Extra point · Upper Limb
Ten Diffusions
十宣Shí XuānAnatomical location
Ten points at the tips of the fingers, 0.1 cun from the edge of the nail.
Same point as CP86 · Shí Xuān — Curious Points catalogMain function
Restores consciousness (opens the orifices), clears extreme Heat.
- Emergency point for loss of consciousness
Therapeutic indications
- Loss of consciousness
- heatstroke
- apoplexy
- febrile convulsions
- shock
Name and classical tradition
Shixuan, 十宣, means the “ten diffusers”: 十, ten; 宣, to spread, to open, to let out. They are the ten fingertips, and the name alludes to their use for letting out Heat and excess through bleeding.
The Zhenjiu Dacheng (Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) describes them as follows: «十宣十穴，在手十指頭上，去爪甲一分，每一指各一穴，兩手指各十穴，故名十宣», one fen from the nail, one on each finger, and it indicates them for tonsillitis, with bloodletting using a three-edged needle. The location has an older history: the Qianjin Yaofang (Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold), in its series on spirits, prescribes for the patient who screams and flees «灸十指端去爪一分», moxa on the tips of the ten fingers one fen from the nail, and gives the location the name of a spirit, «一名鬼城».
