What Quchi does
Quchi sits at the outside of the elbow crease, and in practice it does the work of a cooling, draining point: it takes Heat out of the interior, cools the Blood that carries that Heat to the skin, and drains the Dampness that makes a lesion weep. That combination is why it appears so often in skin prescriptions.
Actions
- Clears Heat
- Cools the Blood
- Resolves Dampness
- Removes obstruction from the Large Intestine channel
Location
With the elbow bent, the point lies in the depression at the outer end of the elbow crease, halfway between Chize LU-5 and the bony knob on the outside of the elbow, the lateral epicondyle of the humerus.
How to find it
Bend the elbow fully with the thumb on top and find the outer end of the crease. Then flex the elbow to about ninety degrees and press until you find a tender hollow on the muscle that runs along the top of the forearm, close to the upper edge of the ulna.
Deqi
A local feeling of fullness or aching, which with stronger stimulation travels up toward the shoulder or down the forearm toward the fingers.
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: 90 degrees (perpendicular) Depth: 1.0 to 2.5 cun Direction: Vertically 1 to 1.5 cun
Moxibustion
Moxa is used for the cold-damp and itchy patterns, ten to twenty minutes at a time.
Cupping
Cupping is used over the point for heat and congestion of the upper body, and is kept brief on thin patients.
Gua sha
Gua sha along the channel is used for heat with surface congestion, not over broken or weeping skin.
Bleeding
Bloodletting at or near the point is used for very hot, red, congested skin lesions, and belongs to a practitioner.
Skin uses
Point classifications
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| Five phase | Earth (Tu) |
| Transporting type | Sea-He point |
| Mother-child role | Mother, therefore tonifying on this channel |
| Classical groups | Ma Dan Yang Heavenly Star point; Sun Si Miao Ghost point |
Combinations
The skin formula of points
LI-11 + SP-10 Xuehai + LI-4 Hegu
The standard combination for urticaria, eczema, psoriasis and generalised itch: Quchi clears the Heat, Xuehai cools the Blood, Hegu releases the surface and moves the Qi. In practice it is the first trio tried when the skin is hot and itchy.
Classical record
It is located at the outer aspect of the elbow, in the depression between the bones, found when the arm is bent.
Ling Shu (灵枢, Divine Pivot), chapter 1.
For lingering heat after a febrile illness that has not resolved, fullness in the chest, pain in front of the ear, toothache, red painful eyes, neck swelling, alternating cold and heat, thirst with sweating but dry hot skin without drinking, dim vision, wrist tension, body heat, mania and fright: Quchi governs these.
Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (针灸甲乙经, Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
For itching all over the body like insect bites, where scratching peels the skin and forms sores, moxa Quchi according to the age of the patient and apply when the symptoms appear.
Qian Jin Yao Fang (千金要方, Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold), Sun Simiao.
Safety
Who should treat this point
Acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping and bloodletting at this point are practitioner procedures. This page is educational and is not a guide to self-needling.
Caution
The radial nerve passes under this point, roughly one to three centimetres below the skin, and a branch of the radial recurrent artery lies nearby. Deep needling therefore requires care, and the point is more superficial than expected in thin or older patients.
Deficiency and constitution
In depleted patients the point is stimulated gently and for a short time, because strong clearing from a weak base leaves the person more tired and the skin no better.
Before treatment
Educational reference only. A hot, spreading or blistering skin lesion with fever needs medical assessment, and acupuncture is used alongside that care rather than instead of it.
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
Why is one elbow point used for so many skin problems?
Because it addresses three mechanisms at once: it clears Heat, cools the Blood and drains Dampness. Most hot or weeping skin conditions involve at least one of those.
Is it used on its own?
It is usually combined, most often with Xuehai SP-10 and Hegu LI-4 for skin work, and with other points chosen for the individual pattern.
How deep is it needled?
Classically one to two and a half cun, perpendicular. The depth depends on the patient's build, and the radial nerve beneath the point is the reason it is not a self-treatment point.
Is it safe in a weak patient?
It is used gently and briefly. Strong stimulation in a depleted person can leave them more tired rather than better.