Bladder 65 – Bl.65: Shugu – Bone Binder

Bladder 65 is …

• Wood point on the Bladder channel
• Shu-stream point on the Bladder channel

Location of Bladder 65

On the lateral side of the foot, in the deptressionn proximal to the metatarsal/phalangeal articulation of the fifth toe. The point is close to but underneath the bone.

Needling Bladder 65

Perpendicular to the skin, up to half a cun.

Moxa on Shugu

Moxibustion, up to five cones.

Sensation at Shugu

Remember that although there are often thick layers of skin here, underneath them there are plenty of nerves, so the point can be sore when inserting the needle. Do it swiftly, asking the patient to breathe out vigorously as you insert the needle.

Once inserted, the needle sensation (deqi) is either local or extends towards the tip of the little toe.

ACTIONS of Bladder 65

• Clears excess (heat and fluids eg swellings)  from head and upper body
• Helps reduce pain along the channel

Uses of Bladder 65

• Helps the body clear heat and fluids such as from stings, bites, cystitis, scalds, sunburn.
• Malaria

• Good for stiff neck headache (combine with Bladder 10)
• Seizures, mental illness

Comment

Shugu is perhaps more important than we realise.

• It occupies the same position on the foot as SI3 on the hand. SI3 is a very important point for many reasons and perhaps we should remember Bladder 65 more often.
• The name ‘Bone Binder’ suggests it may help with mending bones, the experience of some acupuncturists.
• As the Wood element point on a Water channel, it is a sedation point for Bladder excess.

Example

A patient came with headache and difficulty urinating. She associated her symptoms with the onset of cystitis, which she had had many times. Her Bladder pulse was overflowing and fast. I used Bladder 65 and Large Intstine 11 together and later she told me that she had cancelled the next day’s appointment with her doctor, which she was sure would have resulted in a precription for antibiotics, as in the past.