清冷淵 : Qinglengyuan : Clear Cold Abyss

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Trigger point (Travell & Simons, 1998, Trigger Point Manual)
Luo Harmonizing point

Location:

With the elbow flexed, this point is located 1 cun proximal to Tianjing SJ-10.

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Classical Needling:

"The Shaoyang usually has little Blood and much Qi" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel should normally be needled.
"The hand Yin and Yang receive their Qi via nearby paths so their Qi arrive swiftly. The depth of piercing must not exceed 2 fen and must not remain inserted for longer than one exhalation" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"Locate it with the" (patient’s) arm raised and elbow stretched. It is needled to a depth of three@, and it is moxaed with three cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Activates the channel and alleviates pain
Clears Damp-heat

TCM Indications:

• Headache, heaviness of the head with pain of the submandibular region, pain of the eyes, yellow eyes with pain of the lateral costal region, jaundice.
  
• Difficulty in raising the shoulder and arm and putting on clothes, Painful Obstruction (痹, Bi) of the shoulder and arm, fixed Painful Obstruction (痹, Bi).

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Medial cutaneous nerve of the arm (C8 - T1)

Dermatome Segment: C6

Trigger Point Associations:

Muscle:
Triceps brachii attachment point

Pain Referral Pattern:
To elbow

Indications:
Pain in posterior shoulder and upper arm

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

See Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com for explanation of effects.

Major Combinations:

• Inability to raise the shoulder and put on clothes:
    Qinglengyuan SJ-11 and Yanggu SI-5
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).

Notes:

At the end of a San Jiao Luo treatment this point is needled, deqi grasped and removed immediately to normalize the circulation of blood (Cecil-Sterman, 2012, Advanced Acupuncture).

Reference Notes:

Basic information on location, needle depth, TCM actions, indications and combinations is taken from Deadman et al (2001): A Manual of Acupuncture with additional anatomical information researched by reference to Gray's Anatomy (38th Ed., 1995) unless otherwise referenced. Images were found on acupunctureschoolonline.com and can be traced back to Claudia Focks (2008) Atlas of Acupuncture originally. I cannot claim any credit or rights over them. Other sources should be quoted in the text.

For some of the more unusual terms I have created a glossary here