How Many
Dear Patient,
Sometimes a person will ask, “How many acupuncture points are there?”
“Oh, hundreds,” I’ll answer. But there’s more to the story.
The twelve primary channels have over 300 points, and those channels are bilateral so that’s over 600 points total. The two midline channels have fifty points between them, plus there are dozens of “extra” points, which aren’t located on a specific channel pathway, most of which are bilateral as well. So that’s close to 1000 points, and those are just the ones I learned in school.
There are other acupuncture traditions that aren’t taught in the standard curriculum, but they exist nonetheless and are widely used in clinical practice, and they have their own points. The Master Tung system alone has several hundred. And there are probably other traditions I’ve never heard of with hundreds more points.
And as if that weren’t enough, there are also what we call the ah shi points. An ah shi point (translated roughly as “yes, that’s the spot”) is an area of subjective tenderness. Maybe a spot on your outer thigh is sore when you press on it—that’s an ah shi point. Maybe when I’m palpating your forearm I feel a tiny muscle knot between your radius and ulna—that’s an ah shi point. Each body may contain hundreds, or thousands of them.
So in truth, the number of acupuncture points is unfixed and unknowable. You cannot count the cells in your body. You cannot enumerate the microorganisms making their home within your tissues. And I cannot really tell you how many acupuncture points there are. You are home to infinite beginnings and endings, catalysts for change, sparks, connections, electrical impulses, and portals to new worlds. You contain multitudes.
Love and gratitude,
Your Acupuncturist