The body is an incredible thing, one amazing feature is the built-in pain management system you have in yourself. Many ailments can be dealt with just through certain areas in the body we call acupressure points.

Think of your body as a house. There is a full electrical system wired throughout it and there are various points around the body that are like electrical outlets. They have the ability to tap into other areas helping to relieve pain and provide relief. The whole body is connected and areas on your feet have the ability to help with headaches. The same thing with your hands, there are hand acupressure points that also have the amazing ability to heal.

Let’s have a look at how these areas, specifically the hands, can have such a healing effect from your ailments.

What Are Acupressure Points?

The knowledge of the bodies acupressure points goes back thousands of years into Chinese medicine. This does have relations to acupuncture but is more about pressure than the insertion of needles. Acupressure could be considered acupuncture but without the needles. In either case, these pressure points in the body can promote relaxation, improve your overall wellness, and even treat certain diseases.

I mentioned about the body being all wired together and the pressure points being like the electrical outlets. When we look at Chinese medicine, these pressure points exist along meridians or channels, and all these meridians are connected together and able to communicate. This is known as the life force and it can connect specific organs, or network of organs so that they can create, and organize, a communication system throughout the body.

The idea is that if these pressure points get blocked, then this is when problems start to occur. This can be the body getting out of balance and also things like diseases and ailments can happen. This could be anything from migraines to digestive problems.

How Acupressure Works

You can perform this yourself but it’s also something that can be done by a specialist. The pressure is placed on certain areas such as the hands, feet, elbows or palms with the goal of restoring balance and health to the body. Whether you choose to look at this as the life force and the balancing of the yin to yang, modern medicine has observed the positive health effects that acupressure is providing.

Treating these pressure points can not only help to reduce muscle tension but the act itself can improve circulation in the body. Better circulation allows for the transport of more nutrients to muscles and cells and the overall improvement of your health.

Along with this, the act of applying pressure to these areas causes an endorphin release which you will know as the feel-good hormones – but they are also a natural painkiller. It’s all about how your body has these built-in mechanisms to help you cope and manage.

So feeling good and balanced is reason enough to look into acupressure but for specific conditions, it has been seen to help relieve nausea and discomfort from:

  • After surgeries
  • During spinal anesthesia
  • After chemotherapy
  • Motion sickness
  • Pregnancy-related issues

Acupressure is also seen to help with things like depression and anxiety along with combating fatigue and improving mood. Pain wise you can see treatment like this to help with low back pain, postoperative pain, and headaches of various sorts.

When you’re treating these areas you want to apply firm pressure for around ten seconds before releasing for a few moments and repeating a few times. Some areas will call for more of a massaging motion but the main thing is to apply firm, but controlled pressure.



In this article, we want to look at 6 specific hand acupressure points, where they are, and what ailments they can help with.

1. Heart 7

Where is it: This point exists on the wrist right at the crease between the hand and the wrist. It is closer on this crease to the space between your ring finger and pinkie.

You should feel a bone right near this area and applying pressure to it is seen to help with things like anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, and even insomnia.

2. Small Intestine 3

Where is it: To find this acupressure point you will be on the outside of your hand and right on the edge of it. Below your pinkie finger, you will find a small depression and this is where you want to focus the pressure on.

We see this part of the hand to help with head-related pain such as headaches that you feel on the back of your head along with neck pain and even earaches. This is an area that you will need to apply some pretty firm pressure to as it is a very sold area

3. Wrist Point 1

Where is it: Again, like heart 7, this point is just at the base of the hand at the crease with the wrist. It’s easy to find as all you have to do is run your finger down the line of your pinky finger until you get to that crease in the wrist.

Wrist point 1 is one of those points that is more about mood and a better sense of well-being. When you apply pressure here you may notice in an increase in happiness and more regulation of emotions.

4. Lung Meridian

Where is it: The lung meridian will be on the inside of your hand and more connected to your thumb. There are a few acupressure points here on your hand that can help with the pain. The first point will be at the tip of your thumb, the second is at the main knuckle, and the third at the very base of the thumb at the wrist.

You can run your other thumb or a finger along this line of the thumb and massage any sore spots that you may find. It may not be isolated to those three specific areas so you need to cover the whole inside of the thumb from top to bottom – those three points give you a good guide to start with though.

Massaging any sore spots here can help with things related to colds such as a runny nose, chills, sneezing, and sore throat.

5. Hand Valley Point

Where is it: This is one of the important acupressure points that is found on the back of the hand between the thumb and index finger. It’s the firmer fleshy point and one that will require a good amount of pressure.

You can push into this area with a thumb or finger, or you can squeeze it from both sides with your thumb and forefinger. Treating this area is also related to head-related issues such as migraines and headaches. They also see it help neck and shoulder pain and even as a way to help ease the pain from toothaches.

Last, using acupressure on this part of the hand that may help to reduce stress.

6. Base Of Thumb Point

Where is it: Similar to the lung meridian but now you’re just focusing on a specific part of the thumb. You will be at the base of it and will run your finger down your thumb until you get to that wrist crease.

You will still be staying on the base of the thumb and this is another firm area of the hand that will require some decent pressure. This area will benefit more from a massaging motion than just straight direct pressure and you can do this with a finger, or thumb, from your opposite hand.

This is one of the acupressure points of the hand that isn’t mainly about pain but more for the lungs. Treating this area is believed to help with breathing problems and also to help ease respiratory issues.

Final Thoughts

We’ve been using the body to help heal itself for thousands of years and there’s no reason not to look into this for yourself now. Acupressure is a great way to get familiar with the meridians of your body and alleviate ailments – but without going the acupuncture route if you’re not ready for that yet.

The hand acupressure points are some of the most important on the body and they can have the ability to help with a wide variety of issues.

References:

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
  2. https://www.webmd.com/

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. phindi

    I’m loving the idea
    thanks

  2. kharawar BP

    This is a very knowledeable information which is provided by you.

    My hearty Thanks to u

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