Hand Acupressure Points Charts: 10 Acupoints For Everyday Problems

There is a saying that making the world a better place to live in is in your hands. The same is true for your general well-being. You can easily solve body problems like pain, sleep disorder, stress, cold, and fever if you’re aware of the hand acupressure points chart.

These charts show you all the acupressure points in your hand that you can stimulate to stop different kinds of symptoms that affect your health and wellness.

The benefits of acupressure are so overwhelming that I can’t tell them all. All over your body, there are pressure points designated to solve most of the everyday illness and bodily discomfort.

Knowing the right acupressure points for a particular medical condition and applying pressure on these points will not only improve the symptoms of your condition but establish balance in your body and improve your general health.

I’ll be showing you in this article the acupressure points on the hand for back pain, headaches, stomachaches, fever, stress, and other common illnesses and body discomfort.

How Many Pressure Points Are In Your Hand?

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There are over 400 acupressure points on your hands. What this implies is that by stimulating your hands, you can bring instant relief to yourself for many symptoms.

However, you need to know the right acupressure point on the hand to apply pressure on for various symptoms as well as how to apply pressure on these acupoints.

The picture below of the hand acupressure points chart and the discussions of these hand acupressure points in this post will show you how to utilize the power in your hands to take charge of your health and wellness.

Meanwhile, it is important to know which of the hands to use to stimulate these pressure points in the hand. For complaints that are not pain-related such as stress, you can use either hand to stimulate the designated acupressure point on the hand for instant relief.

For acute pain, on the other hand, you have to use the hand on the opposite side of the body experiencing the pain. So, if the pain on your back is on the right side, you’ll use your left hand to apply pressure to the acupressure point on the hand for back pain on your right hand.

Does Hand Acupressure Work?

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Yes, hand acupressure works even though there is not adequate research to support this. Acupressure is an effective alternative medicine practice that the Chinese have been using to unlock a load of health benefits for themselves.

A peer-reviewed study shows that acupressure is effective in relieving symptoms like pain, nausea, and insomnia. I wouldn’t advise you to substitute medical treatments for serious medical conditions for acupressure.

Instead, contact your doctor or therapist for advice on whether acupuncture can relieve your medical condition.

Meanwhile, the hand acupressure points chart discussed below will effectively bring you relief to symptoms like headache, stomachache, stress, sleep disorder, shoulder pain, cold, insomnia, and fever.

The best part of it is that you can apply pressure on these hand acupoints by yourself at the comfort of your home without experiencing any side effects.

Hand Acupressure Points For Headaches

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Here are the hand acupressure points to stimulate when you have headaches:

#1.Acupoint: TE-1 (Other Names: Triple Energizer-1/Guan Chong/Surge Gate)

Acupoint TE-1 is an acupoint of the Triple Energizer meridian. It is called Guanchong in China which translates to Rushing Pass. You’ll find TE-1 at the tip of your ring finger, very close to your nail.

Being an acupressure point concerned with the body’s essence, TE-1 is not only effective for relieving headaches but also for issues related to the heart. It is also used clinically to treat deafness and tinnitus.

One study reveals that the acupoints between TE-1 and TE-10 are functional to distinct nerves and muscles in the body that enhances the feedback of certain tissue stimulation.

#2. Acupoint: SI-1 (Other Names: Small Intestine-1/Shao Ze/Lesser Marsh)

Acupoint SI-1 is another hand acupressure point that you should stimulate for relief for headaches. It is called Shaoze in Chinese or Lesser Marsh in English and is located on the little finger, on the corner at the base of the nail plate.

Just as TE-1 is the Jing-Well point of the Triple Energizer meridian, SI-1 is the Jing-Well point of the Small Intestine Meridian. The implication of this is that this acupoint can be used to treat heart issues and expel heat.

In addition to relieving headaches, you can also use SI-1 to correct the issues of insufficient lactation and threat sore throat and apoplexy. If you have tinnitus, then GB-2 acupuncture point is the acupoint to stimulate.

Hand Acupressure Point For Stomachache

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If you have a stomachache, the acupoint in the hand acupressure points chart to stimulate is LU-10.

#3. Acupoint: LU-10 (Other Names: Lung-10/Yu Ji/Fish Border)

Acupoint LU-10 is called Yuji in Chinese or Fish Border in English. It is a lung meridian acupoint located on the palm at the midpoint of the first metacarpal bone of the thumb, on the part of the hand where red skin meets white skin.

In Chinese medicine, Acupoint LU-10 is the Ying-Spring point of the Lung Meridian. This implies that it is located at a point where Qi filters down the lung meridian. For this reason, LU-10 functions as a heat expeller for the lung meridian.

Clinically, in addition to stomachache, LU-10 is one of the acupressure points for asthma, fever, cough, and sore throat.

Hand Acupressure Point For Stress

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#4. Acupoint: PC-8 (Other Names: Pericardium-8/Lao Gong/Palace of Toil)

Lao Gong

For stress, PC-8 is the hand acupressure point to massage. Acupoint PC-8 is called Laogong in Chinese, which translates to Labor Palace in English. It is located between your middle finger and ring finger when you make a fist.

PC-8 is an acupoint of the Pericardium Meridian, and just like LU-10, is the Ying-Spring point for its meridian. This makes PC-8 an effective acupoint for coma, cardiac pain, and stress as it expels heat from the heart and steadies the Shen.

PC-8 is also the right acupressure for carpal tunnel if you suffer from carpal tunnel

Hand Acupressure Point For Sleep Disorder

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#5. Acupoint: HT-7 (Other Names: Heart-7/Shen Men/Spirit Gate)

If you have disturbances in your sleep pattern, the hand chart acupressure point above will fix you up. HT-7, Shenmen, or Spirit Gate is a very vital heart meridian acupoint. It is located at the crease of the wrist, at a point below the palm that corresponds to the little finger.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, Shenmen is classified as the Yuan-Source of the heart meridian, thus making it function as a regulator of the heart blood and a calmer of the Shen. Because of this, HT-7 is well suited for the treatment of insomnia, cardiac pain, chest pain, and epilepsy. It is also one of the acupressure points for the thyroid.

A recent study confirmed that you can use HT-7 to improve the activity of the parasympathetic system in the body.

Hand Acupressure Points For Shoulder Pain

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For shoulder pain, you need the following acupoints in the hand acupressure points chart.

#6. Acupoint: HT-5 (Other Names: Heart-5/Tong Li/Inward Connection)

Acupoint HT-5, Tongli, or Connecting Interior is another heart meridian acupoint located on the hand. You’ll find HT-5 near your wrist, one finger above HT-7.

HT-5 communes with two meridians, making it ideal for treating chronic diseases that affect the Zang-Fu organs. Therefore, in addition to shoulder pain, HT-5 is the acupoint to stimulate when you have pain in your wrist, severe palpitation, and stiffness of the tongue.

Recent research suggests that the combination of HT 5 and GB 39 can help aphasia patients recover their language function.

#7. Acupoint: LI-4 (Other Names: Large Intestine-4/He Gu/Joining Valley)

Acupoint LI-4 or Hegu is a popular Large Intestine meridian acupressure point that is located on the hand. You’ll find LI-4 on the muscle that bunches when you press the thumb and the index finger together.

Because of its classification as the Yuan-Source point of the Large Intestine Meridian, LI-4 is effective for treating diseases of the head and face. Issues like body ache, swelling of the face, toothaches, and neck pain are easily sorted by stimulating LI-4.  LI-4 is also one of the acupressure points to quit smoking.

Hand Acupressure Point For Cold Sensitivity

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#8.Acupoint: TE-4 (Other Names: Triple Energizer-4/Yang Chi/Yang Pool)

If you’re experiencing a cold, TE-4 is the acupoint on the hand to stimulate. Acupoint TE-4 is another Triple Energizer meridian acupoint on the hand that can relieve you of common symptoms. It is called Yangchi in Chinese and is located on the back of your hand, around the center of the wrist, on the same line as the ring finger.

Stimulating TE-4 relaxes your sinews, expels wind and heat, and circulates Qi in the body. For this reason, TE-4 is clinically used to treat inflammation of the throat, pains in the eyes, deafness, and any pain in your arm or wrist.

TE-4 is also one of the pressure points to stimulate when you want to use acupressure for carpal tunnel.

Hand Acupressure Point For Insomnia

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#9. Acupoint: PC-9 (Other Names: Pericardium-9/Zhong Chong/Middle Rushing)

If you find it hard to sleep, PC-9 is one of the hand chart acupressure points to massage. Acupoint PC-9 is referred to as Zhongchong in Chinese, which translates to Central Hub in English. As the name implies, you’ll find PC-9 at the center of the tip of the middle finger.

Because the PC-9 acupuncture point is the point of the Pericardium Meridian where Qi bubbles up, it an acupoint for relieving consciousness. It expels heat from the body and packs benefits for the tongue which is why PC-9 is used clinically to reduce swelling of the tongue and relieve cardiac pain.

Hand Acupressure Point For Fever

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#10. Acupoint: LI-1 (Other Names: Large Intestine-1/Shang Yang/Metal Yang)

Here’s the acupoint on the hand for relieving you of fever. LI-1, Shangyang, or Metal Yang is a noteworthy Large Intestine acupoint in the hand. It is located on the index finger, at the corner of the base of the nail plate.

In addition to relieving fever, LI-1 is one of the acupuncture points for sore throat, numbness of the finger, and toothache. It can do this as it functions as an acupoint that dispels heat, heal the throat, and bring back consciousness.

Author: P. Sze

P. Sze P. Sze is the founder of TCM Tips and Dragon Acupuncture®. She graduated from the National University of Singapore with a first-class honor in Civil Engineering. S he also holds a master’s degree in Engineering and is the brain behind the innovative TCM products of Dragon Acupuncture®. She is the author of The Beginner's Guide to Auricular Therapy: Application of Ear Seeds (ISBN 978-1520451398) and Facial Gua Sha - Fight the Signs of Aging Naturally and Inexpensively (ISBN 978-1980678922). She has dedicated her life to ensuring that the complex theories behind oriental medicine and the seemingly dangerous techniques that involve needles and fire do not scare you from trying oriental medicine. This is why she writes endlessly about acupressure and its countless health and wellness benefits.

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