The Ghost Points of Chinese Medicine

Happy Halloween!
​It is that time of year and I thought I would share some interesting facts about acupuncture.

It’s true…there is a category of points in Chinese medicine known as the Thirteen Ghost Points! These points were documented in the book the Thousand Ducat Formulas written by the great Chinese physician Sun Si-Miao. He was a prominent physician who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.).

What are Ghost Points used for?
​These points are used to treat mental illness and neurological conditions such as epilepsy. In ancient China, these conditions were thought to be caused by possession of ghosts, demons, or spirits. Sun Si-Miao used selected points from this category combined with herbs to treat symptoms related to mental and neurological disorders.

List of Ghost Points
The following is a list of the Ghost points and some of the symptoms they treat. Feel free to click on the point name to view the anatomical location of the point. So as not to be confused, the Governing Vessel is also referred to as the Du Mai and the Conception Vessel is also referred to as the Ren Mai. Depending on the source, the names of the points may vary.

1. Governing Vessel 26 (Ghost Palace) Loss of consciousness, coma, lockjaw, deviation of the face and mouth, mania-depression, epilepsy, inappropriate laughter,

2.Governing Vessel 16 (Ghost Pillow) Dizziness, upward staring eyes, flaccid tongue with inability to speak, mania, incessant talking, mad walking and desire to commit suicide, sadness and fear with fright palpitations.

3. Governing Vessel 23 (Ghost Hall) Mania-depression, epilepsy.

4. Conception Vessel 24 (Ghost Market) Deviation of mouth and eye, lockjaw, epilepsy, mania-depression.

5. Lung 11 (Ghost Faith) Loss of consciousness, agitation and fullness of the heart with sweating, mania, childhood fright.

6. Large Intestine 11 (Ghost Leg) Agitation and oppression of chest, manic disorders, poor memory, tongue thrusting, dizziness.

7. Stomach 6 (Ghost’s Bed) Deviation of the mouth and eye, lockjaw, epilepsy, inability to open mouth after stroke.

8. Spleen 1 (Ghost Fortress) Agitation, heat in the chest, sighing, propensity to sadness, mania-depression, excessive dreaming, insomnia, chronic childhood fright, loss of consciousness.

9. Pericardium 7 (Ghost Heart) Heart pain, palpitations, insomnia, epilepsy, mania, manic raving, propensity to laugh without ceasing, agitation, weeping with grief, sadness, fright and fear.

10. Pericardium 8 (Ghost Cave) Epilepsy, mania-depression, fright, sadness, propensity to anger, apprehension, ceaseless laughter.

11. Bladder 62 (Ghost Path) Upward staring eyes, epilepsy, lockjaw, stroke with inability to speak, hemiplegia, deviation of the mouth, eye and face, mania-depression, palpitations, Heart fright, insomnia.

12. Guifeng (Ghost Seal) This point is located underneath the tongue and is contraindicated for needling. It can only be bled using a lancet needle. Mania-depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy.

13. Conception Vessel 1 (Ghost Store) This point corresponds to extra points Yinxiafeng (men) and Yumentou in women. Coma, mania, depression.
 
Spooky Note: Midway through writing this blog there was a flash of light on my laptop and all of the text disappeared. Unfortunately, I was not able to retrieve the information so I had to start all over again. I started writing this blog for the second time on my laptop at home and for the second time there was a flash of light and I lost almost the entire blog. Coincidence? I don’t know. The third time I decided to write it in Word and then copy and paste it.