SI-09 (Jian Zhen) True Shoulder

What does SI-09 Jian Zhen do?

SI-09 expels wind and benefits the shoulder, and activates the channel to alleviate pain — a local point behind and below the shoulder joint.

• Expels wind and benefits the shoulder — the shoulder action, for pain and stiffness of the joint and shoulder blade
• Activates the channel and alleviates pain — the channel action reaching down the arm

A shoulder point, at the back of the joint. Both actions and its indications concern the shoulder and arm. SI-09 sits at the back and underside of the shoulder joint, just above the rear end of the armpit fold — a key point for posterior shoulder pain and for the “frozen” or painful shoulder, worked with the other Small Intestine shoulder points that ring the scapula. Our SI-10 Nao Shu, SI-11 Tian Zong and SI-12 Bing Feng records set out that cluster.

On the name. “Jian Zhen” means True Shoulder or Upright Shoulder — jian the shoulder, zhen true, upright, or chaste/firm. The reading ties the name to the point’s position at the firm, “true” base of the shoulder joint.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the SI-10, SI-11 and SI-12 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is SI-09 Jian Zhen used for?

SI-09 is used for pain in the shoulder-blade region and impaired movement of the hand and arm. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Pain in the scapular (shoulder-blade) region
• Motor impairment of the hand and arm

Shoulder and arm. Scapular pain is the local shoulder action; hand-and-arm motor impairment is the channel action down the limb. It is a focused shoulder-and-arm list, of the kind the posterior shoulder points share — SI-09 a mainstay for pain at the back of the shoulder.

An honest note. New weakness of a hand or arm requires medical assessment — sudden onset can be neurological (a stroke needs same-day care), and persistent weakness or wasting can mean nerve compression. Shoulder pain that follows an injury, or comes with weakness, fever, or inability to lift the arm, warrants assessment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With SI-11 Tian Zong on the shoulder blade, SI-10 Nao Shu above, and LI-15 Jian Yu and SJ-14 Jian Liao for the shoulder joint. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the LI-15, SI-10, SI-11 and SJ-14 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is SI-09 Jian Zhen located?

SI-09 is at the back of the shoulder, just above the rear end of the armpit crease, with the arm held against the side.

• Posterior and inferior to the shoulder joint (behind and below it)
• 1 cun above the posterior (rear) end of the axillary (armpit) fold, with the arm held down against the body
• The lowest of the Small Intestine shoulder points; SI-10, SI-11 and SI-12 lie higher on the scapula

Found with the arm down. Holding the arm against the side brings the rear armpit fold into relief; SI-09 sits one cun above its back end, at the lower rear of the shoulder joint. The armpit fold is the landmark, and adducting the arm sharpens it.

On the name. “Jian Zhen” — True Shoulder, the firm base of the shoulder, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the SI-10 and SI-11 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 240): On the posterior aspect of the shoulder, 1 cun superior to the posterior axillary crease when the arm hangs in the adducted position.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 169): Posterior and inferior to the shoulder joint. When the arm is adducted, the point is 1 cun above the posterior end of the axillary fold.

How is SI-09 Jian Zhen 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 muscle at the back of the shoulder.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies behind the shoulder joint over the teres and deltoid muscles; the axillary nerve and the posterior circumflex humeral vessels run in the region (around the surgical neck of the humerus); the chest wall and its structures lie deeper and more medially.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a moderate-care point: no arterial caution in our record (nor is it among the nine), but it lies near the shoulder’s neurovascular structures, and — as with all points around the shoulder girdle and upper chest — needling is directed to avoid angling deep and medially toward the chest, where the lung apex lies. The recorded perpendicular depth into the shoulder muscle stays clear.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at SI-09 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming SI-09 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 SI-09, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates SI-09. Where the point appears it is one component of a shoulder protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. SI-09 Jian Zhen (“True Shoulder”) is a local posterior-shoulder point that expels wind, benefits the shoulder and activates the channel — its indications being scapular pain and hand-and-arm motor impairment. It sits behind and below the shoulder joint, 1 cun above the rear armpit fold, the lowest of the Small Intestine shoulder cluster. It carries no five-shu element and no special classification.

A note on searching for it. “SI 9”, “SI-9”, “IG 9” and “Jianzhen” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material — this channel is coded SI, IG and Du (some legacy sources) across the literature; our library uses SI-. 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 Small Intestine shoulder cluster queried, against our own data).