While in my first article I wrote that Pericardium 5 Jianshi was probably one of my favorite points, this time I will write about the extra point Yintang (EX-HN-3) or in Chinese "Impression Palace". This point is undoubtedly many of my patients' favorite point. At least, it is a point that I am often asked to use on patients, or a point that I am gently reminded I have forgotten after inserting their needles. This omission of Yintang is usually a conscious decision on my part and is not a result of forgetfulness or stress.
An Island of Yin in a Rebellious Sea of Yang
Often, the point is not directly relevant to my treatment strategy. However, some patients feel that their treatment is not complete without it.
They experience that the point gives them a sense of calm and harmony. They often say, while pointing to the area between the eyebrows, that the needle makes their stress melt away and brings peace, and that it makes their mind completely relax. We might even add that it creates an island of yin in the otherwise rebellious sea of yang that is their mind.
"In fact, I find it interesting that so many patients are aware that it is precisely Yintang that gives this effect."
Even though I have inserted needles in half a dozen other points in the same session, the patient knows that it is precisely Yintang that creates this feeling of calm in them. This perhaps says something about the potency of this point, that patients are immediately aware of its effect.
I remember a discussion I had with a colleague a few years ago. He thought that in some ways it was a bit of a cheat and the easy solution that his colleague in the clinic used Yintang so often. He believed that was why her clients were so satisfied with her treatments. He felt that it was not good Chinese medicine, that it was not using a differentiated diagnosis. He felt that just by using Yintang to calm the shen, her clients became calmer and more comfortable, and that was why they liked her treatments. While I can feel his argument, I also disagree.
"By calming the shen, Yintang creates space."
It creates a void or a state of wuji (Daoist concept of all-encompassing nothingness or stillness and harmony), a void where transformation and change can take place. It is this void and stillness that can thereby make treatments more effective. This is not just a metaphysical discussion based on a Daoist premise that wuji is the ideal prerequisite for change. Our task as acupuncturists is to facilitate therapeutic change. We do this by regulating qi in the meridian system and in the body.
"When the shen is restless and agitated, the movement of qi will generally be more chaotic. All else being equal, it is easier to regulate the flow of a river on a calm day than when there is strong wind and heavy rain."
Similarly, by calming an agitated mind and Heart, it subsequently becomes easier to regulate qi in the rest of the body and meridian system. I find this particularly relevant, as most of the patients I see at the clinic are mentally overactive and many are outright stressed. This is not just because I treat many patients whose shen becomes agitated by Heat. It is just as much that most people in Western Europe are mentally overstimulated – they are constantly bombarded with, and bombard themselves with, information, thoughts, and mental stimulation. This means that even if my treatment principle is not necessarily to calm the shen – and furthermore that I, as the therapist and not the patient, should determine the treatment – the patient's request for the use of this point may very well improve the effectiveness of the points that I intend to use in treatment, as part of my treatment strategy.
This does not mean that I use Yintang every time and in all my treatments, but it is a point that I use often.
So why is Yintang such an effective point?
In the Chinese medical model, Yintang is particularly interesting. Yintang is classified as an "extra point". This is something that has always puzzled me, as the point is unequivocally located on the course of the Du mai. The point's actions also closely resemble indications for Du mai points on the head. The Du mai generally has a significant influence on brain activity and the influence on shen, but in the books, Yintang is especially highlighted as a point specifically for calming the shen.
If we cast our net wider than modern TCM point books, we can see that in Daoist models of the body, Yintang is located in the upper dantian, while in the Indian chakra system, it is located in the middle of the sixth chakra or the third eye, the chakra that relates it to spiritual insight and serenity.
From a Western medical anatomical perspective, Yintang is located above the prefrontal cortex. Adam Tate, in the journal "The Lantern", writes that this area was previously used in the West for bloodletting in the treatment of "mental disorders, madness, mania, insanity, and nightmares" [1].
Connection between the functions and its shen-calming properties
So, although I am wary of blending dissimilar medical models, we can see a connection between the functions in the different medical models and its shen-calming properties in Chinese medicine. In addition to the shen-calming properties that we encounter in modern point books, they also write about other properties that Yintang possesses. Yintang can also be used to treat frontal headaches, nasal problems, and calm internally generated Wind.
Even though I have inserted needles in half a dozen other points in the same session, the patient knows that it is precisely Yintang that creates this feeling of calm in them. Yintang can undoubtedly also be used in cosmetic acupuncture, but it is not something I have any practical or theoretical experience with.
I almost always use an "even" (i.e., neither reinforcing nor reducing) needling technique when using the point to calm the shen. Often, I simply get the qi and then let the needle sit for about 20 minutes. However, I will sometimes also consciously reinforce qi or disperse qi away from the area when this is relevant. When I calm the shen, I usually combine Yintang with other Shen-calming points such as ear-shenmen, Heart 7, Kidney 6, UB 62, Ren 15, etc., as well as points to treat the underlying pathology.
[1] Tate, A. "Similarities of Bloodletting in the West and Acupuncture in the East" The Lantern vol 14- 1 page 34
