It’s time for our first Daily Acupuncture Fact! This one is about Heart 6 (陰郄 yīn xī) and night sweats…

ACUPUNCTURE FACT:

HT-6 is an essential point for night sweating due to yin deficiency.

LOCATION:

HT-6 is located 0.5 cun proximal to the wrist crease, on the radial side of the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon.

EXPLANATION:

The name of HT-6 is Yīn Xī which means “yin cleft.” This tells us two things that we need to know about this point:

1. It is a Xi-Cleft point
2. It treats night sweating due to yin deficiency

Remember, when we talk about the five fluids (tears, sweat, saliva snivel, spittle), sweat is the fluid of the Heart. So that's why points on the Heart channel can treat disorders of sweating, especially HT-6.

Why does yin deficiency cause night sweating?

Night time is the yin time of day. During sleep, the body is usually covered in blankets, so the yang-natured wei qidoesn't have to circulate on the surface of the body. Instead, the wei qi enters into the yin aspects of the body to be nourished. 

But if yin is deficient, it cannot hold the wei qi in, and deficiency heat floats to the exterior and pushes the fluids out. That’s how we end up with night sweating due to yin deficiency.

Blood deficiency and night sweating

Heart Blood deficiency can also cause night sweating. The mechanism is similar, it's just that the heat sensations will be less intense than with yin deficiency.

Because blood is deficient, it can't anchor the qi. So the qi floats to the surface of the body and causes night sweats.

HT-6 can treat this type of night sweating as well.

Steaming bone disorder and night sweating

In terms of yin deficiency, HT-6 can also treat steaming bone disorder. This is a severe form a fever caused by yin deficiency, characterized by a sensation of heat emanating from the bones.

According to the Ode to Elucidate Mysteries, for night sweating or steaming bone disorder in children, HT-6 should be used with a draining technique.

CLINICAL APPLICATION:

Although night sweating is typically due to yin deficiency or blood deficiency, it can also occur with damp-heat conditions, half-interior/half-exterior disorders, or disharmony of the ying and the wei. 

Because HT-6 is so good at stopping night sweating, it can be used in any of these cases.

Night sweating is called "thief sweat" or "robber sweat" in Chinese.

And even though night sweating is often a branch symptom of yin deficiency, it's important to address. Night sweating is called "thief sweat" in Chinese. It will rob the body of yin substance and just make the yin deficiency even worse!

POINT COMBINATION:

For profuse night sweating due to yin deficiency, use HT-6 + SI-3.

(This combination comes from classic Ode of One Hundred Symptoms, but it's also listed as a point combo in CAM, so it's probably good to know for tests)

Although in The Practice of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia likes to use HT-6 + KI-7 to stop night sweating.

What about it being a Xi-Cleft Point?

As we said in the beginning, the name of HT-6 is Yīn Xī, and that also tells us that it's a Xi-Cleft point.

Remember, Xi-Cleft points treat acute conditions and pain. On yin channels, Xi-Cleft points also treat disorders of the blood (blood stasis and bleeding).

So HT-6 can also treat heart pain due to blood stasis, or bleeding due to heat in the blood. However, for these conditions it's much more common to choose points from the Pericardium channel (because the Pericardium is the protector of the Heart) such as PC-4 (which is also a Xi-Cleft point). 

I hope you haven’t been sweating your acupuncture studies, and hopefully this makes things more clear!

When you're ready, click the "Complete and Continue" button below to go to the next fact!

Source: "The Heart Channel of Hand Shaoyin." A Manual of Acupuncture, by Peter Deadman et al., Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications, 2007, pp. 218