魄戶 : Pohu : Door of the Corporeal Soul

Classifications:

Spirit point
One of the "59 piercings" for clearing Heat in Su Wen Ch. 61
Master Tung's Five Mountain Ranges
Master Tung's Nine Monkeys
Master Tung's Three Metals
Master Tung's Common Cold Three

Location:

3 cun lateral to the midline, level with the lower border of the spinous process of the third thoracic vertebra (T3) and level with Feishu Bl-13.

Needling:

Oblique insertion 0.3 - 0.5 cun

Warnings:

Deep perpendicular or deep oblique needling in a medial direction carries a substantial risk of causing a pneumothorax.

Classical Needling:

"The Taiyang usually has much Blood and little Qi" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel should normally be bled.
"The foot Taiyang is to be pierced 5 fen deep and remain inserted for seven exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"It is needled to a depth of three fen and moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Tonifies and nourishes the Lung
Soothes dyspnoea anbd alleviates cough
Activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Lung atrophy, Lung consumption, Deficiency Taxation, taxation cough with heat in the body, cough, asthma, dyspnoea, aversion to cold.
  
• Pain of the shoulder, scapula and back, pain of the chest and back, stiff neck.
  
• Vomiting with agitation and fullness, Three Corpse Possession Disorder, loss of consciousness.
  
• Five corpse disorder (Wang Zhizhong, 12th Century, trans. Lu & Wilcox, 2014).

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Posterior cutaneous thoracic nerves from T3

Dermatome Segment: T3

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

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

Major Combinations:

• Heat in the five Zang:
    Pohu Bl-42 with Shentang Bl-44, Hunmen Bl-47, Yishe Bl-49 and Zhishi Bl-52
    (Anon, 400BC-260AD: Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu, 黃帝內經靈樞, Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic: Spiritual Pivot, Ch. 23, On Heat Diseases).
  
  
• Consumption:
    Pohu Bl-42 wth Gaohuangshu Bl-43
    (Gao Wu, 高武, 1529: Bai Zheng Fu, 百症賦, Ode of a Hundred Symptoms).
  
  
• Cough with Rebellious Qi, dyspnoea, vomiting of foam and clenched teeth:
    Pohu Bl-42 with Futu LI-18, Tianrong SI-17, Lianquan Ren-23, Qishe St-11 and Yixi Bl45
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).
  
  
• Inability to turn the neck:
    Bohu Bl-42 with Jianjing GB-21
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Sleepwalking in children:
    Pohu Bl-42 with Hunmen Bl-47 (Wang & Robertson, 2008, Applied Channel Theory).
  
  
• Inability to express grief:
    Needle Feishu Bl-13 outwards and Pohu Bl-42 perpendicularly
    (Yuen, 2005, 3 Spirits & 7 Souls, see notes below on mechanism).
  
  
• Excessive grief:
    Needle Pohu Bl-42 obliquely inwards and Feishu Bl-13 downwards
    (Yuen, 2005, 3 Spirits & 7 Souls, see notes below on mechanism).

Notes:

Like the other outer Bladder points of the five Zang, despite being named after their spiritual aspect, they have little indication for treatment of psychological disorders in the classical literature but are mainly used for draining heat from their corresponding Zang (Deadman et al, 2001). One possible answer to this is that the Shen is often agitated by excessive Heat making clearing Heat from the Zang a possible protocol for calming the mind.

This point is a notable exception to this rule containing indications for "Three Corpse Possession Disorder". The Sanshi 三尸 (Three Corpses or Deathbringers) or Sanchong 三蟲 (Three Worms) are a Daoist concept of parasitic entities that live in the three Dantian centres from the moment they are created, initiating sickness and attempting to destroy the hosts body. In alchemical practices they are weakened through Bigu, abstinence from grains, on which they feed, then poisoned with alchemical agents like zhu sha, cinnabar, and finally expelled with neidan, meditation techniques.

"According to the Baosheng Jing, the upper deathbringer resembles a male Daoist scholar, the middle deathbringer is depicted as a Chinese lion, and the lower deathbringer has a deformed one-legged human body with an ox's head....
The Upper deathbringer resides in the head. He causes headaches, tearing eyes, and runny nose; he also creates deafness, loose teeth, bad breath, wrinkles, and white hair. The middle deathbringer lives in the heart and attacks the five organs, prompting the commission of wrongdoings and loss of memory. Other symptoms range from anxiety and thirst to coughing up phlegm, tinnitus, and sweating while feeling cold. The lower deathbringer lives in the lower abdomen; he arouses desire and lust, prompting people to have intercourse with ghosts and thus ending up with exhausted waist, weak legs, and frequent urination." (Huang, 2011: Daoist Imagery of Body and Cosmos Part 2: Body Worms and Internal Alchemy, Journal of Daoist Studies 4).

Their association with the seven Po is that they were both considered harmful forces that ruined the body through base desires and had to be expelled if immortality was to be attained.

In five element acupuncture indicated for a metal cf, issues of grief or sadness, experiences of trauma.

One of the classical "59
The "59 piercings" are named in the Su Wen Ch. 61 and mentioned in Su Wen Ch. 32 and Ling Shu Ch. 23 for treating Heat diseases. This point along with Shentang Bl-44, Hunmen Bl-47, Yishe Bl-49 and Zhishi Bl-52 clear Heat from the five Zang.

Jeffrey Yuen (2005, 3 Spirits & 7 Souls) suggests for inability to express grief we can direct the Yuan qi to here for expression by needling Feishu Bl-13 outwards and then this point relatively perpendicularly.
For excessive grief we can direct it back to the Zang by needling this point obliquely towards the inner Bladder line and then needling Feishu Bl-13 downwards.

In Master Tung's system this point is one of the five mountain ranges (Wu Ling). They consist of five sets of points in three lines representing the phases of the Wu Xing in a series of lines:

The first set is along the midline, below each vertebrae from T2 to T11. From T2 to T8 relate to Fire, T9 to T11 relate to Earth.
The second set is 3 cun from the midline. from T2 to T9. From T2 to T6 relate to Metal, T7 to T9 relate to Wood.
The third set is 6 cun from the midline from T2 to T8. From T2 to T4 relate to Metal, T5 to T8 relate to Wood.

They are indicated for fever, common cold, hypertension, headache, lumbar pain, numbness of the hands and feet, hemiplegia, acute stomachache, vomiting or acute enteritis by releasing heat, wind and stagnation from the organs relating to their phase and treated with a pricking method to release a drop of blood (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).

This point is also one of the Nine Monkeys (Jiu Hou) in Tung Lineage acupuncture. They are located at 1.5 cun and 3 cun lateral from the midline level with T2, T3 and T4 and 6 cun from the midline, level with T1, T2 and T3. They are pricked to bleed in cases of scarlet fever and phlegm stuck in the bronchia that cannot be expelled (ibid.).

It is also the location of Tung's Three Metals (San Jin) located at Bl-42, Bl-43 and Bl-44 for knee pain (ibid.).

Tung's Common Cold Three (Gan Mao San) are located at Du-13 and bilateral at Bl-42. They are pricked to bleed in instances of the common cold due to external invasion and contraction of summerheat (ibid.).

Tung's prick to bleed technique may make greater sense than regular needles here as shallow depth without retention may be safer over the spine and lungs and the larger gauge used may provide better stimulation to this relatively insensitive area.

In Thai massage:
Acupressure point (Salguero & Roylance, 2011, Encyclopedia of Thai Massage)

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