What Ganshu does
Ganshu 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
- Resolves Damp-Heat
- Invigorates Liver Qi and Blood
- Nourishes Liver Blood
- Extinguishes Interior Wind
- Benefits the eyes and sinews
Location
One and a half cun measured from the landmark shown in the diagram and the location text, lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of the 9th thoracic vertebra (T9).
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. The count is easier from the neck than from the waist. With the neck gently flexed and extended, find the seventh cervical vertebra, the one that stays prominent while the sixth slips forward and disappears. From there, count down nine spinous processes to the ninth thoracic vertebra. As a cross-check, the seventh thoracic spine lies level with the lower angle of the shoulder blade when the patient sits with the arms hanging, and the ninth is two below it. From the midline, measure out a cun and a half at that level: Ganshu sits beside the lower edge of the process, and Hunmen BL-47 shares the level but lies three cun away.
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
The needle is placed obliquely towards the spine at half to eight tenths of a cun, or almost flat across the back at one to one and a half cun. The transverse approach is often preferred because the patient can then lie comfortably on the back while the needle is retained. The needle is never directed perpendicularly or away from the spine, and the point is not used on a very thin chest wall without reducing depth. Angle: 45 degrees, oblique Depth: Standard depth half a to one cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion is recorded at ten to fifteen minutes and is chosen for the empty picture, above all blood deficiency of the Liver, where a warm and unhurried method is used instead of a reducing needle. It is paired with Geshu BL-17 in the classical combination for dizziness and blurred vision. Where damp-heat or Liver Fire is being cleared, moxa is left out because warmth would feed the heat.
Bleeding
Bloodletting is marked as questionable at Ganshu. The point is worked obliquely into the back muscles, and a lancet at skin level does not reach the depth at which the point acts; where blood is let for Liver patterns, practitioners usually choose a point on a limb where the vessels are accessible and the depth is easier to judge.
Skin uses
Ganshu is the back-shu point of the Liver, recorded to resolve Damp-Heat, invigorate Liver Qi and Blood, nourish Liver Blood and extinguish interior Wind. The organ relationship is the indirect basis for a skin reading: Liver Blood is described as nourishing and moistening, and interior Wind as the movement behind a migrating itch, so where those patterns are central the point is considered alongside them. Its recorded indications centre on the eyes, rib-side and sinews rather than the skin. Because no skin-specific classical indication is recorded for the point, the link above is an indirect rationale, 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 |
Classical record
Each of the five zang has a shu on the back, and that of the Liver lies at the level of the ninth vertebra.
Ling Shu (Spiritual Pivot), on the back transporting points
Ganshu lies at the ninth vertebra, one and a half cun lateral on either side; it treats jaundice, pain in the rib-side and diseases of the eyes.
Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion)
Ganshu is set down for disorders of the Liver, for a disturbed spirit, and for diseases of the eye, and most present day uses of the point still follow that list.
Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion)
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 specific hazard is pneumothorax, because the pleura and the lung lie beneath the point. The needle is therefore angled towards the spine at about forty five degrees and kept to half to eight tenths of a cun, or laid almost flat and threaded one to one and a half cun. Perpendicular insertion, or insertion directed away from the spine, is never used. After treatment the patient is watched for sudden chest pain or difficulty breathing.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly. For the empty pattern this is a point to tonify rather than reduce: a gentle reinforcing technique, or direct moxibustion, suits Liver blood deficiency, and the session is kept shorter in a very weak patient. Warming is withheld where damp-heat or Liver Fire is also present, since heat would feed the excess.
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 Ganshu do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes tetany nausea lockjaw jaundice red eyes eye pain neck pain dizziness sinew pain stiff neck tearfulness eye itching lumbar pain muscle pain bloody nose opisthotonos swollen eyes shoulder pain cholecystitis abdominal pain blurred vision abdominal mass coughing blood epigastric pain spine stiffness hypogastric pain floaters in eyes vomiting of blood hypochondriac pain sour regurgitation eye upper orbit pain diminished night vision hypochondriai distension, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
How is it needled?
45° (Oblique) / 10-15° (Transverse). Standard depth 0.5 - 0.8 cun. De qi: Local distension and soreness that may radiate along the intercostal space or spread across the back. Some patients experience a sensation of warmth or heaviness in the liver region. The deqi may also radiate toward the spine or laterally along the ribs.
Is it safe?
Dangerous point - requires extra caution Deep needling contraindicated - shallow insertion only Needle Depth 0.5 - 0.8 cun Needle Angle 45° (Oblique), 10-15° (Transverse) Body Area Back - Upper (Thoracic)
Why does a back point treat the eyes?
In the organ relationships the Liver stores blood and opens into the eyes, so a point that regulates the Liver also affects vision. Ganshu is used for blurred sight, poor night vision, tearing in wind, redness and itching, usually with a point such as Guangming GB-37 and with attention to the blood deficiency behind the eye signs.