I'm so glad you tuned in today because we're going to look at the 27 acupuncture points of the kidney Channel I'm also going to look at the Meridian pathway and function and with each point we'll try to differentiate them all so we don't get confused thinking that they all have similar function how do I know which one to use so we're going to look at each Point's location function and points combos from my clinical pearls that I think are very useful in clinical practice and you can use to on your patients and stay till the end because I'm going to share a great points combo for menopause that you can use on every menopausal woman patient oh yeah baby let's do this welcome back to my channel if it's your first time here I'm Clara from acupro Academy and I create Chinese medicine and acupuncture content for students and practitioners making it easy to grasp and fun to learn let's go I'm not finished well I'm not quite finished I was born premature 10 weeks premature to be exact which is a lot which means I was missing 10 weeks and usually for a baby to be fully grown it's 37 weeks of pregnancy my mom had me coming out at 30 weeks which was very early and I think the reason was that as a French woman she smoked two packs of cigarette a day so I think that I just wanted to get out of it and breathe better so when I was born I can breathe of course and I was put in an incubator because my lungs were not developed completely I had asthma as a child my teeth didn't grow straight I was sick all the time I didn't get hair on my head until I was two years old wow my mom was freaking out she kept putting hat on my head so people wouldn't see that I didn't have hair and I didn't start walking until I was 18 months old well this leads me to what the kidney function is according to Chinese medicine now I'm going to call this the kidney system not the kidney organ even though it's part of the Jung Fu organ system because if we say organ we think our kidneys that are sitting in the back and we think of the organ itself only however the kidney system in TCM is encompasses the Meridian the energetic of the ions of the organ as well and everything that aligns with the kidneys in TCM so I like to call it the kidney system it's always good to go back to Foundation in order to understand what we're going to talk about today and to really grasp each Point's function and why we are using them in clinical practice in that way so let's go back to foundation with the TCM kidney system or organs function the first thing I think about when and I think of the TCM kidneys is the Aging system because the kidneys store Essence and in turn their function or their main function is to be in charge of growth development conception reproduction and Hance Hing which makes sense so when I told you about my story my development was slow it took me a while to start walking it took me a while to get hair on my head to develop my lungs because again I was premature so I had a lot of more work to do eventually so I always say you know I was unfinished imagine if I had 10 more weeks in the wound I would blow your mind so here it is the kidney main function is to be really connecting to our aging system our Essence makes sense right it's also in charge of filling up the brain controlling the spine and the bones and filling up marrow so really in charge of everything that's connected to Essence because our marrow is really vital for us our spine our bones super super important connected to Essence our teeth in TCM is part of Bones as well so if we grow up with not straight teeth that means our Essence is not as strong as someone that has perfect teeth when they grow up the next function is the kidneys are in charge of opening and closing the lower Gates the lower gates are the urethra the vagina the anal area and the spermac duct so those four if there is leakage happening we have to look at is Kidney Chi not strong enough to closing the Lower Gate and reopen it when we need it let's say for urination so when there is incontinence for example with urine it's either a Spen Chi sinking because the bladder has dropped and there may be prolapsed or it's a Kidney Chi not able to controlling the opening and closing of the Lower Gate in this instance the urethra the next function is the kidney opens into the ears so if we have tentis specifically longstanding constant low pitch ttis we have to look at what's going on with the TCM kidneys the kidneys also manifest on the hair of the head just like when I didn't grow hair when I was younger Look at me now I have a lot of thick hair this has changed because of outside factors like diet and Life Style so the kidneys and the Hair Connection is really useful in clinical practice for aging if someone is gray hair by the time they turn 24 then we know their essence or kidney Essence is not as strong as someone that turns gray at 65 also for men receding or losing hair very early in age that is a Kidney Chi or Essence deficiency compared to a man who would lose his hair when he's like 65 to 70 another function of the kidney is it's governing water so it's in charge of water metabolism specifically in the lower gel and the lower body so if we see edema of the an an Les that's a Kidney Chi that is not properly metabolizing water the next function of the kidney is that it's related to fear phobia and The Willpower so strong will means strong kidneys let's start by looking at the Kidney Channel it is a foot Meridian because it starts at the foot like every Meridian either it starts or finish at the foot is a foot Meridian starts or finish at the hand is a hand meridian so the kidney is a foot sha Yin Meridian sha Yin means lesser Yin there are two sha Yin Meridian the heart which is the hand shaan and the kidney which is the foot shaan what's really interesting about those two is the shaan meridians kidney and heart have the least amount of blood and the least amount of chi compared to the young men meridians large intestine and stomach which have the most Chi and the most blood so what does that mean when they have the least amount of chi and the least amount of blood it means that when we're trying to treat pattern that are affecting the TCM heart or the TCM kidney it takes a little bit more time we are going to use hard point and kidney points to address their problem but it's going to take more time because if there are ntcm patterns of the heart and kidney it means that it's chronic and it's been there for a long time because the kidneys is the root of who we are and the heart is the mind the Shen the spirit Fire and Water opposite they work really well together but it takes time to support the body to manage the problem and to help each patient self-regulate when it's affecting either the TCM heart or the TCM kidneys that's why we look at it from that perspective of least amount of Gat least amount of blood but the powerful point they just take a little bit more time and more sessions the kidneys are mostly activated between 5:00 p.m and 7 P.M this is when we're supposed to reconnect with our family remember the kidneys is in charge of reproductive system of growing of Aging of our conception so it's a family unit so 5: to 7: p.m. is when we're supposed to reconnect with our loved one have dinner take time to really chat about our day and connect which often the family unit is running around going to soccer practice or ballet practice often it's rushed and it's not taking the time to connect with the family now let's look at the pathway of the kidney channel the bladder Meridian finished at bladder 67 at the end of the fifth toe so the Kidney Channel actually starts at the end of the fifth toe then it goes down and under underneath the sole to connect with kidney one it comes right back up and goes on the medial aspect of the foot which will go and wrapped around the ankle right we have two three four five six that will wrap around the ankle going up on the medial aspect of the lower leg with kidney seven kidney eight kidney nine all the way to the knee with kidney 10 so it's going all along the medial aspect of the leg more posterior because liver and spleen are more anterior to the Kidney Channel at that stage then the Meridian will continue to ascend all the way to the lower spine that's the connection to the lower spine to Essence to anything that's related to the extra vessels because the extra vessels are connected Ed to Essence that's how we tap into it so the kidney Meridian continues to go all the way up and enters the body at the lower spine to connect with the kidney organs and goes down to connect to the bladder organ its counterpart yinyang counterpart right from there it emerges back out and it will Ascend along the abdominal region all the way to the chest all the way to the lower part of the clavicle this is where all the points are from kidney 11 all the way to kidney 27 yes and of course it's batal I just put it here on my beautiful drawing do you like my drawing I'm not a very good drawer but you know it illustrates the point and that's the idea behind it so then because we always have branches when it comes to pathway of Meridian most of them have branches there is a branch that is starting at the kidney organ that will go up through the liver the diaphragm the long the throat and finish at the root of the tongue okay so that's one branch the second Branch starts at the lung organ goes to the heart wraps around the heart and connect to the pericardium which is the next Meridian in the cyclical FL of chi yes pretty good right so this is how we look at the Meridian pathway it's pretty simple po it starts at bladder 67 goes to kidney one underneath the sole goes around the ankle all along the medial aspect of the lower leg to the knee goes up and goes to the lower spine enters the body connects with the kidney and the bladder then there's a branch from the kidney that will go up through the liver the lung the throat and the back of the root of the tongue and then the last Branch starts at the lung and connects to the pericardium by wrapping around the heart see how the kidney connects to a lot of the organs the liver the lung the diaphragm as well for breathing the heart the pericardium and the throat and the root of the tongue which really connects to spleen and stomach because this is where the digestion starts at the back of the mouth isn't that amazing the kidney is such a powerful organ system that can be utilized in clinical practice to really support our Essence aging system growth reproduction this function as a whole is going to cover mental disorders reproductive system ISS issues of course but also un tract and bladder issue because of its connection to the bladder and anything happening along the Meridan which goes for all meridians and now let's start looking at the points I don't know if you know but I started the hashtag acupuncture rocks years ago when I first started making cute little videos on YouTube and it's been a journey and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support so many of you have been here with me for many years supporting me and spreading the word about Chinese medicine so if you think this video can be useful to somebody else please share it this is how we tell the world about our amazing amazing Chinese medicine so let's start with the location of kidney one it's underneath the sole which is not an easy point to needle that's why doing moxa is often much more easier for patients because because yikes there a lot of nerve ending on the soul and it could be really really powerful for a lot of patients and I have one of my patients that love this point the first time I did this point on him boy oh boy he was pretty surprised even though I told him you know this is a very powerful point he's like no no no I want to try it and he absolutely benefit from it and we're going to talk about the function in a minute but first of all let's look at its location which is really on the sole of the foot if you look at the sole you divide this in three parts and kidney one is on the upper third part right between the second and the third metatarsal and usually when I needle it I needle towards liver 3 that is oblique and towards liver 3 to connect with liver 3 it's a perfect way to use kidne one kidney 2 is located on the lower border of the navicular bone which often is mistaken for spleen 4 so we really want to found that navicular bone which is kind of protuding for a lot of people and just going further to it kidney 3 is really important to locate properly because all the points that are around it are going to be depending on where kidney 3 is so kidney 3 is located halfway between the Achilles tendons and the prominence of the medial malonis kidney 4 is half a tune posterior and inferior to kidney 3 remember from kidney 3 or from the prominence of the medial malis to the bottom of the foot or the sole is three2 so we want to divide this by Third and this is how we can found kidney 4 and kidney 5 kidney 5 is directly one soon below kidney 3 it's that onethird that we can divide between the malus and the bottom of the sole of the foot kidney 6 is one soon directly the prominence of the mediom molis just between the two ligament bundles kidney 7 is easy it's just too tune directly above kidney 3 and kidney 8 is half a T anterior to kidney 7 so to T above the medus and half a t anterior to kidney 7 and kidney 9 is 5 soon directly above kidney 3 on the line between kidney 3 and kidney 10 kidney 10 is located in the back of the knee at the medial end of the propital crease between the two tendons the semit tendonosis and the semimembranosus of the tendon of the hamstring now let's look at kidney one's function I love kidney one because it's the most grounding point of them all it's the only point that actually touches the ground right all the other points are above but when we stand on our two feet the highest point is D20 the lowest point is kidney one and they actually work really well together and I'm going to talk about this in a second but the main function of kidney one is to bring that energy down to calm the mind so it could be used for insomnia but specifically for all the scattered brain or the chatter we feel in our head and we just can't stop when patient said my head cannot stop I feel like it's scattered it's not grounded plus it's constantly going this really brings it down and we can Mark side if we don't want a needle this is a perfect point for it it's also used in conjunction with D20 when people are really tired but they cannot fall asleep this is the insomnia where you exhausted but you still can't fall asleep combine do2 with kidney one connect that top with the bottom to really get that energy up and the mind calm down Perfect combo now kidney one is also really good for night sweat and Yin deficiency but it's not the best point so really utilize it to bring all that fire down if there's high blood pressure for example it's really good for that bring the energy down that's what we want to use it for mostly kidney 2 I think is not I a lot but it's a Yin spring point which means it clears heat it's great for coughing blood or diarrhea with blood in the stools when there's that excess heat that's really affecting the lower gel that is a great point to use kidney 3 is probably one of the most kidney point that we use in clinical practice along kidney 6 I would say so kidney 3 is the best point to tonify Kidney Chi specifically and kin now both kiny 6 and kiny 3 tonify kin Yin and kin young because if one is affected the other one will be but kidney 3 is stronger in tonifying Kidney Chi and kidney Yang while kidney 6 is stronger in tonifying or nourishing kidney in if you're going to choose between the two right so kidney 3 is great to strengthen the back it's a strong point to keep our back straight it's also used for fertility specifically when there's young deficiency low libido it's used for incontinence as well when the kidney cannot close or open the Lower Gate and is incon continent specifically also for bed wedding for kids that have bed wedding this is also a great Point kidney 3 is a uran source point of the kidneys which means if there is any Essence deficiency we have to use this point uran source go back to the source to deep seeded issues like I had when I was born kidney 3 is a great point for me for example right and it's the Sho stream of the kidne which means it's really good for water metabolism as well see how fantastic take this point is I think kidney 4 is underutilized in clinical practice I love that point first of all it's a l Connecting Point which means it connects kidney to the bladder if there is any bladder issue like incontinence or urine retention the person's trying to pee but they can't this is a really good point we have to put the low Connecting Point kidney 4 the second most unbelievable function of kidney 4 and underutilize is for people that that have phobia when there are phobias it doesn't matter what the phobia is about it doesn't matter if it's rational or irrational if there's a lot of fears and phobias kidney for is the best point for that so we have to use it in clinical practice I love this point kidney five is the she point of the kidney remember Shea points are connected to blood and pain and kidney five is the best point along spleen eight which is also a she CL point of the spleen for menstruation cramps when there is dis Manara or painful menstruation spleen eight and kidney 5 best combo kidney 5's best function is for menstruation cramp but also anything happening to the menstruation cycle like irregular menstration and prolapse of the uterus it's really connected to the reproductive system specifically the female reproductive system kidney six I think it's one of my favorite kidney point I love kidney six it does tonify kidney Y and nourish kidney Yin just like kidney 3 but it's better in nourishing kidney Yin so it's great when there's night sweat and insomnia and feeling of Yin deficiency like red cheeks anything that's happening with Yin deficiency kidney 6 is a great point now combining kidney 6 with long seven really truly addresses reproductive system issues specifically the female reproductive system they can be used in pregnancy pause and for menstruation cycle issues anything this is a great combo to use because long seven is The Confident point of the ren or the conception vessel and kidney six is the confidential point of the yin sha vessel this really connects to Essence another purpose is because it's the confluential point of the yin sha vessel which the yin chow and the yangchow are connected to sleep and being awake awake during the day sleep sleeping at night KES 6 is a great point when there is insomnia specifically with nightmares or feeling hot at night waking up tossing and turning this is a great point to add to Heart seven for insomnia as we know the kidneys are related to fear and so kidney six is also a great point if there is longstanding anxiety specifically if we combine it again with pericardium 6 which is the cover of the heart or heart seven that really really connects well for anxiety of course we want to make a TCM diagnosis but this is a good base to start with are you enjoying my Graphics so far well they are all part of my acupoint made easy book it ships all over the world it is a fantastic resources for many people and the feedback has been amazing you also can have the digital version which is exactly the same but it also has video links to complement it and you can download it on any device if you haven't got your copy yet what are you waiting for click the link below and get it today remember when we talked about the function of the kidneys we said it was in charge of water metabolism well here's the point that's connected to that ky7 is great when there is water metabolism issues for example in Kong deficiency it can be used for edema of the ankles and when there is night sweats due to Yin deficiency combine kidney 7 with heart six because heart incm controls sweat and night sweat is a y deficiency and heart six is the best point for that specifically combined with kidney 7 so kidney 7 is great when there's excess fluid or when we're pouring out fluids we want to regulate the fluid in the body that is specifically affecting the kidneys kidney s is your go-to point kidney eight is the yin sha sheft point so it's really good at balancing The Ren and the Chong or harmonizing the conception vessel Vel with the Chong vessel which often is called the penetrating vessel but I like to keep it Chinese because I think it's easier The Ren and the Chong this balancing very well specifically for the women reproductive system like dis manoria uterus prolapse irregular mensturation it's a perfect point to use but we can also use it for men oh my God there's so many points for women we got to have some points for men and kidney ten is coming you're going to see that is a fantastic point for that but when it comes to kidney eight it's a really good point to use for men for pain and swelling of the testes specifically if we combine it with liver five kidy n is often referred to as the beautiful baby point and I tell my patients I love to use this point because it's there to keep the pregnancy healthy and the Beautiful Baby Point means you're going to have a beautiful healthy baby at the end right so I use it a lot in clinical practice on my pregnant patient to balance the Chong and the ren vessels fantastic point however it also has a second function that is just perfect it harmonize heart and kidney the two showan Meridian the opposite water and fire the brain the head the shin the spirit and the body so this is a really good point for manic depressive patients for bipolar patients it really connects the heart and the kidney back together so it should be part of that treatment no matter what the diagnosis is when there is bipolar or manic depressive and if you have a patient that's pregnant and has bipolar this is definitely the point that has to be there during the whole pregnancy finally an acupuncture point that is a little bit more geared towards the male patient because we have so many so many points for female patients as we know kidney tan is great when there is erectile dysfunction any issue with the male reproductive system like prostate issue we have to put kidney T it's also good for inguinal hernia which men have tendency to have much more than women and for painful urination specifically also if there's a lot of urination due to hypoplasia of the prostate let's look now at the location of kidney 11 was sturing half a tune from the midline below the belly button kidney 11 is half a tune lateral to the midline 5 tune below kidney 12 is four tun below kidney 13 is three tun below 14 two tun below 15 one t below and 16 is that the level of the belly button half lateral all those points we have to remember are located between the belly button and the upper border of the pubic symphysis bone which that is five tun in distance let's look at the belly again now we start with kidney 17 being to soon above the Naval half itun lateral kidney 18 is three tun above the naval halfon lateral 19 is four T 20 is 5 tun and kidney 21 is six tun above the belly button half a tune lateral to the bid line so it starts two tun above remember that with kidney 17 and we go all the way to kidney 21 so when it comes to kidney 22 to kidney 27's location we're going to use the length of the clavicle from the acromium to the midline which is eight soon right so we start at kidney 22 which is on the fifth intercostal space tun lateral which means a quarter of the length of the clavicle and then kidy 23 is on the fourth intercal space kidney 24 is on the third intercostal space kidney 25 is on the second kidney 26 is on the first and kidney 27 is on the lower border of the clavicle tsun lateral to the midline kidney 11 and kidney 12 are going to be great to regulate the lower gel for external genitalia issue or menstruation issue fertility or urination those two points are perfect when there are a lot of lower G symptoms all at once kidney 13 and kidney 14 can be utilized for postpartum pain and fertility issue I would say kidney 13 is better used for fertility issue and kidney 14 is better used for postpartum pain kidney 15 can be used for large intestine issue like constipation or diarrhea and it also Balan the Chong and the ren but it's not the best poror so I'm going to really go quickly to the next one kidy 16 and kidney 17 can be used for abdominal issues specifically large intestine and stomach issues that have been there for a long long time however I would pick stomach point and spleen point before I use kidney Point unless it's been so longstanding since childhood then adding kidney point is a great way to really support your treatment kidne 18 can be used for upper abdominal tract issues specifically gallbladder stone pain or although I think gallbladder 24 is a better point but also for postpartum pain specifically upper abdominal pain in postpartum so you can use kidney 14 for the lower part and kidney 18 for the upper part kidney 19 20 and 21 are all around the stomach area so they're going to complement R 12 or stomach 21 in addressing issue of the stomach like nausea vomiting abdominal pain in digestion but again I wouldn't use those unless we're really targeting that specific area for a lot of pain I would use more stomach point and R 12 kidney 22 is great when there is nausea vomiting but also difficulty and breathing so that's a point that we can use when there's those two together at the same time basically long Chi is rebelling and stomach Chi is rebelling they're going the wrong way kidney 22 could be a good point to use for that kidney 23 24 25 and 26 can all be put together in the same basket because they all address long issues isues like asthma and wheezing or coughing chronic cough specifically we do not want to create no more thorax so it's really important to do shallow insertion that is oblique or for some people that are very thin very thin body even transverse that's a good reminder kidney 27 I think again just like kidney 4 a little bit is underutilized in clinical practice I use this point all the time for morning sickness during pregnancy combined with pericardium six and stomach 40 that is the best combo because it's a really good point to calm that nausea or vomiting during pregnancy because remember the kidney is always related to the reproductive system the other function that kidney 27 is fantastic for is for grieving sadness depression so kidney 27 I use when patients have lost a loved one my dog sitting on the floor right now and he just sighed I don't know if you heard that but he went just when I was talking about breathing it's just perfect Boomer he's so cute you're got to love the dog it's so soothing to me when he's at my feet while I'm recording this so let's recap the best function of each of the kidney Point kidney one scattered th grounding you kidney two clears heat kidney three nourishes and tonify kidney young kidney four great for fear phobia L Connecting Point to the bladder for bladder or urine retention or incontinence kidney five she points so great combined with spleen eight for example for dis Manoa or menstruation cramp kidney six best point to nourish kidney Yin kidney seven Great to regulate the water for sweating for edema all this water metabolism that the kidney is in charge kidney eight balances the Chong and the ren kidney nine the beautiful baby point that is also great for bipolar kidney 10 great CR point for male reproductive system issue like prostate issue or erectile dysfunction kidney 11 and 12 are going to be used for the lower gel Issue 13 and 14 13 more for fertility issue and 14 for postpartum pain 15 is going to be used mostly for large intestine issue 16 and 17 mostly as well 189 20 21 upper digestive tract issue like GBL stone or postpartum pain for kidney 18 or digestive issues specifically stomach issues kidney 22 is great for long Chi rebelling and stomach Chi rebelling at the same time which means nausea vomiting with coughing kidney 23 24 25 26 all for long issue chronic cough wheezing asthma and kidney 27 best born for morning sickness during pregnancy specifically combined with pc6 and stomach 40 and for grief in sadness and depression see how fast we can look at them in the best light best function possible now when we first started I was talking about giving you a protocol that is simple but effective for menopause when it comes to menopause TCM looks at it from a kidney Yin and kidney yangong slowly declining so of course you want to make a TCM diagnosis but the following point should always be part of your menopausal patient protocol kidney 3 kidney six because they both tonify and nourish kidney Yin and kidney young kidney seven and hard six if there's night sweat hard seven because in menopause often there is poor memory insomnia and anxiety and stomach 40 because most menopausal women cannot focus and feel very foggy now if there's fatigue on top of it you could add up Spen six when six and do 20 to lift the energy and if there's a l lot of scattered thoughts and really feeling like the brain can't shut down kidy one this is a basic menopause protocol make sure to make a diagnosis but utilize those points because they're fantastic and they work really well in clinical practice I've seen it because I've had lots of menopausal women over the years I hope you truly benefited from this video make sure you watch the other videos related to this one in the playlist of all the acupuncture points function and Loc and no matter what keep rocking it using TCM