What Yinxi does
Yinxi 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
- Nourishes Heart Yin and clears Empty-Heat of the Heart
- Invigorates Heart Blood
- Subdues rebellious Qi
- Calms the Mind
Location
Half a cun measured from the landmark shown in the diagram and the location text, on the radial side of the tendon of flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, 0.
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 tendon of flexor carpi ulnaris is the guide. Ask the patient to turn the palm upward and rest the forearm on a table, then find the pisiform, the small bony prominence at the little finger edge of the wrist, and follow the firm cord that runs from it towards the elbow. Yinxi lies on the thumb side of that cord, half a cun above the crease. Shenmen HT-7, Yinxi HT-6, Tongli HT-5 and Lingdao HT-4 step up the same line in half cun stages, so the crease gives the height and the tendon gives the line.
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 half a cun. Direction: Needle in the direction the location describes.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion is recorded here for short sessions of about five to ten minutes. It suits the cold and depleted side of the pattern, where the patient feels chilled and tired and the pulse is weak, and the aim is to warm the channel rather than to clear heat. Where night sweating from empty heat is the problem, moxa is usually left out, because adding warmth works against the reason the point was chosen.
Cupping
The classical records cupping at Yinxi as questionable. The point lies in a small hollow above the wrist where an artery and a nerve pass close to the surface, and suction over that area pulls on structures that do not take kindly to it. When cupping is wanted for a chest pattern it is placed on the upper back instead.
Gua sha
Gua sha is also recorded as questionable at this spot. There is little flesh over the vessels and the nerve to cushion the scraping, and the point is tender in most patients before anything is done to it. Pressure with a fingertip along the channel is a gentler way to assess tenderness, and the broader surface of the forearm takes scraping better than this narrow hollow.
Skin uses
Yinxi is the Xi-cleft point of the Heart channel, recorded to nourish Heart Yin, clear Empty-Heat, invigorate Heart Blood and calm the Mind. The indirect skin reasoning rests on the Empty-Heat action: where a dry, warm surface picture is understood as deficient Yin with empty heat, the recorded function of clearing that heat is the traditional basis for considering it. Its classical indications include night sweats and heart pain, not the skin. Since no skin-specific classical indication is recorded for it, what follows is an indirect reading, 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 |
|---|---|
| Classical groups | Xi-Cleft Point |
Classical record
Treats loss of voice and inability to speak, shivering and chills, counterflow cold, heart pain, cholera with chest fullness, nosebleeds, and fright.
Classical citation for this point.
Yinxi is the cleft point of the hand shaoyin channel, and its indications include heart pain, palpitations with fright, and disorders of sweating.
Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing, as recorded in the classical literature.
For disorders of the heart, night sweating from yin deficiency, vomiting of blood and sudden loss of voice, the point Yinxi is chosen.
Zhenjiu Dacheng, as recorded in the classical literature.
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. Depth is the main safeguard here. The ulnar artery passes through this small space and the ulnar nerve lies just to its ulnar side, so the needle is kept shallow, entered perpendicular and no deeper than half a cun. A sharp electric feeling into the little finger means the nerve has been met, and the needle is withdrawn slightly before stimulation continues. The wrist is kept straight during retention, since bending it pushes the vessels towards the needle, and pressure is held after withdrawal until any small bleed has stopped.
Deficiency and constitution
In a depleted patient the point is worked gently and briefly.
Before treatment
Educational reference only. Skin that is spreading, painful, blistering or accompanied by fever needs medical assessment. When the point is used for night sweating, the sweating itself needs a cause. Drenching sweats with fever, weight loss or a lingering cough belong to a medical assessment, and acupuncture is at most a support beside that.
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 Yinxi do in skin practice?
It is used where the skin picture includes the conditions it is used with, always as part of a combination chosen for the pattern.
Why is Yinxi called a cleft point?
Cleft points are the places on a channel where qi and blood are said to gather, and they are used when a problem is acute rather than longstanding. On the heart channel that means the point comes into its own when chest pain, palpitations or sweats appear suddenly, and it is often needled for a few sessions until the flare settles.
Can it be used for night sweats by itself?
Rarely. Night sweating is treated as a sign of a pattern, and the point is one element of a formula chosen for that pattern. The page for the matching condition shows which other points were added and why, which is more useful than treating a single symptom with a single point.
Is it a painful point to needle?
It can be, because the ulnar nerve runs close by and the skin over the wrist is thin. Most patients feel a brief sharpness followed by local distension, and a practitioner who warns them in advance and inserts gently usually avoids the sharper response. Any electric feeling running into the little finger is treated as a sign to withdraw slightly rather than to push on.
Does Yinxi treat the skin directly?
No. It appears in this database because the skin pictures it belongs to also carry signs of heart yin deficiency, such as night sweating, dryness and broken sleep. The thinking is educational: the point addresses the pattern that produced the skin change, while local treatment addresses the skin itself.