滑肉門 : Huaroumen : Slippery Flesh Gate

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Master Tung's Bowel Nest Twenty-Three

Location:

On the abdomen, 2 cun lateral to the midline and 1 cun superior to the umbilicus, level with Shuifen Ren-9.

Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Warnings:

In thin subjects, deep needling may penetrate the peritoneal cavity

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).
"It is needled to a depth of eight fen and moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

TCM Actions:

Transforms Phlegm and calms the Shen
Harmonises the Stomach and alleviates vomiting

TCM Indications:

• Mania-Withdrawal (癲狂, Dian Kuang), tongue thrusting, stiff tongue, lotus flower tongue.
  
• Vomiting, vomiting of blood, epigastric pain.

Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Cutaneous branches of thoracic nerves from T9

Dermatome Segment: T9

Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

This point is protected by the abdominal muscles, however it will have an electrical affect which affects the colon and will causes the recipient to defecate not too soon after the strike, but with great pain (Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com).

Major Combinations:

• Stiff tongue, tongue thrusting:
    Huaroumen St-24 with Shaohai He-3 and Wenliu LI-7
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Dian Kuang with tongue trusting:
    Huaroumen St-24 with Taiyi St-23
    (Haungfu Mi, 皇甫謐, 282: Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing, 針灸甲乙經, Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Dian Kuang with tongue trusting:
    Huaroumen St-24 with Feiyang Bl-58 and Taiyi St-23
    (Sun Simiao, 孫思邈, 625: Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang, 備急千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth A Thousand Gold).

Notes:

In Tung lineage acupuncture the Bowel Nest 23 (Fu Chao Er Shi San) are a group of points located in a line at 1 cun intervals between Ren-2 and Ren-10. An additional eight points on either side form a 4x5 grid at the levels of Ren-9 to Ren-5, also at 1 cun intervals. This would match with the alternative location for this point given in the Great Compendium. Ren-8, on the navel, is not included.

They are pricked using Tung's method in local disorders of pain, stagnation and heat in the abdomen such as uteritis, nephritis, umbilical area pain, enteritis, appendicitis and intestinal cancers (McCann, 2014, Pricking the Vessels).

In Bo's Method and Feng's Nine Palaces abdominal acupuncture, this point is located in the region associated with ☴ Xun, Wind and the southeast on the right; and ☷ Kun, Earth and the southwest on the left.

In Bo's Method these areas are associated with the Liver and Gallbladder on the right, and the Spleen and Stomach on the left, with this point also guiding Qi and Blood in to the upper extremities. In Feng's Nine Palaces method this whole region is associated with the upper limb on the same side (Schelbert, 2014, Ryan, 2009).

This point and Taiyi St-23 contain unique indications for Dian Kuang disorders. This is because the Su Wen ch. 30 attributes many types of agitated, irritable and frenetic types of behaviour to Heat in this channel, which it refers to as Yangming Syndrome. The locations of these points, just above Tianshi St-25 suggests that their action is to encourage the Heat to descend and be excreted from the bowel.

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