Small Intestine Channel
Scapula Wind
秉风Bǐng FēngAnatomical location
In the supraspinous fossa of the scapula, above SI11, when the arm is raised.
Main function
Expels Wind, relieves pain in the shoulder and scapula.
- Crossing point with the Gallbladder and Triple Energizer
Therapeutic indications
- Shoulder pain
- scapular pain
- neck stiffness
- Inability to raise the arm
- Arm numbness
Name and classical tradition
Bingfeng, 秉风, is “the one who holds the wind.” 秉 means to grasp, to hold, to have in the hand; 风 (風), the wind. A modern gloss imagines Qi rising from SI11, warming and expanding in the form of wind, as if someone were gripping and directing it. The simplest reading is another one: the point lies in the supraspinous fossa, an exposed area of the shoulder, and it has been used for pathogenic Wind affecting the shoulder and neck. Together with Tianzong and SI13, it forms the small set of celestial names on the shoulder blade.
The first work to record it is the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), and the point brings together many channels: the hand Yangming, the hand Taiyang, and the hand and foot Shaoyang. The reference works give it the alternative name 肩解, the same one the Suwen (Basic Questions) used for GB21, Jianjing, another shoulder point.
