ACUPUNCTURE
Cheng Qi: TCM Acupoint Guide
CHENGQI
Name
Cheng Qi (Chengqi)
Location
With the eyes looking straight forward, directly below the pupil, between the eyeball and the infraorbital ridge.
Needling
- Straight insertion. Ask the patient to look straight upward, then hold the eyeball secure from below with a finger, and slowly insert the needle along the lower wall of the orbit to a depth of 1 to 1.5 cun. Sensation: local soreness and distention, occasionally some lachrymation.
- Caution: it is very common for this point to bleed a bit after needling. This can be stopped by applying pressure for a few moments after the needle is withdrawn. When there is bleeding, there may appear a purpling of the skin around the eye. A cold compress can be used first to stop the bleeding, followed by a hot compress; after a week the purple should disappear and will not affect the vision. Care should be taken not to insert the needle too deeply, to avoid entering the cranial cavity.
- For myopia, insert the needle transversely toward the inner canthus.
- Ask the patient to look directly forwards. Use a finger to push the eyeball upwards and insert the needle, first slightly inferiorly, then perpendicularly between the eyeball and the inferior wall of the orbit, 0.5 to 1 cun.
- Caution: the needle should be inserted slowly without lifting, thrusting or rotating it.
- Push the eyeball upward with the left thumb and puncture perpendicularly and slowly 0.5 to 1 cun along the infraorbital ridge. It is not advisable to manipulate the needle with large amplitude.
Command Functions
- Intersecting point of the REN and Yang Qiao channels
Actions
- Expels Wind
- Brightens the eyes
- Stops lachrymation
- Clears Heat
Indications
- Acute and chronic conjunctivitis
- Myopia
- Astigmatism
- Squinting
- Color blindness
- Night blindness
- Glaucoma
- Optic nerve atrophy
- Cataract
- Keratitis
- Retinitis
- Swelling of the eyes
- Lachrymation
- Paralysis of the eyelid
- Tic of the eyelid
- Visual dizziness
- Itching of the eyes
- Inability to speak
- Deviation of the mouth and eyes
- Redness of the eyes
- Deafness
- Pain of the eye
- All eye disorders
- Excessive tearing due to Wind
- Hypermetropia
- Convergent squint, esotropia
- Inflammation of the optic nerve
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Opacity of the cornea
- Cold lachrymation
- Hot lachrymation
- Superficial visual obstruction
- Dimness of vision
- Short-sightedness
- Upward staring eyes
- Blepharospasm
Combinations
| Points | Indications |
|---|---|
| UB-1 Jingming, GB-20 Fengchi, LI-4 Hegu, ST-36 Zusanli, UB-18 Ganshu, UB-23 Shenshu | Optic nerve atrophy |
| UB-1 Jingming joined by transverse insertion | Myopia |
| N-HN-3 Jianming, N-BW-12 Jianming, GB-20 Fengchi, UB-20 Pishu, UB-18 Ganshu, UB-23 Shenshu | Retinitis pigmentosa |
| ST-2 Sibai, ST-3 Juliao, LI-19 Kouheliao, GB-3 Shangguan, ST-5 Daying, SI-18 Quanliao, DU-18 Qianglian, GB-20 Fengchi, LI-20 Yingxiang, DU-26 Renzhong | Deviation of the eye and mouth with inability to speak |
| UB-1 Jingming, GB-20 Fengchi, GB-37 Guangming, LIV-3 Taichong, LI-4 Hegu | Short-sightedness |
| UB-2 Zanzhu, GB-20 Fengchi, M-HN-9 Taiyang, LI-4 Hegu, LIV-2 Xingjian | Redness, swelling and pain of the eye |
Contraindications
Moxibustion is contraindicated.
Notes
Mostly used for eye problems. One of the two principal local points of the primary channels for the treatment of eye diseases, the other being UB-1 Jingming.
Sources and further reading
We cite classical materia medica and modern reference works. This article is health education, not medical advice.
- Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), Han dynasty.
- Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen, 1578.
- Chinese Pharmacopoeia, current edition — identity, quality and safety monographs.
- NCCIH and WHO reference material on traditional medicine safety.
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