Acupoint · Acupressure only
Chengqi
承泣
Location
Standard location. On the face, between the eyeball and the infraorbital margin, directly inferior to the pupil.
How to find it. Look straight ahead and drop a line down from the middle of the pupil to the lower edge of the eye socket. The point is on that bony edge, directly below the pupil and above Sibai.
The standard places the point between the eyeball and the rim, which is why nothing but light rim pressure is appropriate at home.
Acupressure
What it is used for
Skin and face
- Under-eye heaviness and darkness, alongside dark-circles.
- Puffiness under the eye, where the wider picture is described on facial-acupressure.
- Practitioner work for the under-eye region, described on cosmetic-acupuncture.
Actions
- Clears heat from the eyes
- Benefits the eyes and the under-eye region
- Moves Qi and Blood in the tissue below the eye
- Used by practitioners for the under-eye area
Practitioner note
Safety
Safety and when to get help
- Never press on the eyeball, and never press inward into the socket. Light pressure on the bony rim is the only home use described here.
- Do not press after eye surgery, laser treatment or filler in the tear trough until the practitioner says it has settled.
- If you have glaucoma or any eye condition, ask your practitioner before working this area.
- Stop at once and see a doctor for eye pain, flashes, new floaters, a change in vision, redness with discharge, or swelling around the eye.
- Needling this point is a practitioner procedure. It is not described on this page and should not be attempted at home.
Used with
Common questions
How do I press Chengqi safely?
Only as a very light, still contact on the bony rim directly below the eye, with the pad of the ring finger, and never pressing inward or on the eyeball.
Why is this point treated differently from the others?
Because it sits between the eyeball and the eye socket. The margin for error is smaller than anywhere else on the face, so the home instruction is deliberately narrow.
Is Chengqi the same as the point used in cosmetic acupuncture?
It is one of the points a practitioner may needle for the under-eye area. The treatment is described on cosmetic-acupuncture, and the needling itself is not something to attempt at home.
How it is understood
Chengqi sits between the eyeball and the lower edge of the eye socket, directly below the pupil, which makes it the point closest to the eye of any used on the face. The tradition uses it for eye disorders, and in cosmetic work practitioners needle it for the under-eye area. That is a practitioner procedure. The only use at home is a very light, still pressure on the bony rim below the eye, with the pad of a finger, never pressing inward or onto the eyeball.
Sources
Guidelines and standards
ST-1 Chengqi
On the face, between the eyeball and the infraorbital margin, directly inferior to the pupil.
WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2008.
Location quoted from the WHO standard. The classical record for this point has not been verified against a primary text here, so it is not quoted.