Hegu Acupuncture point

POINT: LI 4

PINYIN NAME: Hegu
ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Joining Valley
CHANNEL: Large Intestine (LI)
YANGMING CHANNELS: LI and Stomach (ST) - abundant in Qi and Blood

COMMAND POINT: LI 4 is the single most important point to treat disorders of the face and sense organs.
FOUR GATES (point combination): LI 4 + LV 3. Used to treat painful obstruction.

FUN FACT: Commonly used point in acupuncture analgesia.

ACTIONS

• Regulates defensive qi (Wei Qi) and adjusts sweating/pores (whatever the pattern)
• Expels wind and releases the exterior 
• Treats all diseases of the head, face, ears, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth and teeth - whether acute or chronic, hot or cold, deficient or excess.
• Activates the channel and alleviates pain (According to Chinese medicine, pain of excess type arises when impaired circulation of qi and blood leads to stagnation.)
• Induces labor
• Restores the Yang - can revive consciousness.

INDICATIONS

• Exterior wind-cold patterns, chills and fever, injury by cold with great thirst, copious sweating, absence of sweating, febrile disease with absence of sweating, floating pulse.
• Headache in any location due to attack by exterior pathogens, and most particularly any frontal (yangming channel) headache, one-sided or generalized headache.
• Redness, swelling and pain of the eyes, dimness of vision, superficial visual obstruction.
• Nosebleed, nasal congestion and discharge, rhinitis, sneezing.
• Toothache or pain of tooth decay in the lower jaw, mouth ulcers.
• Throat pain, loss of voice
• Swelling of the face, deviation of the face and mouth, lockjaw, deafness, tinnitus.
• Amenorrhea, prolonged labor, delayed labor, retention of the placenta.
• Constipation (due to channel obstruction)
• Painful obstruction, pain of the sinews and bones, pain of the arm, contraction of the fingers, pain of the lumbar spine; can treat a variety of disorders involving pain and spasms.

CONTRAINDICATION

• Pregnancy

INSTRUCTIONS: Apply acupressure for up to 1 minute, two times daily or as needed.

Information sourced from Peter Deadman, ​A Manual Of Acupuncture