GB-02 (Ting Hui) Auditory Convergence

What does GB-02 Ting Hui do?

GB-02 benefits the ears, eliminates wind and clears heat, and activates the channel to alleviate pain — a major ear point, sitting just in front of the ear.

• Benefits the ears — the principal action, behind its use for deafness and tinnitus; its name, “Auditory Convergence”, says as much
• Eliminates wind and clears heat — addressing wind-heat in the ear and face
• Activates the channel and alleviates pain — the local action for the jaw joint and face

An ear point, in front of the ear. GB-02 is the lowest of a short vertical run of ear points just in front of the ear: SJ-21 Er Men (Ear Gate) above, SI-19 Ting Gong (Palace of Hearing) in the middle, and GB-02 Ting Hui (Auditory Convergence) below — three channels (San Jiao, Small Intestine, Gall Bladder) stacked at the ear, all named for hearing. They are used together for the ear, and located by opening the mouth, which opens the hollow each sits in.

On the name. “Ting Hui” means Auditory Convergence or Meeting of Hearing — ting to hear or listen, hui to meet or converge. The reading ties the name to the gathering of hearing at the ear; it shares its ting (hearing) with the neighbouring SI-19 Ting Gong.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the SI-19 and SJ-21 ear points queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is GB-02 Ting Hui used for?

GB-02 is used for deafness, tinnitus, toothache, impaired movement of the jaw joint, mumps, and deviation of the eye and mouth. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Deafness
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• Toothache
• Motor impairment of the temporomandibular (jaw) joint
• Mumps
• Deviation of the eye and mouth

The ear, the jaw, and the face around them. Deafness and tinnitus are the ear action; toothache and jaw-joint impairment are the local action at the point in front of the ear over the jaw joint; mumps (swelling of the parotid gland, just here) and eye-and-mouth deviation are the local swelling and facial-wind entries. Every entry belongs to the region the point sits in.

An honest and necessary note. Deafness of sudden onset is a medical emergency — sudden sensorineural hearing loss needs same-week specialist care. New or one-sided tinnitus warrants assessment. A new facial droop or eye-and-mouth deviation is an emergency (stroke, Bell’s palsy). Mumps is a viral infection that should be medically diagnosed (and is vaccine-preventable). This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With SI-19 Ting Gong and SJ-21 Er Men just above (the ear run) and SJ-17 Yi Feng behind the ear for hearing; with ST-06 Jia Che and ST-07 Xia Guan for the jaw. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the SI-19, SJ-17, SJ-21, ST-06 and ST-07 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is GB-02 Ting Hui located?

GB-02 is just in front of the ear, in the hollow that opens when the mouth is opened, below the notch in front of the earlobe.

• Anterior to (in front of) the intertragic notch — the small notch at the front of the ear, just above the earlobe
• At the posterior border of the condyle of the mandible — the jaw’s hinge, which moves forward when the mouth opens
• Located with the mouth open, which deepens the hollow the point sits in

Open the mouth to find it. The three ear points in front of the ear are all located with the mouth open: opening the jaw swings its condyle forward and opens a depression in front of the ear. GB-02 is the lowest of the three (SJ-21 highest, SI-19 middle, GB-02 lowest), just above the earlobe. The moving jaw is the landmark.

On the name. “Ting Hui” — Auditory Convergence, the meeting of hearing at the ear, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the SI-19 and SJ-21 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 422): In the hollow between the intertragic notch posteriorly and the condyloid process of the mandible anteriorly. Locate this point with the mouth wide open.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 209): Anterior to the intertragic notch, at the posterior border of the condyloid process of the mandible. The point is located with the mouth open.

How is GB-02 Ting Hui needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–0.7 inch, with moxibustion applicable — and, as with the ear points, it is needled with the mouth held open. What follows is a neutral record of what the reference literature documents. It is not instruction, and this page does not teach technique.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, 0.5–0.7 inch, into the depression opened by the open mouth.
• Mouth position: the point is located — and classically needled — with the mouth open, which opens the space and keeps it open around the needle.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies in front of the ear over the jaw joint; the parotid gland lies here; the facial nerve emerges nearby and fans across the face; the superficial temporal vessels run just in front of the ear; the auriculotemporal nerve supplies the region.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a moderate-care point: no body cavity or organ, but a region dense with the facial nerve, the parotid gland, and the superficial temporal vessels. Our record carries no arterial caution at GB-02, and it is not among the nine points that do — but the superficial temporal artery runs just in front of the ear, so a little bleeding is not unusual, and the facial nerve nearby is why care is taken. A practitioner’s point.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at GB-02 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming GB-02 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on GB-02, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates GB-02. Where the point appears it is one component of an ear or jaw protocol — often with the neighbouring ear points — and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. GB-02 Ting Hui (“Auditory Convergence”) is a major ear point in front of the ear, the lowest of the three stacked ear points (with SI-19 and SJ-21), all named for hearing and all located with the mouth open. It benefits the ears and works locally on the jaw joint and face — its indications spanning the ear, the jaw and the parotid region it overlies.

A safety note. Sudden hearing loss and a new facial droop are emergencies; this page records classical use and says so.

A note on searching for it. “GB 2”, “G 2” and “Tinghui” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Tinghui” is a common Chinese given and place name. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication and location records; the three front-of-ear points queried, against our own data).