金門 : Jinmen : Golden Gate

Classifications:

Xi-Cleft point

Meetings:

Meeting of Bladder with Yang Wei Mai

Location:

On the lateral side of the foot, in the depression posterior to the tuberosity of the fifth metatarsal bone.

Needling:

Perpendicualr insertion 0.3 - 0.5 cun

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 three cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Pacifies Wind
Moderates acute conditions
Relaxes the sinews, activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Epilepsy, Childhood Fright Wind, toothache, loss of consciousness.
  
• Sudden and violent Shan (疝) Disorder, Sudden Turmoil (霍亂, Huo Luan) Disorder with cramps, Malarial (瘧, Nue) Disorders, shivering with inability to stand for long.
  
• Lumbar pain, knee pain, Painful Obstruction (痹, Bi) of the lower limb, White Tiger Joint Wind, pain of the external malleolus.

I Ching Hexagram:

䷯ Jing 井 Welling

Shared with Shuiquan Kid-5 and balanced by ䷔ (Shaochong He-9 or Houxi SI-3).

Hexagram attributions are my own with an explanation given in the glossary.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Sural nerve (L5 - S2)

Dermatome Segment: S1

Deeper Structures: Sural nerve (L5 - S2)

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

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

Major Combinations:

• Cramping of the sinews:
    Jinmen Bl-63 with Qiuxu GB-40
    (Gao Wu, 高武, 1529: Bai Zheng Fu, 百症賦, Ode of a Hundred Symptoms).
  
  
• Contraction and cold of the shoulder and back with pain of the inner aspect of the scapula:
    Jinmen Bl-63 with Geshu Bl-17, Yixi Bl-45 and Chize Lu-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).
  
  
• Bilateral deafness due to injury by cold:
    Jinmen Bl-63 with Tinghui GB-2
    (Xi-Hong Fu, 席弘賦, Ode of Xi-Hong. First recorded in: Xu Feng, 徐鳳, 1439: Zhen Jiu Da Quan, 針灸大全, Complete Collection of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Deafness:
    Jinmen Bl-63 with Zulinqi GB-41 and Hegu LI-4
    (Anon, nd, Shi Si Jing Yao Xue Zhu Zhi Ge, 十四經要穴主治歌, Song of the Points of the Fourteen Primary Channels).

Notes:

Li Shi Zhen considered this to be origin of the Yang Wei Mai because he believed it was where the three foot Yang channels met.

Nei Jing practitioners suggest it should be Chengshan Bl-57.

Yuen suggests that its name indicates the Yang Wei Mai's role in going out into the world: Jin referring to Metal, the Lungs, the most external Yin organ, and Men meaning "gate" (Yuen, 2005, The Eight Extraordinary Vessels). It may also relate to our ability to express grievances by opening the Lungs.

Jinmen is a homophone for "Forbidden Gate" 禁門 which wa a name used for the Emperor's Palace (Pregradio, 2011, Seal of the Unity of the Three, p.200).

In Tibetan medicine:
Moxa point (AMNH, Tibetan Medical Paintings)

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