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GB-11 Head Orifice Yīn

头窍阴 〔頭竅陰〕 tóu qiào yīn

Alternate names: 窍阴（头） qiào yīn (tóu), Orifice Yin (head); 枕骨 zhěn gǔ, Occipital Bone; 枕骨 zhěn gǔ, Pillow Bone

Channel: GB, foot lesser yáng (shào yáng) gallbladder channel

Modern location: An acupoint located posterior to the ear, in the depression about two-thirds of the distance from GB-9 (tiān chōng) to GB-12 (wán gǔ) on a line connecting these two points.

Classical location: Above Completion Bone (GB-12) and below [in front of] the occipital bone, in a hollow felt when the head is turned. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: The branches of the posterior auricular artery and vein. The anastomotic branch of the great and lesser occipital nerves.

Action: Clears heat and disinhibits gallbladder channel damp-heat; frees the ears and disinhibits the throat.

Modern indications: Headache; deafness; tinnitus.

Classical indications: Welling- and flat-abscesses (yōng jū); vexing heat in the hands and feet; stiff tongue; throat impediment (hóu bì); taxation flat-abscess (jū); goiter; nausea and bitter taste in the mouth.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.3 cùn transverse insertion. Moxa: 5 cones; pole 5‒15 min.

Point groups: Intersection point (jiāo huì xué) of the gallbladder and bladder channels.

Point name meaning:

The word head is included in this point name simply to avoid confusion with another point of the same name, Foot Orifice Yīn (GB-44). The occipital region, where this point is located, is considered to be the yīn portion of the head. GB-11 is employed in the treatment of diseases related to the five orifices of the five viscera, i.e., the eyes (eye pain from taxation jaundice), ears (deafness, tinnitus), mouth (bitter taste), nose (nasal congestion) and tongue (stiffness). Due to the point’s location in a yīn region and to its use in the treatment of disorders of the orifices (which, being associated with the viscera, can also be seen to be related to yīn), the point is known as Head Orifice Yīn. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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