乳根 : Rugen : Root of the breast

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Xu Li: the Great Luo of the Stomach

Location:

Directly below the nipple, in the fifth intercostal space

Needling:

Transverse-oblique insertion laterally or medially along the intercostal space 0.5 - 1 cun, or transverse insertion superiorly or inferiorly along the channel

Warnings:

Deep or perpendicular insertion carries a substantial risk of puncturing the lung

Classical Needling:

"The Yangming usually has much Qi and much Blood" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel can normally be needled or bled.
"The foot Yangming is to be pierced 6 fen deep and remain inserted for ten exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"Locate it with (the patient) lying supine. It is needled to a depth of four fen and is moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Benefits the breasts and reduces swelling
Unbinds the chest and alleviates cough and wheezing

TCM Indications:

• Breast abscess, breast pain, scanty lactation, difficult labour.
  
• Cough, dyspnoea, oppression and pain below the chest, oppression of the diaphragm, oesophageal constriction with difficult ingestion, Sudden Turmoil (霍亂, Huo Luan) Disorder with cramps, Five Corpse Possession, inversion counterflow of the four limbs, swelling and pain of the arm.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Cutaneous branches of thoracic nerves from T6

Dermatome Segment: T6

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

Listed in the Wu Bei Zhi 武備志 (Treatise on Armament Technology) by Mao Yuanyi 茅元儀 (1621), Article 21: Delayed Death Touches with Twelve-Hour (Shichen 時辰) Diagrams. This point along with Kunlun Bl-60 and Tianding LI-17 are associated with Yin 寅 Tiger (3-5 am) and if struck during this time is said to cause death within 20 days from trauma to the internal mammary artery (McCarthy, 2016, Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat).

This point must be struck quite hard to have any affect. These affects are: headache, nausea and if struck on the left side a shock directly to the heart. If you combine this strike with Qimen Liv-14, just below then Qi drainage effect is much greater (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

In seizing martial arts (Qin Na) this point is a breath sealing point (Bi Qi, 閉氣). It is struck with an elbow, palm, fist, Secret Sword or Phoenix Eye Fist causing the lung to contract and seal the breath (Yang, 1995, Tai Chi Chin Na; Yang, 2004, Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na, 2nd Edition).

This is one of the eight striking points in Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. These are the nonfatal areas on an attacker's body that can be struck when just defending or wanting to defeat an attacker. Although described as "The point in the middle of the ribs" the diagram shows it towards the bottom of the sternum, around Ren-16 (Olson, 2010, The Complete Guide to Northern Praying Mantis Kung Fu). However, Wong Honfan (1946) describes it as "the lungs under the upper ribs [the flanks]" suggesting that it may mean in between the ribs on the flanks at this point or GB-24 (Ravenswood Academy, 2020, The Eight Forbidden Strikes of Praying Mantis Fist).

Also a common target in sword fighting to rupture heart (on the left only) resulting in almost immediate death.

Major Combinations:

• Coughing and wheezing with phlegm:
    Regen St-18 with Sufu Kid-27
    (Yu Long Fu, 玉龍賦, Ode of the Jade Dragon. First recorded in Gao Wu, 高武, 1529: Zhen Jiu Yu Jing, 針灸聚英, Glorious Anthology of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Breast abscess:
    Rugen St-18 with Yingchuang St-16, Xiajuxu St-39, Taichong Liv-3 and Fuliu Kid-7
    (Liao Runhong, 廖润鸿, 1874: Zhen Jiu Ji Cheng, 針灸集成, Compilation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).

Notes:

Location of the apical pulse (unilateral and maybe just outside the mid-clavicular line)

Five Corpse Possession is a collection of five different disorders which can all be treated with either 10 cones of moxa at this point, 7 cones of moxa at Shaoshang Lu-11 or 14 cones 3 cun posterior to the nipple (Zhejin GB-23, left for men, right for women) (Wang Zhizhong, 1220, Supplementing Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Trans. Lu & Wilcox, 2014).

The Stomach Shu are a proposed set of points that complement the Breast Shu. They are level with the Chest Shu and Front Mu points on the abdomen and receive the Blood and Ying Qi created through the action of the Spleen and Lung, via the Breast Shu, to distribute among the Zangfu. Whereas the Back Shu and Chest Shu deliver Yang and Yin Yuan Qi through the Bladder and Kidney Channels to the Zangfu, these points are focused specifically on postnatal Qi.

This point would be associated with the Kidneys whose Yang drives the pulse.

Avicenna describes cupping at this point in his treatise On Cupping:

"If the tissue around the cup swells up and the cup is stuck and difficult to remove, then apply a piece of warm-to-hot wet cloth or sponge around the cup mouth first. This happens often when cupping around the breast to prevent menorrhagia or nosebleed; for this reason the cup should not be placed on the breast itself. Once the location of the cupping has been rubbed with oil, make the slit quickly, and place the cup genthy without excessive pressure so that it can be quickly removed the first time." (Aspects of Treatment According to General Diseases, 22nd section in Abu-Asab, Amri & Micozzi, 2013, Avicenna's Medicine)

In ayurvedic medicine:
Stanmula marma point
Size: 2 angula (cun)
Structure: Blood vessels
Effect of Injury: Premature death (kalantarpranahar marma)
(Harish Johari, 1996, Ayurvedic Massage, Sanatan Society; Anupama Bhattacharya, n.d. Marma Shastra)

In Thai massage:
One of a set of acupressure points circling the perimeter of the breast (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