Acupoint · Acupressure only

Yintang

印堂 yìn táng

Location

Standard location. On the midline of the forehead, midway between the medial ends of the eyebrows.

How to find it. Rest the pad of an index finger on the smooth middle of the forehead, then slide it down until it settles in the shallow hollow level with the inner ends of the eyebrows. Each eyebrow should feel evenly placed either side of the fingertip.

The point is on the midline, so it is the same distance from each eyebrow. If it is not, the finger has drifted to one side.

Acupressure

How

Press with the pad of the index or middle finger, straight in and slightly upward, with enough pressure to feel a firm contact rather than a sting.

Hold

20 to 30 seconds, or three to five slow breaths.

Frequency

Once or twice a day, and whenever the forehead feels tight.

In a sequence

First and last point of the facial sequence. It pairs with Hegu (LI-4) when the head feels tight and with Shenmen (HT-7) when sleep is the problem.

What it is used for

Skin and face

Forehead tension and habitual furrowing between the brows.
Skin changes that track poor sleep and stress, alongside sleep-stress-skin and Liver Qi Stagnation.
A heavy or puffy brow on waking.
As the opening and closing point of the facial acupressure sequence on facial-acupressure.

Actions

Calms the Shen (神, the aspect of mind that governs sleep and awareness)
Clears the head and benefits the eyes
Opens the nose when the head is congested
Releases forehead tension

Practitioner note

Needling is a practitioner procedure and is not described on this page. Where it is relevant to a treatment, the beauty page for that practice explains what a practitioner does.

Safety

Safety and when to get help

Light pressure only: the skin over the frontal bone is thin and marks easily.
Do not press on a cut, a sunburn, a cyst or any inflamed lesion.
Stop if pressing brings on a headache or makes one worse.
Pregnancy is not a reason to avoid this point, but check with your practitioner if you are pregnant and using several points together.

Used with

Cuanzhu (BL-2) Hegu (LI-4) Shenmen (HT-7)

Common questions

Where exactly is Yintang?

On the midline of the forehead, level with the inner ends of the eyebrows. Slide a finger down the middle of the forehead until it drops into the small hollow.

How hard should I press?

Lightly and steadily. The contact should feel firm through the pad of the finger, not sharp, and the skin around it should not go white under the nail.

What code does Yintang carry?

GB/T 12346-2021 puts Yintang on the governing vessel as GV 24+, between Shenting (GV 24) and Suliao (GV 25). EX-HN3 is its former extra-point code. It is not GV24+.

How it is understood

Yintang sits on the midline of the forehead, between the inner ends of the eyebrows, and the tradition treats it as a place where the governing vessel meets the face. Its uses are mostly about settling: a heavy or foggy head, frontal headache, a blocked nose, and the kind of poor sleep that follows a busy mind. In a facial routine it is the easiest point to find and the easiest to judge for pressure, which is why it usually opens and closes the sequence.

Sources

Guidelines and standards

GV 24+ Yintang

On the midline of the forehead, midway between the medial ends of the eyebrows.

GB/T 12346-2021 Acupuncture and moxibustion: names and locations of acupoints Standardization Administration of China, 2021.

GB/T 12346-2021 assigns the point to the governing vessel as GV 24+, between Shenting (GV 24) and Suliao (GV 25). EX-HN3 is its former extra-point code; it is not GV24+.