Analysis of the Bone Proportional Method for Determining Acupoints in the Upper and Lower Abdominal Region in Males and Females

Abstract

Background The purpose of this study was to redefine the location of acupoints in the lower abdomen by taking actual thoracic and abdominal measurements. Methods Measurements of the length and height of the thorax, and both the upper and lower abdominal area were compared to standard values defined by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (WHO/WPRO), and medical text books such as Miraculous Pivot, and A-B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. These measurements were used to redefine the standard of 1 cun, and the cun value of the lower abdomen. Results Of the 60 studies screened, all studies used the cun measurement system. Considerable variation in the localization of acupoints in the lower abdominal area were detected. The average measurement of a typical male lower abdomen was within 6.33 cun to 6.34 cun. From this data, 6.5 cun appears to be more accurate than the current standardized length of 5 cun. The standardized index values of the width of the 4 fingers, and the distance from the lateral prominence from the greater trochanter to the popliteal crease (Fm), appeared to apply to only males, as defined by the WHO/WPRO. Conclusions Further studies on standardizing the index measurements for the lower abdominal area are necessary. For males, the more accurate standardized length of the lower abdomen was 6.5 cun, whereas for females, the measurement would typically be longer than 6.5 cun.

Keywords

• abdomen
• acupoint
• bone
• chest
• thorax