What Weizhong does
Weizhong 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
- Cools the blood
- Clears Summer-Heat
- Removes obstructions from the channel and eases lower back pain
- Benefits the Bladder
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. Ask the patient to flex the knee a little so the popliteal crease appears, then let the leg relax while it is supported, since the crease fades when the leg is straight. The point is halfway along the crease, in the hollow between the tendons of biceps femoris on the outer side and semitendinosus on the inner. The popliteal pulse is felt near the centre, so the point is confirmed by its position rather than by probing for a sore spot; mark it before the needle is prepared.
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: 90 degrees, perpendicular Depth: Standard depth half a to one and a half cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
Contraindicated at this point in the classical record. The fossa carries large vessels and a nerve, the point is used to cool heat, and adding heat works against its action, so no moxa is applied.
Cupping
Particularly recommended. A cup over the popliteal fossa draws on the channel where it is most accessible and is used for congestion and stiffness in the lower back and leg, with the suction kept moderate over thin skin.
Gua sha
Recorded as questionable. The fossa is thin-skinned and crossed by vessels, so scraping is not standard there and is better placed along the calf.
Bleeding
Particularly recommended, and the technique most identified with the point. A visible superficial vein is pricked and a few drops released, which the tradition reads as letting heat and stagnation out of the blood; it belongs to a practitioner and is avoided in deficiency, in varicose veins and in anyone on anticoagulants.
Skin uses
- Fever Thirst Sciatica Delirium Knee pain Headaches Heat stroke Irritability Lower back pain Red skin rashes Aversion to cold Burning urination Lower back stiffness Feeling of heaviness Epigastrium discomfort
Point classifications
| Classification | Value |
|---|---|
| Five phase | Earth-Tu |
| Transporting type | Sea-He Point |
| Mother-child role | Child (Reducing) |
| Classical groups | Ma Dan Yang Heavenly Star |
Combinations
Blood-heat skin disease
BL-40 Weizhong, SP-10 Xuehai, LI-11 Quchi
This is the standard grouping for eczema, urticaria, erysipelas and boils of the blood-heat type. Weizhong is bled to let heat out, Xuehai cools the blood and Quchi clears heat from the surface, so redness and itching are addressed at more than one level.
Classical record
The classical record summarises the classical use of this point without quoting a passage in full.
classical record
Weizhong lies at the centre of the popliteal fossa and is the sea point; bend the knee and take it there.
Ling Shu (Spiritual Pivot), as translated in the reference
For the abdomen, seek Sanli; for the waist and back, seek Weizhong; for the head and neck, seek Lieque; for the face and mouth, seek Hegu.
Si Zong Xue Ge (Song of the Four Command Points), translated from the reference
For lumbar pain with heat and breathlessness, blood is let from the popliteal region, and the Kidney channel points are needled as well.
Su Wen, chapter on lumbar pain, as recorded in the reference
Weizhong is called the Blood Cleft, the point chosen where blood has stagnated and must be released.
Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), translated 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.
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 popliteal fossa is a vascular gate, so the pulse is palpated before anything is done. The artery, its vein and the tibial nerve all lie immediately deep to the point, and the reference advises shallow insertion with the angle adjusted to pass beside the vessels rather than through them. A tingling or electric sensation down the calf means the nerve has been touched, and the needle is withdrawn a little. When blood is let, only superficial veins that are visible at the surface are pricked, never a deep vessel, and varicose veins in the area are handled with particular care or left alone.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly. Because the point cools, it is not the first choice for a weak, cold patient with long-standing back pain, where the reference prefers Kunlun BL-60. Bloodletting is specifically discouraged in chronic kidney-deficiency back pain, since losing blood would add to the depletion. In such cases the channel is warmed and supplemented instead, and if Weizhong is used at all it is needled lightly and briefly.
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 Weizhong do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes fever thirst sciatica delirium knee pain headaches heat stroke irritability lower back pain red skin rashes aversion to cold burning urination lower back stiffness feeling of heaviness epigastrium discomfort, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
Why is bloodletting used at Weizhong?
The point sits on the Bladder channel and is the traditional vent for heat that has entered the blood. A few drops from a superficial vein are read as releasing that heat, which is why it appears in blood-heat skin disease and in acute congested back pain. It is a practitioner technique, and it is not used in depleted patients.
Why is moxibustion avoided here?
The reference marks it contraindicated. The point treats heat by cooling it, moxa would add heat, and the popliteal fossa holds large vessels and a nerve close to the surface. Cupping and bloodletting are the techniques associated with it, not warmth.
What do the Four Command Points say about Weizhong?
The verse pairs each region with one point, and for the waist and back it names Weizhong. That is why the point is reached for in lumbar pain even though it lies behind the knee, and why it is combined with Dachangshu BL-25 or Shenshu BL-23 depending on whether the case is excess or deficient.