point location due to anatomical landmarks, and most of the charts and books today rely solely on, diagrams to allow the student to do this.

 

The older charts are not "anatomically correct", not because the Chinese could not draw, or because they did not understand anatomy. It is simply because the learning was hands on, and you learned to palpate. The charts were an additional memory tool.

 

As I understand it most of the 'standardised' TCM charts were created and the point names chosen by a group in either the 40's or 50's. And they have been amended/updated since then. There is a very interesting interview with one of the doctors involved in this process.

 

What does this mean? It means there was, before this, more than ONE map, of the meridian system and the point locations. That is why in modern TCM you have "extra points", because they fall outside of this 'standardised' generally used map.

 

Why explain all this? Simply to say, just because a "xue" is not on a TCM chart does not mean it is not known within Chinese arts/medicine.

 

In fact, the nature of xue is quite different to how many seem to approach them based on the available TCM literature. The same with jingluo or mai too. I have often see people bend their reality to fit the TCM model unecessarily. I used to do the same too.

 

There are many aspects of the meridian system that are not as publically discussed as the xue of the jingluo. Sometimes a deeper 'gate' may be problematic though the symptom or sensations arising are experience more superficially. There is also in the old medical classics, a saying that goes something like 'anywhere can be a xue' to paraphrase somewhat. In most TCM schools this understanding has been relagated to only ashi (painful/tender) spots/points.

 

The "xue" are both locations where symptoms may arise, as well as locations that may be used to tap into the system to affect change. Many of the 'associations' in TCM come from the blending of acupuncture and herbology and have little to do with actual energtics. So I would largely ignore them.

 

Although shaoshang (Lu11) is on the other side of the nail as Joeblast points out, the distal location of the point you mention would still indicate a similar energetic relationship to the jingluo (meridians). This is the most distal area of the channel and as such it is a 'jing xue' 井穴, which is related to the movement of qi from outside into the channel system (no modern TCM doesn't really go here either, shame for them). The character 井 jing, is most often translated as "well", and in modern dictionaries can also mean "mine shaft", what this means is an opening to something that has something deep inside. However;

 

"jing 井 refers to a valley spring; it does not mean a well dug up by man. The places in mountain valleys where spring water first issues are called "jing 井"..." 17th Century Yang Xuan Cao

 

There are 5 locations moving proximally up the limbs on each of the channels that relates to the regulation of the qi into and from our system and the environment. The jingxue is the first of these five. There are many interpretations in Chinese medicine regarding this distal location, they would need to be diagnosed in person by someone who can do that. If you 'dissolve' the blockage, rather than try to move qi through it, then your qi and meridians are more likely to find balance without you having to diagnose and move qi about accordingly.

 

Hope this helps,

[ChiDragon]

Description of LU11

[Owledge]

OK, thanks for the abundance of interesting information.

I occasionally have itching at said point, but now I remember that it might be I had a scar there. I still have one on the same spot on the other hand which itches a ittle when massaged.