腹通谷 : Futonggu : Abdomen Connecting Valley or Through the Valley

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Spirit Point

Meetings:

Meeting of Kidney with Chong Mai

Location:

On the upper abdomen, 5 cun above the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Shangwan Ren-13). Note: The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion locates this 1.5 cun from the midline.

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 1 - 1.5 cun

Warnings:

Deep needling may penetrate the peritoneal cavity.

Classical Needling:

"The Shaoyin usually has little Blood and much Qi" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel should normally be needled.
"The foot Shaoyin is to be pierced 2 fen deep and remain inserted for three exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"It is needled to a depth of five fen and moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Harmonises the Lower Jiao
Unbinds the chest and transforms Phlegm

TCM Indications:

• Vomiting, undigested food in the stool, abdominal distension, diarrhoea.
  
• Fullness of the chest, pain of the lateral costal region, Heart pain, coughing and dyspnoea.
  
• Palpitation, disorientation, epilepsy, sudden loss of voice, swelling beneath the tongue with difficulty in speaking, protrusion of the tongue, deviation of the mouth.
  
• Inability to turn the neck, Malarial (瘧, Nue) Disorders, redness of the eyes originating at the inner canthus.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Anterior cutaneous thoracic nerve from T8

Dermatome Segment: T8

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

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

Major Combinations:

• Rhinitis with clear nasal discharge:
    Futonggu Kid-20 with Hegu LI-4, Fengmen Bl-12, Shenting Du-24, Zanzhu Bl-2, Yinxiang LI-20 and Zhiyin Bl-67
    (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:

In five element acupuncture indicated for feeling full of fear, feeling trapped, feelings of negativity, someone facing death, suicide and/or loneliness.

The top point of Tung's Stomach Hair Seven (Wei Mao Qi) is located at the tip of the xiphoid process, equivalent to Ren-15, with two below it at 1 cun intervals. Two more are located 1.5 cun lateral to the inferior two on either side. The lower lateral points would be at the location given in the Great Compendium for this point. They are treated using Tung's method of pricking for "wool-like furuncles", stomach diseases, stomach bleeding, enteritis, palpitations and various types of sudden turmoil (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).

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