-IBIS-1.5.0-

rx

point

UB-15: III-15: xin shu

acupuncture

definition

xin shu = heart's hollow/correspondence

Shu Associated point of the Xin (Heart)

location: 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of T-5, level with GV-11.

actions: calms the Heart and the Shen; quiets the Mind and the Soul; clears the Brain; tonifies the Heart to house the Shen, hence tonifies the Brain (Maciocia, p. 257); regulates the tongue and speech; regulates the Xue (Blood) and Qi of the Heart; strengthens Heart Qi, nourishes Heart Xue (Blood), and tonifies Heart Yin; clears Heart Fire and disperses Yang Shi (Excess) in the Heart (-); calms sexual dreaming; cools Heat in the Xue (Blood); transforms Heart Phlegm; invigorates circulation of the Qi and Xue (Blood) and tonifies Xu (Deficiency); influences the thyroid (Worsley, 1975, p. B-20); benefits the Lung; relaxes and expands the chest, and benefits the Qi

indications: anxiety; predisposition to sadness; psychosis; hysteria; extreme loquacity; mania; hallucinations; absent-mindedness; depression; neurasthenia; disorientation; sensation that the body below the heart is lifeless and that the heart and mind are not functioning in a coordinated fashion (Mann, p. 33); seizures; dream-disturbed sleep; insomnia; night sweats; tidal fevers; chills and fever; face bright red; poor eyesight; vomiting, incl. without eating; coughing; hemoptysis; irritability and depressed feeling in the chest and heart; cardiac pain; rheumatic heart disease; palpitations, esp. with shortness of breath; atrial fibrillation; tachycardia; chest pain (may penetrate to the upper back); perspiration localized over sternum; difficult breathing while lying down; intercostal neuralgia; impotence; spermatorrhea; hot palms and soles of feet

needle technique: perpendicular insertion, 0.5 - 1.0 cun, angled slightly toward the spine, producing a local sensation of soreness and distension, sometimes spreading between the ribs; or

oblique inferior insertion, 0.3 - 0.6 cun, angled downward along the muscle, producing a local sensation of soreness and distension; caution: be careful not to insert the needle too deeply to avoid puncturing the lungs;

moxa: 3 - 7 cones of direct moxa; 5 - 15 minutes of indirect moxa with a pole

combinations:

» with UB-11, UB-13, UB-17, UB-18, UB-20 and UB-23 disperses Yang Shi (Excess) in the organs (Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with Ht-7 calms the Heart Spirit, removes Obstruction from the Orifices of the Heart, calms the emotions, and treats insomnia due to Xu (Deficiency) of the Heart and Spleen (Flaws, 1989, p. 78; Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with CV-14 for neurasthenia; removes Obstruction of Heart Qi circulation in Chest Bi (Fullness) to reduce Fire and ease the Mind (Shanghai, p. 202; Finkelstein, p. 40; Flaws, 1989, p. 78);

» with UB-23 and Kd-9 adjusts disharmony of the Heart and Kidney (Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with UB-23 and PC-6 descends Heart Fire, communicates Heart and Kidney, and treats spermatorrhea with dreams (Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with PC-8 suppresses Heart Fire to calm the Shen and ease the Mind (Flaws, 1989, p. 78; Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with Ht-7 and St-40 for pulmonary heart disease (Shanghai, p. 202);

» with UB-14 and Sp-6 for rheumatic heart disease (Shanghai, p. 200);

» with Ht-7, PC-6, and GB-34 joined to Sp-9 for cardiac arrhythmia (Shanghai, p. 202);

» with UB-13 (Æ) benefits the Lung and treats asthma (Finkelstein, p. 40);

» with UB-23 for spermatorrhea (Shanghai, p. 202).


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, p. 257, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.