LIV-07 (Xi Guan) Knee Joint

What does LIV-07 Xi Guan do?

LIV-07 dispels wind-damp, and benefits the knee and relaxes the sinews — a local point on the inner side of the knee.

• Dispels wind-damp — clearing the wind-and-damp that lodges in the joint to cause achy, obstructed bi knees
• Benefits the knee and relaxes the sinews — the local joint-and-tendon action; the Liver governs the sinews in classical thought

A knee point, plainly — and the inner counterpart of a lateral one. Both actions and its single indication concern the knee. LIV-07 sits on the medial (inner, yin) side of the knee — and it is the near-mirror of GB-33 Xi Yang Guan (“Knee Yang Joint”) on the lateral (outer, yang) side. The two “knee joint” points, one yin and one yang, bracket the knee; and both channels (Liver and Gall Bladder) govern the sinews, so both relax the tendons around the joint.

On the name. “Xi Guan” means Knee Joint or Knee Gate — xi the knee, guan a joint, gate or pass. Purely anatomical: the point is named for the joint it serves.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the GB-33 and SP-09 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is LIV-07 Xi Guan used for?

LIV-07 is used for pain of the knee. Our own indication record is a single entry.

• Pain of the knee

One indication, honestly. LIV-07 is a purely local knee point — its record lists knee pain and nothing else, and our page does not inflate it. It is used for pain and stiffness on the inner side of the knee, and for the achy wind-damp knee, in combination with the other knee points.

An honest note. A knee that is hot, red, swollen, locked, giving way, or painful after an injury requires medical assessment rather than repeated self-treatment — septic arthritis, a torn meniscus or ligament, and inflammatory arthritis all need diagnosis. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With SP-09 Yin Ling Quan just in front of it, and the knee-eye points ST-35 Du Bi and EX-LE-4, and GB-34 Yang Ling Quan (the influential point of the sinews) for the knee and tendons. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the GB-34, SP-09 and ST-35 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is LIV-07 Xi Guan located?

LIV-07 is on the inner side of the knee, just below and behind the inner knob of the shin bone, one cun behind SP-9.

• Posterior and inferior to the medial condyle of the tibia — below and behind the inner bony knob at the top of the shin
• In the upper part of the medial head of gastrocnemius (the inner calf muscle’s upper end)
• 1 cun behind (posterior to) SP-9 Yin Ling Quan

Found from SP-9 and the shin knob. SP-9 Yin Ling Quan sits in the hollow below the inner knob of the shin bone; LIV-07 lies one cun behind it, on the inner calf. The bony knob (medial tibial condyle) and SP-9 together fix it.

On the name. “Xi Guan” — Knee Joint, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the SP-09 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 484): Posterior and inferior to the medial condyle of the tibia, 1 cun posterior to Yinlingquan SP-9.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 223): Posterior and inferior to the medial condyle of the tibia, in the upper portion of the medial head of m. gastrocnemius, 1 cun posterior to Yinlingquan (SP 9).

How is LIV-07 Xi Guan 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.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, 0.5–1.0 inch, into the upper calf.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies in the upper medial head of gastrocnemius; the posterior tibial vessels and nerve run deeper in the calf; the tibia and knee joint lie in front.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point: no body cavity, no organ. Our record carries no arterial caution at LIV-07, and it is not among the nine points that do — the posterior tibial vessels run deeper in the calf than the recorded depth.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at LIV-07 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming LIV-07 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 LIV-07, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates LIV-07. Where the point appears it is one component of a knee protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. LIV-07 Xi Guan (“Knee Joint”) is a local medial-knee point that dispels wind-damp and benefits the knee and sinews; its single indication is knee pain. It sits 1 cun behind SP-9 on the inner knee, and it is the yin (medial) counterpart of the lateral GB-33 Xi Yang Guan. It carries no five-shu element and no special classification.

A note on searching for it. “LIV 7”, “LR 7” and “Xiguan” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — and this channel is coded LIV, LR and Liv across the literature. 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 GB-33 and SP-09 records queried, against our own data).