What Fengchi does
Fengchi is treated here as a practical point rather than a curiosity: where it sits, how it is needled, what the tradition says it does, and the skin conditions in this database that name it.
Actions
- Subdues Liver Yang
- Expels Exterior or Interior Wind
- Benefits the eyes and ears
- Nourishes the Marrow and Brain
Location
The written location is summarised from the classical record; use the landmark named there together with the diagram.
How to find it
Find the bony landmark first, then feel for the hollow or tender spot the location describes. The point is usually sensitive when pressed. With the patient seated and the head slightly flexed, follow the lower border of the occipital bone from the midline outwards until the ridge of the trapezius origin is crossed. Just beyond it the surface dips into a hollow about the size of a fingertip, which is the point. It lies between the upper ends of the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles, and the two sides are not always identical, so compare them and feel for the deeper, more tender one. Pressure here often reproduces the headache.
Deqi
De qi at this point is felt as local distension, heaviness or aching, and may travel a short way along the channel.
A cun is a proportional body measurement, not a fixed length: one cun is about the width of the thumb at the knuckle, 1.5 cun about two finger widths, and 3 cun about the width of four fingers. On an average adult one cun is roughly one inch, but it scales with the person, which is why the texts measure in cun rather than centimetres.
Technique
Needling
Angle: 45 degrees, oblique Depth: Standard depth half a to one cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
Ten to fifteen minutes, indirect only, since hair covers the site and a direct cone cannot be seated safely there. The reference gives moxa a minor role at this point, with needling the main technique.
Cupping
Recorded as questionable in the reference. The neck is thin and the point sits in a hollow beside the skull, so a cup grips poorly and the deeper structures are close.
Bleeding
Recorded as questionable, so it is not part of routine practice at the point. Needling here already demands exact depth control, which makes an extra puncture for bleeding hard to justify.
Skin uses
Fengchi sits at the posterior neck and occiput on the Gallbladder channel, and its recorded actions are to subdue Liver Yang, expel exterior or interior Wind, and benefit the eyes and ears. The Wind action and the nape location give the indirect skin reading: where a skin picture is described as Wind-led, with itch that moves or symptoms that come and go, the recorded function of settling Wind is the traditional basis for considering the point. The classical record describes neck pain, eye signs and febrile disease, not the skin. With no skin-specific classical indication recorded for it, the rationale relies on traditional inference, not trial evidence.
No skin-specific classical indication is recorded for this point. The rationale above is an indirect, traditional reading of the point, not a promise of benefit.
Point classifications
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel | Meridian |
Combinations
Wind-heat that shows on the skin
GB-20 Fengchi, LI-4 Hegu, LI-11 Quchi, SP-10 Xuehai
A rash that wanders, itches sharply and worsens in wind is treated by opening the surface at the neck and cooling the blood at the same time. Fengchi and Hegu release wind-heat, Quchi clears heat and Xuehai cools the blood, which is the pattern this database records for urticaria with heat signs.
Classical record
When a patient with Taiyang disease first takes Guizhi Tang but becomes irritable and the symptoms do not resolve, first needle Fengchi and Fengfu, then give Guizhi Tang and recovery will follow.
Classical citation for this point.
Neck pain, inability to turn the head, excessive yawning, nasal congestion and epistaxis, red painful inner canthus - Fengchi governs these. For goiter, moxa Fengchi one hundred cones.
Classical citation for this point.
Among the fifty-nine points the classic selects for febrile disease, Fengchi is named on both sides of the neck, for conditions of the head and nape.
Ling Shu (Spiritual Pivot), chapter on hot diseases, as recorded in the reference
Safety
Who should treat this point
Acupuncture and moxibustion are practitioner procedures. This page is educational and is not a guide to self-treatment.
Caution
Safety flags: the reference marks it as a dangerous point. Needle with care, adjust depth to the patient's build, and modify or avoid the point where a flag applies. The danger here is anatomical. The brainstem and the vertebral artery lie beneath the point, and the reference gives 1.5 cun as an absolute ceiling for an adult, with less in a thin neck. Direction matters as much as depth: a needle aimed towards the opposite ear is the line most likely to enter the cranial cavity, while the accepted lines are towards the opposite eye, towards the tip of the nose, or horizontally through to the partner point. Manipulation is kept gentle, with no forceful lifting, thrusting or spinning, and the hand should be experienced, because the recorded harms include bleeding around the brain. Dizziness, nausea or a sudden severe headache during needling means the needle is withdrawn at once.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly. In a depleted or elderly patient the depth is reduced further and the needle is handled lightly, since the aim is to nourish marrow and blood rather than to clear obstructions. The reference links tonifying method here with poor memory, dizziness and blurred vision, and reduces the stimulus for anyone who reacts strongly to needling at the neck.
Before treatment
Educational reference only. Skin that is spreading, painful, blistering or accompanied by fever needs medical assessment.
Modern evidence and safety
General references for acupuncture safety and skin evidence. They are not specific to this point, and they are not a claim that needling it treats any condition.
- Acupuncture-related adverse events: systematic review and meta-analyses of prospective clinical studies. BMJ Open, 2021. PMID: 34489268.
- Acupuncture for atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 2024. PMID: 39638592.
- Manual acupuncture for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Surgery, 2025. PMID: 40696933.
- Acupuncture in Dermatology: An Update to a Systematic Review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2021. PMID: 32955916.
Evidence note
No controlled trial of this treatment in skin conditions was identified for this entry. What is described here rests on the classical and later materia medica record and on traditional clinical use, not on controlled trial evidence, and it is not a prediction of benefit. Where skin-specific research does exist it is linked above.
Common questions
What does Fengchi do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes fever iritis vertigo lockjaw epilepsy red eyes eye pain tinnitus deafness cataract body aches hemiplegia wind-stroke tearfulness blocked ear poor memory eye deviation blurred vision occipital pain mouth deviation aversion to cold outer canthus pain occipital stiffness optic nerve atrophy outer canthus redness diminished night vision, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
Why must Fengchi be needled with such care?
The brainstem and the vertebral artery lie below it. The reference caps depth at 1.5 cun, less for a thin neck, keeps manipulation gentle and avoids any line aimed at the opposite ear. Directions towards the opposite eye or the nose tip are the accepted ones, and only an experienced practitioner should needle here.
Which way should the needle point?
It depends on the aim. To expel wind the needle is angled towards the opposite eye; for eye problems it is tilted obliquely towards the eye on the same side; a horizontal through-needling to the partner point gives a broad effect across the nape. Depth and direction are chosen together, never separately.
Can Fengchi help with eye problems?
Yes, especially where liver yang or liver fire is behind them. Red painful eyes, a sore outer canthus and copious tearing are reduced; blurred vision and poor night vision are tonified to nourish liver blood. It is usually combined with local eye points such as Jingming BL-1 and Taiyang, and is needled towards the affected eye.
Is moxibustion used at Fengchi?
Rarely, and only indirectly. Hair covers the site, so a direct cone cannot sit there, and the work of the point is mostly done with a needle. Where moxa is used at all, the reference gives ten to fifteen minutes of indirect warming.
Why does a skin page include Fengchi?
Because wind and heat that show on the skin often start at the neck and the back of the head. In this database the point appears in the wind and heat patterns of urticaria, dandruff, dry scalp, face itching and itchy ears, where a moving, sharply itchy rash is opened from above while the blood is cooled below.