Stomach Channel
Inner Courtyard
内庭Nèi TíngAnatomical location
On the dorsum of the foot, between the second and third toes, in the depression proximal to the interdigital webs.
Main function
Clears Heat, descends rebellious Qi, regulates the Stomach, benefits the face.
- Ying-Spring Point (Water)
Therapeutic indications
- Toothache
- sore throat
- epistaxis
- stomach pain
- diarrhea
- facial paralysis
- heartburn
- gastric pain
- abdominal distension
- dysentery
- pain of the dorsum of the foot
- fever
- halitosis
- multiple sclerosis (Wei syndrome)
- trigeminal neuralgia
- bruxism
- diabetes mellitus (Xiao Ke)
- obesity and overweight
- hyperuricemia and gout
- acne
Name and classical tradition
Neiting, 内庭, is the “inner courtyard.” 内 (內) is the interior; 庭, the courtyard, the vestibule of the house. The point lies at the web between the second and third toes, and the traditional reading, accepted without controversy, sees it as the entrance, the vestibule, leading to the interior. The reference works record the graphic variant 內廷, which is not a different name.
The Lingshu (Spiritual Pivot), in the chapter Ben Shu (本輸), includes it among the Five Shu points of the channel as the Ying-Spring point (滎穴), which in the Yang channels corresponds to Water. The exact passage was not located in this research, but its status as a Ying-Spring point is consistently established.
The tradition has used it above all for Stomach Heat (胃火), including toothache due to that Heat. The use is well rooted in the textbooks, although the ancient citation that establishes it was not located here.
