Bladder Channel
Jade Pillow
玉枕Yù ZhěnAnatomical location
1.3 cun from the posterior midline, 2.5 cun above the posterior hairline, on the upper border of the external occipital protuberance, level with GV17 (Naohu).
Main function
Expels Wind, clears the head, benefits the eyes and nose, relieves headache and stiff neck.
Therapeutic indications
- Occipital headache
- neck pain
- stiff neck
- vertigo
- dizziness
- blurred vision
- myopia
- eye pain
- nasal congestion
- loss of smell
- fever with aversion to cold
- back pain
- Nasal obstruction
Name and classical tradition
Yuzhen, 玉枕, is the "jade pillow." The explanation is anatomical: the occipital bone, on which the head rests when lying down, was called 玉枕骨, "jade-pillow bone," in classical terminology, and the point is located over it. It is an ancient, documented anatomical term, and the reading of the name is firm.
The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) locates it "在絡卻後七分，俠腦戶傍一寸三分，起肉枕骨，入髮際三寸," seven fen posterior to BL8, one cun and three fen lateral to Naohu, GV17, on the relief of the occipital bone, three cun inside the hairline. It ends the row of five points of the channel over the skull that begins at BL5.
