Every protocol below comes from a clinical text or a website. Nothing here has a published trial behind it, so no two independent sources have been shown to agree. How often that happens
🎯 Location: Laterosuperior to the sternum 1 thumb width below LU02 at the level of the 1st intercostal space 6 thumb widths lateral to the anterior midline.
⚠️ Cautions: Needle obliquely or laterally, never deeply or medially – risk of pneumothorax.
🎯 Location: 3 thumb widths lateral to the du mai at the level of the lower border of the spinous process of the 4th thoracic vertebra on the spinal border of the scapula.
⚠️ Cautions: Avoid deep perpendicular needling due to risk of pneumothorax.
🎯 Location: On the anterior midline 4 thumb widths above the umbilicus.
⚠️ Cautions: Avoid needling over the gravid uterus after the first trimester; where used in pregnancy, needle shallowly and only on a clear obstetric indication.
🎯 Location: On the anterior midline at the level with 4th intercostal space, midway between nipples.
⚠️ Cautions: Avoid deep needling – needle transversely along the sternum. New, worsening or unstable cardiac symptoms need medical assessment before treatment.
🎯 Location: On the dorsum of the hand between 1st & 2nd metacarpal bones approximately in the middle of the 2nd metacarpal bone on the radial side.
⚠️ Cautions: Traditionally forbidden in pregnancy – these are the points used to bring on labour at term. Controlled data show no excess of preterm birth or stillbirth (Carr 2015), but in pregnancy needle only on a clear obstetric indication.
🎯 Location: When palm faces upward point is on the radial side of the tendon of the flexor carpi ulnaris, 0.5 thumb widths above the transverse crease of the wrist.
🎯 Location: When loose fist is made point is on the ulnar end of the distal palmar crease proximal to the 5th metacarpophalangeal joint at the end of the transverse crease and junction of the red and white skin.
🎯 Location: 3 thumb widths lateral to the du mai at the level of the lower border of the spinous process of the 4th thoracic vertebra on the spinal border of the scapula.
⚠️ Cautions: Avoid deep perpendicular needling due to risk of pneumothorax.