Back to search result Previous Next
Search in acupoints

TB-22 Harmony Bone-Hole

和髎 〔和髎〕 hé liáo

Alternate names: 耳和 ěr hé liáo, Ear Harmony Bone-Hole; 禾髎 hé liáo, Grain Bone-Hole; 和空 hé kōng, Harmony Hollow

Channel: TB, hand lesser yáng (shào yáng) triple burner channel

Modern location: An acupoint located anterior to the ear, level with the superior root of the ear, on the posterior edge of the preauricular hairline (i.e., the sideburn).

Classical location: In front of Ear Gate (TB-21) below the sidelock, at the site of the horizontal pulse. From The Golden Mirror of Medicine (医宗金鑑 yī zōng jīn jiàn)

Local anatomy: The superficial temporal artery and vein. The branch of the auriculotemporal nerve, on the course of the temporal branch of the facial nerve.

Action: Dispels wind and frees the network vessels; opens the orifices.

Modern indications: Headache; tinnitus; deafness; toothache.

Classical indications: Submandibular swelling; runny nose; swelling of the tip of the nose; tugging and slackening; deviated mouth.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.1‒0.3 cùn perpendicular insertion or 0.3‒0.5 cùn oblique insertion. Moxa: 1‒2 cones; pole 3‒5 min.

Point groups: Intersection point (jiāo huì xué) of the triple burner, small intestine and gallbladder channels.

Point name meaning:

The Líng Shū states that when the kidney is in harmony, the ears can hear the five sounds (the kidney opens into the ears). Since this point is employed in treating deafness, it can be said to harmonize the kidney. The rendering of the name as Harmony Bone-Hole is meant to express this idea.

TB-22 is also the intersection (jiāo huì) point of the gallbladder, small intestine and triple burner channels. It is located in a bone-hole where the channels come together. The point name could therefore be rendered as Uniting Bone-Hole.

In ancient China, the character 和 (hé) was used to describe a gate with banners hanging at both sides. The tufts of hair at the temples where this point is located may be likened to those banners, and translating the point name as Banner-Gate Bone-Hole would express this interpretation. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

Back to search result Previous Next