金津 玉液 : Jinjin Yuye : Golden Liquid & Jade Fluid

Location:

These paired points are located on the veins either side of the frenulum of the tongue, Jinjin to the left and Yuye to the right.

Needling:

Prick to bleed.

TCM Actions:

Clears Heat and reduces swelling
Generates fluids
Benefits the tongue

TCM Indications:

• Lotus flower tongue, pain and swelling of the tongue, mouth ulcers, Throat Painful Obstruction (喉痹, Hou Bi), loss of voice, loss of voice following Windstroke (中風, Zhong Feng).
  
• Wasting and thirsting disorder, vomiting, nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, diarrhoea.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: CN V3 mandibular branch of trigeminal

Dermatome Segment:

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

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

Major Combinations:

• Swelling of the tongue with difficulty speaking:
    Jinjin/Yuye Ex-HN-12 and Lianquan Ren-23
    (Yang Jizhou, 杨继洲, 1601: Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, 針灸大成, Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Lotus flower tongue, swelling distention, extreme heat with difficulty in speaking:
    Jinjin/Yuye Ex-HN-12 with Haiquan Ex-HN-11 and Shixuan Ex-UE-11
    (Yang Jizhou, 杨继洲, 1601: Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, 針灸大成, Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).

Notes:

Originally punctured and bled in cases of sudden swelling of tongue that threatens to block the airways. Today they are mainly through needled from Lianquan Ren-23.

The names 金津 Jinjin and 玉液 Yuye derive from the Neidan internal alchemical practice of swallowing the saliva during meditation (Biso, 2013, Golden Fluid & The Micro-Cosmic Orbit).

Avicenna describes venesection at this point in his treatise On Venesection:

"The sublingual vein, which is below the tongue and above the anterior of the chin, is usually venesected in breathing problems and swelling of tonsils. Another sublingual vein below the tongue itself is venesected in cases of speech heaviness due to blood humour; this should be venesected longitudinally since a crosswise incision may not help in blood clotting later." (Aspects of Treatment According to General Diseases, 21st section in Abu-Asab, Amri & Micozzi, 2013, Avicenna's Medicine)

In Mayan medicine:
Punctured to prevent attacks of epilepsy and hysteria (Garcia, Sierra, Balam, 1999: Wind in the Blood)

Medieval phlebotomy point (John de Foxton, 1408: Liber Cosmographiae, maa.cam.ac.uk; Hans von Gersdorff, 1517: Feldtbüch der Wundartzney, www.nlm.nih.gov)

Galen mentioned bleeding this point for inflammation of the throat and trachea after the beginning (Brain, 1986, Galen on Bloodletting, p.89, 94). At the beginning the vein in the elbow (probably Quze Pc-3) is recommended.

Hippocrates mentions bleeding the sublingual veins in Epidemics VI without effect for urinary symptoms in young people and advises using the popliteal veins at Weizhong Bl-40 instead (Ibid.: p.114). The implication is that the sublinguals were a traditional remedy for this for him to have tried it.

In Diseases III he recommends bleeding from the sublingual veins for angina and from the elbow if strength permits (ibid.: p.115). The Appendix to the Regimen in Acute Diseases restates this protocol for angina with imminent suffocation (ibid.: p.117).

In Tibetan medicine:
Venesection point, called Lce Rtsa Ra Ma Lug (Tongue Vein Sheep-Goat Hybrid) measured by finding the vena profunda linguae under the tongue. Its is indicated for:

- Bitter taste in the mouth
- Stuttering
- Tsha Ba in the Liver
- Tsha Ba in the Spleen
- Tsha Ba in the Heart
- Delayed speech in children
- Thirst
- Swollen tongue
- Loss of taste

(Chenagtsang & Nguyen, 2017, Sowa Rigpa Points; AMNH, 2009, Body & Spirit: 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