Du Mai (Governing Vessel) Channel
Tip of the Nose
素髎Sù LiáoAnatomical location
At the tip of the nose, on the midline of the face.
Main function
Expels Wind, opens the nasal orifices, restores consciousness.
Therapeutic indications
- Loss of consciousness
- rhinitis
- nosebleed
- facial pain
- Nasal congestion
- Epistaxis
- Shock
- Rosacea
Name and classical tradition
Suliao, 素髎, lies at the tip of the nose, and its name admits two readings. In the first, 素 means the origin, the beginning: in the formation of the embryo, the nose would be one of the first structures to appear (鼻先結形), the beginning of the body. In the second, 素 is white, and since the Lung opens into the nose (肺開竅於鼻) and its color is the white of Metal, the name would reflect that association. 髎 is the hollow beside the bone. Both readings come from modern sources.
The Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion) locates it «在鼻柱上端»: at the upper end of the nasal septum, that is, at the tip. Reference works attribute to it a coherent list of alternative names, all alluding to the tip of the nose and the center of the face: 面王, “king of the face,” 鼻準, 準頭, 面正, 正面, and 面土. It is the only Du Mai point on the nose.
Other names
- 面王Jiayi Jing
