Stomach 36 in Classical Acupuncture
In this article, we take a very close look at one of the most powerful and useful points in our practice: Stomach 36.
ST36 zu san li 足 三 里
Secondary names Xia li 三 里, Xia san li 下 三 里, Xia ling 下 陵, Xia ling san li 下 陵 三 里
References :
Su Wen : Translation by André Duron
Ling Shu : Translation and comments by Minsky and Dr Andrès
Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing : Translation and comments by Minsky and Dr Andrès
Bioénergétique et Médecine Chinoise : Laville-Mery, Duron, Borsarello
L’acupuncture chinoise : George Soulié de Morant
Traité de Médecine Chinoise : Dr A. Chamfrault
Art et pratique de l'acupuncture et de la Moxibustion : Nguyen Van Nghi (NvN)
LOCATION
- So Oenn / Suwen chap.60: "It is in the gap between two tendons on the outer side of the leg three inches below the knee"
- Ling Tchrou / Lingshu: LS chap.2: "Shu points of the four limbs"
"The Xia ling point (ST36) is three inches below the knee on the outer side of the tibia."
- Jiayi jing: III-33: "The thirty points of foot yangming to the lower limbs"
"San li point (ST36) is three inches below the knee on the outer side of the tibia."
- Ta Tchreng / Dacheng: 3 cun below the knee, at the outer edge of the tibia, in the middle of the large muscle mass, between the two muscles. To locate this point, you must lift the patient's leg. When you strongly press your finger on this point, you can not feel the beat of the artery on the back of the foot (pedal).
- Sun Simiao: 3 cun below the knee, outside the tibial crest.
ATTRIBUTES AND FUNCTIONS
Pt Ro / He, Pt Penn / Ben from ST
This is the point of "longevity" among Japanese moxa practitioners, who stimulate it every day
It is also the point of "divine indifference" or "serenity" for anxious persons etc. (always toned and heated for these examples).
One of the biggest points of the Yang of the body. He acts up to the level of the navel.
According to Thierry Bollet:
It has multiple indications of which we give only the principal ones.
In tonification, it treats Yang deficiencies or Yin excesses:
- It lowers the Yang down the body (It can be combined with ST25 and ST37 for this purpose)
- All the deficiencies of general Yang and local Yang (mainly in the lower limbs.).
- Fatigue (Depleted energy).
- Great point of vitality for the elderly, he maintains life.
- Lack of vitality or weak constitution.
- Convalescence of diseases, surgery, major shocks (psychological or physical).
- Anorexia, leanness, abnormal weight loss, cachexia.
- Loss of appetite, it sucks the infant who does not want to eat, it starts digestion.
- Deficiency of the stomach and intestines (Yin), poor digestion.
- Insufficient nutritional energy; it harmonises the nutritional and defensive energies.
- Regulator of the blood pressure, it increases the blood pressure.
- It strongly stimulates the production of blood, nutritional and defensive energies.
- It improves the food assimilation, diabetes and disorders of the glycemia (= deficiency of nutritional energy or disbalance of the glycogenesis).
- All diseases due to humidity, whether organic (lungs, water retention, etc.) or physical (rheumatism); in these cases it is necessary to heat strongly (use a lot of moxas).
- Sensitivity to cold and humidity, internal cold.
- Depressive state (Yin), depression, lack of motivation, saturation (in these cases, we find most of the indications of the JM12 / RM12 with which it is commonly coupled).
- It lowers the Yang (blockage in the middle or upper body).
- Thyroid problems (hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism).
- Weakness of the legs, poor circulation of the legs, water retention in general and on its limb, extensive oedema.
- All problems (Yin) of the knee (articular and fluid, meniscus, ligament, synovium).
- Point of the "divine indifference" = people concerned, anxious, depressed, very effective against obsessions, fixed ideas, the past which haunts the spirit, it soothes the agitated and stressed.
- Menses too abundant or too frequent, white discharges.
- Main local Yang point for the knee and the lower limb.
- This point also affects the general condition and does the greatest good on the mononucleosis suites.
- It pulls down everything above the belt, mainly in its energetic axis, the Yang Ming. This is the great point of serenity or "divine indifference".
- To balance the Spleen, strengthen the action of the JM12 / RM12 on the organic Yang and, above all, draw Yang energy down the body which will force the GB to "let go" as well to the head as in the organ .
- Main point of the Yang of the lower body.
- Acts on the whole body and, especially, in the lower part of the body.
- Nutrition point.
- Toned and heated it regenerates all energies including Iong/Rong at the origin of blood and milk.
- Activates the Oé / Weï energy.
In dispersion, treat the excesses of Yang for:
- Blocking of the middle and / or lower burner, stool or urine blocked.
- Point of energetic purge, food poisoning.
- Spasmodic colitis (functional or nervous).
- Appendicitis (set up an intradermal needle for several days).
- Ulceration of the Large Intestine, Krohn's disease, intestinal abscess, anal fissure.
- Salpingitis, extra uterine pregnancy (pending hospitalisation).
- All excess of Yang or heat to the stomach (ulcer).
- Point Ro/He coming out of the stomach, evacuating the energy of the Lower Burner (principle of appendicitis)
TECHNIQUES OF PUNCTURE
Suwen; 0.5 cun
Laville-Mery-Laville-Mery / Duron / Borsarello: Zu san li is a point of direct stimulation. It is very important to progressively deepen it until the moment of the sensation of the arrival of energy to the needle. If the needle comes in and out as in soy pie its action is inoperative; apply moxa and start progressive puncture again.
Very important position: the patient must be on the back, legs folded, the end of the fingers on the knees, the head well posed.
Nguyen van Nghi: Vertical, 1.5 to 3 cun.
Chamfrault: 1 cun
Beijing: Perpendicular, 1 to 1.5 cun.
Shanghai: Perpendicular, 1 to 2 cun. Or oblique down, 2 to 3 cun.
FEATURES
Chamfrault:
- Point Ro / He and point of dispersion of zu yangming.
- According to doctor Dong Fun, as a result of either fatigue or intemperance or overwork, the energy of the stomach can no longer rise to the upper body to feed energy yang six bowels .
- By practicing the point Zu san li, this energy can spread again in the bowels. This point governs all the energy of the large intestine and the stomach ...
Lastly, it is necessary to make this point in all the attacks by the perverse energy, in the affections of the muscles, the bones, the epidermis, the flesh, and the blood.
Soulié de Morant:
- Toning in the morning, especially tones the yang energy: yang channels, all parts of the body, brain, skin, nerves.
- Toning in the evening, tones especially the energy of yin: yin channels, all parts yin of the body, blood, muscles, bones.
- But toning too much and over digestion at night or too often after 30 years, makes the blood pressure rise, can give nausea, insomnia, congestions.
-Clearly distinguish between insufficient or excess of total energy even side.
- Alternation of yang or yin energy, day and night, activity and rest, high and low, not alternating harmoniously.
- Any vitality or physical disorder caused by feelings (joy, sorrow, anger, worry, fear), nervous centres, nerves, psychic, eyes, ears, smell, taste, internal organs, blood, vessels, muscles, skin, bones.
- All varieties of yin or yang depletion (not alternating).
- Yin not feeding the yang, yang remaining without feeding the yin.
- Yin depletion down and yang excess up or yang up depleted and yin down in excess.
- San li prevents disturbances by moisture (as well as ST38 and Kd18): Moisture weakens the spleen and pancreas as well as yang energy. In this, it calms the nervous but tired people who do not easily expel the water from their tissues and swell even that of the air. It tires the kidneys which alone then evacuate water from the body and thus prepare for rheumatism. Finally, it greatly increases the effects of heat and cold.
- Acts on all the meridians, yin and yang, blood, vessels, muscles, nerves, skin, bones, Jen Mo / Ren Mai, Tou Mo / Du Mai; the right point acts on the radial edge of both wrists, the left on the ulnar edge.
Laville-Mery / Duron / Borsarello:
- When a patient is « depleted of energy », the energy Oé / Weï cannot reach the upper body and cannot preserve the yang channels.
This patient can be affected by the external perverse energies that penetrate the channels which empty of Iong/Rong energy and cause a excess of external energy. San li has full activity in patients with typology yin, lean and anorexic with small pulse and fast.
- The result is only partial if we only moxa.
- These patients are more predisposed than the others to the attacks of external energies by insufficiency of energy Oé / Wei.
- The main function of this point is to distribute the energies Iong / Rong and Oé / Weï.
- Treats paralytic diseases. .
- Stop vomiting and regulate evacuation. Facilitates digestion.
- Drop the energy. Helps to make the energy circulate up and down. .
- Heals moisture. .
- Tonifies the central energy.
Nguyen van Nghi:
- Point Ro / He of the channel corresponding to the movement "earth / spleen".
- Point belonging to the group of recuperators of yang, 9 in number:
Ya Men (15VG), Lao Gong (8MC), San Yin Jiao (6Rt), Yong Quan (1Rn), Tai Xi (3Rn), Zhong Wan
(12VC), Huan Tiao (30VB), Zu San Li (ST36) and He gu (4GI).
Ta Tchreng / Dacheng:
- Point Ro / He / Earth, where the energy of the yangming goes to the stomach.
- Dong Yuan proposes a study on the process of triggering the original energy disorders (Yuan Chi / Yuanqi) and their treatment by the San li (ST36): "Unregulated diet and overwork are the two factors favoring "yin-fire" to offend the Earth, thus to prevent the cereal energy, the Iong/Rong energy, the pure energy, the energy of the stomach and the ancestral energy (Yuan Chi / Yuanqi) to feed the six entrails .. The yang energy of the five organs is then exhausted first and foremost on the outside. The outside is the "Heaven" which communicates with the interior, the "yin / fire" of the organism. It is disturbed first by the seven feelings (joy, anger, sadness, fear, ...) then by the exhaustion of the energy of the stomach and finally by the overwork and a diet disordered. This disturbance causes the original energy disturbances (Yuan Chi / Yuanqi). The treatment then involves puncturing and massaging the San li (ST36) to increase yuanqi's potential.
- In young subjects, San li (ST36) and Trsi Rae / Qi hai (JM6 / RM6) moxas should be used with caution, as an exaggerated number of moxas (up to 350) during treatment may result at advanced age complications : headache with feeling of heat throughout the body, search for cold wind in winter and fear of heat and smoke.
ST36 in the classical texts
Suwen:
- SW 36: "Acupuncture in malarias"
- SW41: "Acupuncture in low back pain"
- SW60: "Discussion on bone cavities"
Lingshu:
- LS 1: "Nine needles and twelve yuan points" / Jiayi jing V-4: "The art of acupuncture"
- LS 2: "The shu points of the four limbs" "The breath of the stomach enters point Xia ling (ST36) ... it is the point San li and it is the point Ro / He. "
- LS 4: "Wicked breath, organ, bowel and objective symptoms of diseases" / Jiayi jing IV-2 (2): "Symptoms of diseases and diagnosis by pulse"
"Huang di asked, How do you heal the Fu inside? Qi bo replied: We treat the point Ro / He. Huang di asked: Does every Ro / He point have a name? Qi bo answered: For the stomach the point Ro / He enters point San li (ST36) ... »
- LS 6: "Life time, hard and soft" / Jiayi jing VI-6: "Important discussion on the examination of the body shape outside and inside, young and old, fat and lean and clarity of mind in the morning and worsening at night in the sick "
"When the disease is in yang yang, we puncture the Ro / He points of yang. "
- LS 19: "The breath of the four seasons" / Jiayi jing X-1 (2): "The bi caused by the yin reached by the disease" and Jiayi jing IX-7: "Bloating, abdominal fullness, borborygm and shortness of breath caused by diseases that reach the spleen, stomach and large intestine "
- LS 20: "The five perverts" / Jiayi jing IX-4: "Sensation of fullness and pain in the chest and sides of the chest caused by the disease that affects the liver and the stagnation of the defensive breath"
- LS 20: "The five perverts" / Jiayi jing IX-4: "Sensation of fullness and pain in the chest and sides of the chest caused by the disease that affects the liver and the stagnation of the defensive breath"
- LS 22: "Dementia" / Jiayi jing XI-2: "Furious madness and epilepsy provoked by a jueyang and a great fright"
- LS 22: "Dementia" / Jiayi jing IX-10: "Impossibility of urinating and stooling caused by the internal obstruction of the function of control of the water of the triple heater"
- LS 23: "Febrile diseases" / Jiayi jing VII-4: "Seizures caused by the attack of the wind and the cold and moisture of the Taiyang"
- LS 33: "Discussion on the seas" / Jiayi jing I-8: "The four seas"
"The man has four seas. The twelve rivers flow into the four seas. There is the sea of marrow, the sea of blood, the sea of breath, the sea of water and cereals. The stomach is the sea of water and cereals, its point at the top is Trsi Tchrong / Qi jie (St30), below it is San li (ST36).
- LS 34: "Five Disturbances" / VI-4: "Important Discussion on the Conformity and Standard of Yin and Yang, Clear and Disturbance" "Huangdi Asked: Are There Any Rules to Puncture the Five Disturbances? ? Qibo replied: Since there is regularity in their appearance, there are rules for their elimination. The knowledge of these rules is like a precious jewel carried on oneself (...) If the disturbed breath is in the intestines and the stomach, we treat the taiyin and yangming of foot. If that does not cure, San li is treated. (There are two points bearing the name San li: LI10 (Shou san li) and ST36 (Zu san li). Chinese comments say that it is only Zu san li (ST36).
- LS 35: "Discussion of swelling" / Jiayi jing VIII-3: "The swelling of the five organs and six bowels"
- LS 59: "Anomalies of the defensive breath" / Jiayi jing IX-4: "Sensation of fullness and pains in the chest and sides of the thorax caused by the disease that affects the liver and the stagnation of the defensive breath"
- LS 73: "Functions and Capacities [of Acupuncture]" / Jiayi Jing V-4: "The Art of Acupuncture"
Jiayi jing
- VII-1 (3): "Cold Impairment and Febrile Illnesses Produced by Six Meridians"
- VII-1 (3): "Cold Impairment and Febrile Illnesses Produced by the Condition of the Six Meridians
- VII-2: "Fever, furious madness and fugues caused by diseases of the meridian yangming of foot" "Furious madness with songs, insensate words, fear of people and fire, insults come from the point San li (ST36). "
- VII-4: "Convulsive diseases caused by the attack of the wind and the cold and moisture of the taiyang" "The convulsive diseases with opisthotonos, trismus, bi throat and inability to speak come from point San li (ST36). "
- VIII-1 (1): "Transmission of diseases in the five organs and accesses of chills and fever"
- VIII-3: "The swelling of the five organs and the six entrails" "The swelling of the five organs and six bowels must all be treated by the point San li (ST36). San li is the essential point of swelling. "
- VIII-4: "Hydropisie, swelling of the skin, abdominal bloating, intestinal swelling and pelvic tumors": "The dropsy with abdominal swelling and swelling of the skin is San li point. (This is the name of the points LI10 AND ST36.)
- IX-4: "Sensation of fullness and pain in the chest and sides of the chest caused by the disease that affects the liver and the stagnation of the defensive breath"
"In the larynx bi with sudden reflux of the breath in the thorax, first treat the Tchrong Mo / Chongmai (This is to treat the point 30E), then the points San li (ST36) and Iunn Menn / Yun men (Lu2) by dispersing them.
Jiayi jing IX-5: "Grief, fear, sighs, bitter mouth, sadness and fear due to the pervert which is located in the heart and gallbladder and reaches the organs and entrails"
- IX-7: "Bloating, abdominal fullness, borborygias and shortness of breath caused by diseases that reach the spleen, stomach and large intestine"
"Cold in the large intestine with swelling, fullness and frequent dysphagia, foul breath, shortness of breath, intestinal borborygmata, abdominal pain, diarrhea, no food processing and feeling of swelling in the epigastrium are ] San li (ST36). "
- IX-8: "Abdominal swelling, lumbar pain radiating to the back and hypogastric pain radiating to the testicles caused by diseases that affect the kidneys and the small intestine"
"When yangming provokes lumbago in men, unable to turn their head or hallucinations if it turns, and a tendency to grief, we puncture the yangming in front of the shin three times and harmonize with the points Ju xu shang lian (ST37) and Ju xu xia lian (ST39) by making them bleed. We must not show the blood in autumn. "
IX-9: "Hypogastric bloating and inability to urinate caused by diseases that reach the triple warmer and bladder"
- XI-4: "Choleraform syndrome with vomiting and diarrhea caused by the disturbance of the breath in the intestines and the stomach" "The choleriform syndromes with bowel incontinence and emission of gas through the anus is attached to the point San li (ST36) . "
- XI-6: "Emaciation-thirst syndrome and jaundice caused by the overflow of five breaths"
"The shortage of yin (provoking) heat in the center, rapid digestion with constant hunger, hot belly, restless body, and senseless words is attached to the point San li (ST36). "
- XI-7: "profuse metasthaphy, stagnant blood, vomiting of blood and spitting of blood caused by an immoderate behavior which hurts the inside and the outside"
"Stagnant blood in the chest, sensation of swelling and fullness of the chest and sides of the thorax, pain of the diaphragm, impossibility of remaining upright for a long time, flaccidity and coldness of the knees are attached to the point San li (ST36). "
- XI-10: "Various diseases of women"
"The breast abscess with fever comes from the San li point (ST36).
Ta Tchreng/Dacheng: According to Li Dong Yuan: " Depletion of spleen and stomach with attack of external pathogenic energy, moisture or excess of sweating; bleed San li (ST36) and Trsi Tchrong/Qi jie (ST30) with a triangular needle.
