Bladder Channel
Second Crevice
次髎CìliáoContraindicated during pregnancy
Second sacral Liao; the childbirth point par excellence, prohibited before term.
Anatomical location
In the second posterior sacral foramen, medial and inferior to BL31, between the posterior inferior iliac spine and the posterior midline.
Main function
Regulates Qi and Blood, strengthens the Kidney, benefits the lumbar and sacral region, regulates urination, treats gynecological disorders, strengthens the pelvic region, regulates the Chong Mai and the Ren Mai, benefits the uterus.
- One of the Eight Liao (the second)
Therapeutic indications
- Low back pain
- sciatica
- dysuria
- enuresis
- urinary incontinence
- leukorrhea
- dysmenorrhea
- amenorrhea
- infertility
- impotence
- uterine prolapse
- hemorrhoids
- pain during intercourse
- Irregular menstruation
- Infertility
- Sacral low back pain
- Paralysis of the lower limb
- Prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Endometriosis
Name and classical tradition
Ciliao, 次髎, is the “second foramen.” 次 means next, second in a sequence; 髎, also written 窌, is the bony hollow. The name is purely numerical and descriptive: the second of the four sacral foramina, just below BL31.
The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) locates it «在第二空、俠脊陷者中», in the second foramen, in the depression beside the spine. The Yixue Rumen (Introduction to Medicine), from the Ming dynasty, adds an anatomical observation about the foramina that follow the first: «余三髎...少斜，上闊下狹是也», the other three are slightly oblique, wider above and narrower below. It is a description of the actual shape of the sacrum, which narrows toward the bottom.
Ciliao is today the most widely used of the eight foramina, especially in gynecology, although that widespread use comes from contemporary practice. The reference works record the graphic variant 次窌.
