幽門 : Youmen : Dark or Hidden Gate

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Spirit Point
Shokanten Nine Continents Point of the Middle Jiao, Shaoyang and eyes and ears
Trigger point (Travell & Simons, 1998, Trigger Point Therapy)

Meetings:

Meeting of Kidney with Chong Mai

Location:

On the upper abdomen, 6 cun above the umbilicus, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Juque Ren-14). Note: The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion locates this 1.5 cun from the midline.

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Warnings:

Deep needling, especially in thin subjects may penetrate the liver on the right side and the peritoneum on the left.

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:

Fortifies the Spleen, harmonises the Stomach and lowers rebellion
Spreads Liver Qi, benefits the chest and breasts and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Abdominal pain, lower abdominal pain, abdominal urgency, vomiting, nausea and counterflow qi, retching, vomiting of foamy (watery) saliva, much spittle, nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, fullness with no pleasure in eating, difficult ingestion, focal distension below the Heart, fullness and agitation below the Heart, diarrhoea, blood in the stool, Dysenteric Disorder (痢疾, Li Ji).
  
• Chest pain, distension of the lateral costal region, pain of the chest and lateral costal region radiating to the back, cough, coughing blood.
  
• Breast milk does not flow, breast abscess.
  
• Heart pain in women, poor memory, redness of the eyes originating at the inner canthus.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Anterior cutaneous thoracic nerve from T7

Dermatome Segment: T7

Trigger Point Associations:

Muscle:
Rectus abdominus

Location Notes:
The Great Compendium's location of 1.5 cun from the midline would probably be a better choice for this trigger point as the diagram shows it in the middle of the rectus abdominus muscle, near the costal margin

Pain Referral Pattern:
In a band across the back at the level of the the point, from around T8 to T10

Indications:
Abdominal pain and digestive discomfort

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

A common target in sword fighting to rupture the abdominal aortic artery resulting in death from internal bleeding in under a minute.

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

Major Combinations:

• Agitation of the Heart with vomiting:
    Youmen Kid-21 and Yutang Ren-18
    (Gao Wu, 高武, 1529: Bai Zheng Fu, 百症賦, Ode of a Hundred Symptoms).
  
  
• Poor memory:
    Youmen Kid-21 with Shendao Du-11, Lique Lu-7 and Gaohuangshu Bl-43
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• No pleasure in eating:
    Youmen Kid-21 with Diji Sp-8, Yinlingquan Sp-9, Shuifen Ren-9 and Xiaochangshu Bl-27
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Vomiting:
    Youmen Kid-21 with Shangqiu Sp-5 and Zutonggu Bl-66
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).
  
  
• Nine Flowers:
    Youmen Kid-21 with Yindu Kid-19, Shenfeng Kid-23, Burong St-19 and Juque Ren-14
    (Jeffrey Yuen protocol, learned via discussion group. See note below.)

Notes:

In five element acupuncture indicated when everything appears as "dark" or negative.

Jeffrey Yuen translates Youmen as "Gate to the Mysterious" as it is the final point along the Kidney channel before the Chong Mai moves into the Heart and diffuses Qi into the chest (Yuen, 2005, The Eight Extraordinary Vessels, p.49). The next points along the Kidney channel, when located at 0.5 cun from the midline, he calls the front Shu with similar ability to influence the Zangfu as the back points although only the Yin organs are represented.

The "Nine Flowers" is a combination of points that aims to open the Diaphragm and allow new life to enter (Jeffrey Yuen protocol, learned via discussion group).

Shokanten points are often used in Japanese acupuncture to treat conditions arising from a psycho-emotional background. This point affects the Middle Jiao, Shaoyang and the eyes and ears.

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