KI-11 (Heng Gu) Pubic Bone

What does KI-11 Heng Gu do?

KI-11 benefits the lower jiao — a single, focused recorded action, on the lowest of the Kidney channel’s abdominal points, right at the pubic bone.

• Benefits the lower jiao — the whole of the recorded action; the lower jiao being the bladder, intestines and reproductive organs the point overlies

The first of the Kidney abdominal run, and a Penetrating-vessel meeting point. KI-11 is the lowest of the eleven Kidney points that climb the abdomen beside the midline, from the pubic bone up to below the ribs — and all eleven (KI-11 through KI-21) are classified in our data as Meeting Points of the Kidney channel with the Penetrating (Chong) vessel. The Chong, the “sea of blood” and a vessel central to menstruation and fertility, runs up the abdomen alongside the Kidney channel; that shared course is why this whole run carries lower-jiao, gynaecological and urogenital actions. KI-11 begins it, at the bottom.

On the name. “Heng Gu” is the classical Chinese term for the pubic bone (heng gu, the transverse bone) — rendered in our record as Pubic Bone — and the point sits on its upper border.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, classification, action and translation records; the eleven Kidney–Penetrating-vessel meeting points queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is KI-11 Heng Gu used for?

KI-11 is used for fullness and pain of the lower abdomen, difficult or involuntary urination, nocturnal emission, impotence, and genital pain. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Fullness and pain of the lower abdomen
• Dysuria (difficult or painful urination)
• Enuresis (involuntary urination / bed-wetting)
• Nocturnal emission
• Impotence
• Pain of the genitalia

A urogenital point, matching its position at the pubic bone. Every entry belongs to the bladder and the reproductive organs directly beneath the point — urination, seminal and erectile function, and genital pain. This is the lower-jiao action of the whole Kidney abdominal run, concentrated at its lowest point.

An honest note. Difficult urination or an inability to pass urine requires prompt medical assessment — acute retention is an emergency, and painful urination can signal infection needing treatment. New or persistent erectile difficulty warrants medical assessment; it can be an early marker of cardiovascular or hormonal disease. Genital pain, and any testicular pain or swelling, needs assessment — a painful swollen testicle is a surgical emergency. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With REN-03 Zhong Ji and REN-04 Guan Yuan on the midline just medial for the bladder and reproductive organs, and with KI-12 Da He immediately above on its own channel. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the KI-12, REN-03 and REN-04 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is KI-11 Heng Gu located?

KI-11 is on the lower abdomen, at the top edge of the pubic bone, half a cun to the side of the midline — five cun below the navel.

• 5 cun below the umbilicus (navel), at the very bottom of the abdomen
• On the superior (upper) border of the pubic symphysis — the pubic bone the point is named for
• 0.5 cun lateral to REN-2 Qu Gu, the midline point on the pubic bone

The pubic bone is the landmark, and it is a definite one. The upper border of the pubic bone is easily felt at the base of the abdomen; REN-2 Qu Gu sits on the midline there, and KI-11 is half a cun out to the side of it. The whole Kidney abdominal run is spaced 0.5 cun lateral to a midline (Ren-channel) point, and KI-11 is the lowest of them, level with REN-2.

On the name. “Heng Gu” — the pubic bone, on whose upper border the point sits.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the REN-2 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 351): On the lower abdomen, 5 cun below the umbilicus, at the superior border of the symphysis pubis, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Qugu REN-2). <br /><br /> Location Note: The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion locates the points Henggu KID-11 to Shangqu KID-17 one cun lateral to the midline.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 194): 5 cun below the umbilicus, on the superior border of symphysis pubis, 0.5 cun lateral to Qugu (REN-2).

How is KI-11 Heng Gu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.5–1.0 inch, with moxibustion applicable. What follows is a neutral record of what the reference literature documents. It is not instruction, and this page does not teach technique — the lower abdomen is a region where that matters.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, 0.5–1.0 inch.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point overlies the lower abdominal wall just above the pubic bone; deep to it lie the bladder (especially when full) and, in the pelvis, the reproductive organs; the inferior epigastric vessels run in the abdominal wall nearby.

Hazard, stated plainly. The chief consideration at any lower-abdominal point is the bladder: a full bladder rises out of the pelvis and can be reached by a deep perpendicular needle here. The standard classical precaution is that lower-abdominal points are needled with the bladder emptied first. Our record carries no arterial caution at KI-11, and it is not among the nine points that do — but this is emphatically not a point for self-treatment, and the bladder caution is the reason depth and angle matter.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at KI-11 could be located, and none is borrowed; the empty-bladder precaution stands in its place. No case report naming KI-11 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 KI-11, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates KI-11. Where the point appears it is one component of a urogenital protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. KI-11 Heng Gu is the lowest of the Kidney channel’s abdominal points, sitting on the upper border of the pubic bone, and — like all eleven Kidney points from KI-11 to KI-21 — a Meeting Point with the Penetrating (Chong) vessel, which is why it and its neighbours carry lower-jiao, urinary and reproductive actions. Its indications are all urogenital. And its name, Heng Gu, is the classical term for the pubic bone, on whose upper border it sits.

A note on searching for it. “KI 11”, “K 11”, “KID 11” and “Henggu” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Henggu” is a common Chinese place and personal name. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (classification, action, indication and location records; the eleven Kidney–Penetrating-vessel meeting points queried, against our own data).