What Sanyinjiao does
Sanyinjiao sits on the inner lower leg, and its Chinese name says what it does: it is where the Spleen, Liver and Kidney channels meet. Because three channels cross here, one point can act on digestion, Blood and Kidney essence at once, which is why it turns up in skin work so often.
Actions
- Tonifies the Spleen and Stomach
- Resolves Dampness and benefits urination
- Nourishes Blood and Yin
- Moves Liver Qi and calms the Mind
- Regulates the uterus and menstruation
Location
Three cun directly above the tip of the inner ankle bone, on the back edge of the shin bone, on the line between the inner ankle and Yinlingquan SP-9.
How to find it
Find the highest point of the inner ankle bone and measure three cun up the leg. The point sits in a small hollow just behind the sharp back border of the tibia. It is usually tender when pressed, and that tenderness is the easiest way to confirm it.
Deqi
A deep ache or distension along the inner leg, which may travel toward the ankle or the knee, sometimes with a spreading warmth in the lower abdomen.
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 1.5 cun Direction: Vertically or obliquely 1 to 2 cun
Moxibustion
Moxa is used freely here, five to fifteen minutes, and suits cold-damp and deficient patterns.
Cupping
Rarely used directly on the point; better on the surrounding channel for dampness.
Gua sha
Gua sha along the inner leg is used for dampness and sluggish circulation.
Bleeding
Not a standard technique at this point.
Skin uses
- Weeping, oozing eczema with swelling
- Dampness-type skin lesions with crusting
- Dry, itchy skin from Blood or Yin deficiency
- Skin that is slow to heal in a depleted person
Point classifications
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| Channel meeting | Meeting point of the three leg Yin channels: Spleen, Liver and Kidney |
| Local role | Major point for Dampness and for Blood and Yin deficiency |
| Pregnancy | Strictly contraindicated, see safety |
Combinations
Blood and skin
SP-6 + SP-10 Xuehai + LI-11 Quchi
The standard trio when the skin is hot and itchy on a base of Blood deficiency: Xuehai cools and moves Blood, Quchi clears the Heat, and Sanyinjiao supplies what the Blood is lacking.
Classical record
Sanyinjiao is located three cun above the medial malleolus, in the depression posterior to the tibia, at the meeting of the Foot Taiyin, Jueyin and Shaoyin.
Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (针灸甲乙经, Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
Reduce at Sanyinjiao, supplement at Hegu of Hand Yangming, and the birth will follow the needle.
Tongren Shuxue Zhenjiu Tujing (銅人腧穴針灸圖經, Illustrated Manual of Acupoints on the Bronze Figure), classical citation recorded from the reference.
Needle Sanyinjiao together with Qihai, and it specially governs chronic seminal emission and leukorrhoea.
Baizhen Fu (百症賦, Ode of One Hundred Symptoms), classical citation recorded from the reference.
For women's leukorrhoea with red or white discharge and bleeding, moxa fifty cones at Foot Taiyin, the point three cun above the medial malleolus called Sanyinjiao.
Qianjin Yaofang (千金要方, Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold), classical citation recorded from 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, especially in pregnancy.
Caution
Strictly contraindicated in pregnancy: strong stimulation can trigger uterine contractions, and the point has a powerful descending action. It is only used near term, for labour induction, under supervision. The great saphenous vein runs nearby and the tibial nerve lies deeper, so depth and direction matter.
Deficiency and constitution
For dry skin from Blood deficiency the point is tonified gently; strong reducing technique here can leave the person more depleted and the skin drier.
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
Why is Sanyinjiao used for both weeping and dry skin?
Because it is needled differently for each: reduced or combined with dampness points when the lesion oozes, tonified when the skin is dry from Blood or Yin deficiency.
Can it be used in pregnancy?
No. It is the clearest contraindication in the whole database, apart from supervised use at term to encourage labour.
Why is it tender?
Tenderness is common and is used as a locating aid. It is often stronger in people with dampness or Blood deficiency patterns.
Why does the point sit where three channels cross?
Because the Spleen, Liver and Kidney channels all pass through this spot on the inner lower leg, so a needle here reaches all three. That is why one point can address digestion, the menstrual cycle and kidney yin at the same time, and why it is used so widely in practice.