SP-17 - Food Hole

食窦 - Shí dòu

Point Region: Chest

SP

Spleen Meridian

足太阴脾经 - Zú Tàiyīn Píjīng

Location & How to Find

Anatomical Location: On the front of the chest, in the fifth space between the ribs, 6 cun out from the midline.

Distances are in cun, a unit that scales with each person's body. As a guide, the width of your thumb at its joint is 1 cun, and your four fingers held together, measured across the middle joints, are 3 cun.

How to Locate:

  1. Find the fourth rib space (in men, level with the nipples) and move down one rib to the fifth space
  2. Go two thumb-widths outside the nipple line (the nipple line is 4 cun from the midline)
  3. The point is in the rib space there
SP-17 (Food Hole) acupressure point location: On the front of the chest, in the fifth space between the ribs, 6 cun out from the midline.

How to Apply Pressure

Once SP-17 is located, touch the rib space lightly with a fingertip; do not press between the ribs or into the chest. Avoid it after recent chest surgery or a chest wall injury, and see a doctor for chest pain or breathing difficulty.

Traditional Indications

In TCM, this point is traditionally used for:

  • Chest fullness
  • Intercostal pain
  • Chest tightness
  • Rib pain

Select a point to see its location, how to find it, and its traditional uses.

Important Precautions

Avoid this point with:

  • Recent chest surgery
  • Severe respiratory conditions
  • Chest wall injuries