LI-14 (Bi Nao) Upper Arm

What does LI-14 Bi Nao do?

LI-14 activates the channel and alleviates pain, regulates qi and dissipates phlegm nodules, and benefits the eyes — and it is a meeting point where three channels cross.

• Activates the channel and alleviates pain — the shoulder-and-arm action
• Regulates qi and dissipates phlegm nodules — the action behind its use for scrofula, shared with its neighbour LI-13
• Benefits the eyes — a distal eye action, striking on an upper-arm point

A three-channel meeting point. Our record classifies LI-14 as a Meeting Point of the Large Intestine channel with the Small Intestine and Bladder channels — a crossing where three channels’ qi converges, which classically widens a point’s reach beyond its home channel. That convergence is the usual explanation offered for the two actions a plain Large Intestine arm point would not have: the connection to the eyes (the Bladder and Small Intestine channels both reach the eye region) and the neck-and-nodule action.

The eye action is the one to flag. “Benefits the eyes” on a point two-thirds of the way up the upper arm is the kind of long-distance channel relationship this system is built on — LI-14 is a classical distal point for eye disorders, used from the arm to treat the head, the same logic our lower Large Intestine points use. It pairs naturally with local eye points rather than replacing them.

On the name. “Bi Nao” simply means Upper Arm — bi the arm, nao the upper arm or its muscle. Among the more literal names in the system: the point is named for the region it occupies, the muscular upper arm at the deltoid.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, classification, action and translation records; the LI-13 record and the meeting-point classification queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is LI-14 Bi Nao used for?

LI-14 is used for pain in the shoulder and arm, rigidity of the neck, and scrofula. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain in the shoulder and arm
• Rigidity (stiffness) of the neck
• Scrofula — the classical term for chronic swollen or matted neck nodes

Shoulder, neck and nodule — and, by its actions, the eyes. The shoulder-arm and neck-rigidity entries are the local and channel action; scrofula is the phlegm-nodule action reaching the neck, shared with LI-13. The recorded “benefits the eyes” action means LI-14 also appears in classical eye-point combinations, though the eye is not listed among these primary indications.

An honest and necessary note. “Scrofula” is a historical term, and any persistent neck lump requires medical assessment — causes range from reactive nodes to tuberculosis, lymphoma and other cancers; a hard, fixed, growing or long-standing lump, or one with fever, night sweats or weight loss, needs prompt investigation. New or severe neck rigidity, especially with fever or headache, requires urgent assessment (meningitis is one cause). This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With LI-15 Jian Yu at the shoulder and LI-13 Shou Wu Li below for the arm and for scrofula; with local eye points such as BL-01 Jing Ming or GB-20 Feng Chi for the eye action. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the BL-01, GB-20, LI-13 and LI-15 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is LI-14 Bi Nao located?

LI-14 is on the outer side of the upper arm, seven cun above LI-11, at the lower end of the deltoid muscle.

• 7 cun above (proximal to) LI-11 Qu Chi, the elbow-crease point
• On the LI-11–to–LI-15 line up the outer upper arm
• At the insertion of the deltoid muscle — the V-shaped lower tip of the deltoid on the outer arm, which is the true landmark

The deltoid tip is what fixes it, not the measurement alone. The deltoid narrows to a point low on the outer upper arm, and LI-14 sits at that insertion — palpable as the lower apex of the muscle’s V, especially when the arm is raised against resistance. The 7-cun measurement from LI-11 puts you in the region; the muscle tip fixes the point. It sits well below LI-15 Jian Yu at the shoulder and well above LI-13 at 3 cun.

On the name. “Bi Nao” — Upper Arm, the region the point names, at the deltoid on the muscular upper arm.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the LI-11, LI-13 and LI-15 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 115): On the lateral side of the upper arm, in the visible and tender depression formed between the distal insertion of the deltoid muscle and the brachialis muscle, approximately three fifths of the distance along the line drawn between Quchi L.I.-11 and Jianyu L.I.-15.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 143): On the lateral side of the upper arm, on the line joining Quchi (LI-11) and Jianyu (LI-15), 7 cun above Quchi (LI-11), at the insertion of m. deltoideus.

How is LI-14 Bi Nao needled?

Our own record states perpendicular, or oblique-upward, insertion of 0.8–1.5 inches, 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.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, or oblique aimed upward along the arm, 0.8–1.5 inches — a deeper range than the forearm points, the deltoid and upper arm being thickly muscled.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies at the deltoid insertion over the humerus; the radial nerve spirals down the back of the humerus nearby, and the deltoid branch of the posterior circumflex humeral vessels supplies the region; bone lies deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point: no body cavity, no pleura, no organ, bone at depth. Our record carries no arterial caution at LI-14, and it is not among the nine points in the library that do — its neighbour LI-13, four cun below, is, and that caution belongs there. The radial nerve’s course near the humerus is worth knowing at the deeper end of the recorded range.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at LI-14 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming LI-14 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the nine arterial cautions and the LI-13 caution queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on LI-14, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates LI-14. Where the point appears it is one component of a shoulder or eye protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. LI-14 Bi Nao is a Meeting Point of the Large Intestine channel with the Small Intestine and Bladder channels — a three-channel crossing, which is the classical explanation for its two out-of-channel actions: it benefits the eyes (a distal eye point on the upper arm) and dissipates phlegm nodules (its scrofula use, shared with LI-13). It sits at the deltoid insertion, 7 cun above LI-11. It carries no arterial caution — that belongs to LI-13 below it.

A safety note. The scrofula indication is historical: a persistent neck lump is a symptom to have diagnosed, not to treat blindly.

A note on searching for it. “LI 14”, “L 14” and “Binao” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and “Binao” 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 meeting-point classification, the nine arterial cautions and the LI-13 record queried, against our own data).