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

Modern location: An acupoint located a little more than 1 fēn below the base of the nail on the lateral side of the second toe.

Classical location: On the outer side of the end of the toe next to the great toe, the breadth of a garlic chive leaf from the corner of the nail. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: The arterial and venous network formed by the dorsal digital artery and vein of the foot. The dorsal digital nerve derived from the superficial peroneal nerve.

Action: Frees the channels and resuscitates; harmonizes the stomach and clears the spirit; courses and discharges yáng brightness (yáng míng) evil heat.

Modern indications: Sniveling and nosebleed; toothache; painful swelling of the throat; abdominal distension; febrile disease; main and withdrawal; painful swelling of the dorsum of the foot.

Classical indications: Swelling of the face; deviated mouth; clenched jaw; throat impediment (hóu bì); heat effusion; sniveling nose and nosebleed; mania and withdrawal.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.1 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 3 cones; pole 3 min.

Point groups: Well (jǐng) (metal) point.

Point name meaning:

• 厉 lì: harsh, severe, fierce; to oppress; quick, rapid
• 兑 duì: exchange, convert; mouth, a hole

According to the Book of Changes, the character 兑 (duì) is equivalent to 口 (kǒu) mouth. The point name may be considered as a reference to the effectiveness of ST-45 in treating serious diseases of the mouth, such as wry mouth, tooth decay in the upper teeth, and clenched jaw. Rendering the point name as Severe Mouth conveys this interpretation. In the same translational context, the point name may be connected to the fact that ST-45 is the point from which channel qì flows into the spleen channel (SP-1), and the opening of the spleen is the mouth.

厉 (lì) can also mean quick or rapid. ST-45 is located on a part of the foot that is instrumental in rapid ambulation. If 兑 (duì) were taken to mean acupuncture point, the name could justifiably be rendered as Running Point.

Some scholars believe that the character 厉 (lì) may have been mistranscribed from the homophone 疠, epidemic disease. ST-45 can be used to treat this type of disorder. In this instance, the character 兑 (duì) would mean simply hole or acupuncture point, and a rendering of the name as Epidemic Point would be fitting.

Further association of point name with function can be made in rendering the character 厉 (lì) as descriptive of a serious wind evil (厉风 lì fēng). The point name could thus be taken as a reference to the point’s effectiveness in treating wind-related disorders. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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