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ST-24 Slippery Flesh Gate

滑肉门 〔滑肉門〕 huá ròu mén

Alternate names: 滑幽门 huá yōu mén, Slippery Dark Gate; 司天 sī tiān, Celestial Manager

Channel: ST, foot yáng brightness (yáng míng) stomach channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the upper abdomen, 1 cùn superior to the umbilicus and 2 cùn lateral to the midline.

Classical location: One cùn below Supreme Unity (ST-23), two cùn either side of the midline. From The Golden Mirror of Medicine (医宗金鑑 yī zōng jīn jiàn)

Local anatomy: Branches of the 9th intercostal and inferior epigastric arteries and veins. Branch of the 9th intercostal nerve.

Action: Quiets the spirit and stabilizes the mind; regulates and harmonizes the stomach and intestines.

Modern indications: Stomach pain; retching and vomiting; mania and withdrawal.

Classical indications: Stiff tongue; vomiting of blood; gastrointestinal disorders; prolapse of the rectum; retching counterflow; protrusion of the tongue.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.5‒1.0 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 5 cones; pole 5‒20 min.

Point name meaning:

The point is located near the opening of the small intestine (the pylorus), which is a gate of slippery flesh. An alternate name for ST-24 is 滑幽门 huá yōu mén, which is the Chinese name for the pylorus (literally, Slippery Dark Gate). It is possible that this name was the original name and that the now standard name is a mistranscription.

The characters 滑肉 (huá ròu) may be taken as a reference to the intestines, which are indeed slippery flesh. Again, (mén) is often simply a way of describing an acupuncture point.

Functionally, the spleen engenders flesh, and, as Sù Wèn records, Yáng brightness (yáng míng) governs the flesh. This point treats both the spleen and the stomach, and the point name reflects this. The word slippery (or glossy) could refer to the nature of the flesh at the part of the abdomen where the point is located.

Clinically, ST-24 treats tongue disorders such as swallowing of the tongue and thus is a way (a gate) to treat such slippery flesh. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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