SJ-19 (Lu Xi) Skull Rest

What does SJ-19 Lu Xi do?

SJ-19 benefits the ears and clears heat, and it calms fright and relieves tetany. It sits behind the ear, two thirds of the way up the curve from SJ-17 to SJ-20.

• Benefits the ears and clears heat
• Calms fright and relieves tetany — “fright” being the classical category covering startle and convulsive states in children

A name trap, and the third of its kind in this library. “Lu Xi” contains xi — and SJ-19 is not a Xi-Cleft point. The San Jiao channel’s is SJ-07 Hui Zong, on the forearm. Querying our own category records returns the complete classical set of sixteen Xi-Cleft designations — twelve for the regular channels (LU-06, LI-07, ST-34, SP-08, HT-06, SI-06, BL-63, KI-05, P-04, SJ-07, GB-36, LIV-06) plus BL-59, KI-08, GB-35 and KI-09 for the four extraordinary vessels — and SJ-19 is not among any of them. Our BL-38 Fu Xi record documents the first instance of exactly this trap, and its case is sharper still: BL-38’s translation is Superficial Cleft.

Its near-twin is the point below. Our SJ-18 Chi Mai record carries the same four indications this one does, and SJ-19 adds a fifth — pain in the ear. Their actions differ by a clause: SJ-19 adds clears heat and says relieves tetany where SJ-18 says pacifies wind. Two consecutive points a third of a curve apart, differing by one indication and one phrase. This library discloses that closeness rather than writing two differently-flavoured pages — as it does for BL-31 and BL-34 on the sacrum and KI-23 and KI-24 on the chest.

On the name. “Lu Xi” is rendered in our data as Skull Rest. Lu is the skull, and xi here carries its ordinary sense of rest or repose — the reading usually offered relating it to the part of the head that rests against a pillow. That is the same idea our BL-09 Yu Zhen record carries, where Jade Pillow names the occiput for the same reason. Two points, two channels, one image.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; all sixteen Xi-Cleft designations queried and SJ-19 confirmed NOT among them; the BL-09, BL-38, SJ-07 and SJ-18 records checked, against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is SJ-19 Lu Xi used for?

SJ-19 is used for headache, tinnitus and deafness, for pain in the ear, and for infantile convulsions. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — five entries.

• Headache
• Tinnitus
• Deafness
• Pain in the ear
• Infantile convulsion

This is SJ-18’s list plus one entry. Comparing our two records directly: SJ-18 carries headache, tinnitus, deafness and infantile convulsion; SJ-19 carries all four and adds pain in the ear. That single entry is the whole recorded difference between two consecutive points, and stating it precisely is more useful than implying more.

An honest note, and the paediatric entry is the most important line on this page. A CONVULSION IN A CHILD IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AND REQUIRES IMMEDIATE MEDICAL CARE. A first seizure, one lasting more than a few minutes, one in an infant, or a child who does not recover quickly needs emergency assessment without delay — causes include infection and metabolic disturbance, several of them urgent and treatable. This record documents a classical indication in a historical system, makes no claim that acupuncture treats seizures in children, and nothing here should ever delay emergency care.

The ear entries. SUDDEN HEARING LOSS IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY — treatable, and time-critical within days. Earache with fever, discharge or hearing loss requires prompt assessment, particularly in a child; and earache with swelling or redness of the bone behind the ear needs urgent care, since that is where mastoiditis presents — the very bone this point sits on. New or one-sided tinnitus requires assessment.

How it is combined. With SJ-18 Chi Mai below and SJ-20 Jiao Sun above on the same curved line. With SJ-17 Yi Feng behind the earlobe, the line’s lower anchor and the channel’s principal ear point. With SJ-21 Er Men, SI-19 Ting Gong and GB-02 Ting Hui in front of the ear. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record, compared entry by entry against SJ-18's; the GB-02, SI-19, SJ-17, SJ-18, SJ-20 and SJ-21 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is SJ-19 Lu Xi located?

SJ-19 is behind the ear, in a small hollow — two thirds of the way along a curved line drawn from SJ-17 behind the earlobe up to SJ-20 at the ear apex.

• Posterior to the ear, in a small depression
• Two thirds of the distance along a curved line from SJ-17 Yi Feng to SJ-20 Jiao Sun
• SJ-18 Chi Mai sits at one third along the same line

Two points located as fractions of a CURVE — and this library has now found the same idea on the Gallbladder channel. SJ-18 and SJ-19 divide the curve behind the ear into thirds. Our GB-04, GB-05 and GB-06 records divide the line from ST-08 Tou Wei to GB-07 Qu Bin into quarters — one quarter, one half, three quarters. Two different channels, two different regions of the head, the same method: place the anchors, then divide the span.

And the anchors themselves connect. SJ-20 Jiao Sun is found by folding the ear forward — a landmark the reader creates — and our GB-07 record locates that point by reference to SJ-20 in turn. So a single ear-fold fixes SJ-18 and SJ-19 on one side and, through GB-07, the quartered Gallbladder run on the other. One landmark, six points. It also means an error there propagates widely, which is the practical reason to locate SJ-20 carefully.

The line follows the ear, not the skull — a straight line between SJ-17 and SJ-20 would cut across the ear itself, which is why the description specifies a curve. It changes where the two-thirds mark lands.

On the name. “Lu Xi” — Skull Rest, the part of the head that rests. As noted above, not a Xi-Cleft designation.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged including the two-thirds construction; the GB-04, GB-05, GB-06, GB-07, ST-08, SJ-17, SJ-18 and SJ-20 records queried and their constructions compared against our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 409): Posterior to the ear, in a small depression two thirds of the distance along a curved line drawn from Yifeng SJ-17 to Jiaosun SJ-20 following the line of the rim of the ear.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 208): Posterior to the ear, at the junction of the upper and middle third of the curve formed by Yifeng (SJ-17) and Jiaosun (SJ-20) behind the helix.

How is SJ-19 Lu Xi needled?

Our own record states OBLIQUE insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, with moxibustion applicable — and the angle differs from both its neighbours. 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: oblique, 0.3–0.5 inch. Our records give SJ-18 subcutaneous, SJ-19 oblique, SJ-20 subcutaneous, SJ-21 perpendicular and SJ-22 oblique at 0.1–0.3 inch — four different recorded angles across five consecutive points around the ear, tracking what lies beneath each.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable. Unlike SJ-18 below, our record for this point documents no bleeding technique — fourteen points in this library do, counted by query, and SJ-19 is not among them.
• Regional anatomy: thin skin and the auricular muscles overlie the mastoid region of the temporal bone; the posterior auricular artery and vein and the lesser occipital nerve run behind the ear; the mastoid air cells lie within the bone.

Hazard, stated proportionately. There is bone immediately beneath, no cavity within reach and no major vessel at the point itself. This is a low-hazard point in that specific sense. The region is vascular and bleeds readily, which is a nuisance here rather than a technique — the distinction from SJ-18 one third of a curve below, where bleeding is a recorded option.

And the boundary below. Our GB-20 Feng Chi and DU-16 Feng Fu records carry explicit cautions because those points sit in the soft hollow below the occipital bone, where nothing stops a needle. SJ-19 is on bone, not below it, and neither caution is imported.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at SJ-19 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the head. No case report naming SJ-19 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the recorded angles of SJ-18 to SJ-22 compared; every needling record queried for bleeding techniques; the DU-16 and GB-20 cautions attributed to those points), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on SJ-19, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates SJ-19. Where the point appears it is one component of an ear or headache protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point. It is one of the less-used points on the channel.

The infantile-convulsion warning is the operative content on this page. A convulsion in a child is a medical emergency. No claim is made that acupuncture treats seizures, and no literature on the subject is cited, because an indication list documents historical use and is not evidence.

What this page can state with confidence. SJ-19 is located as two thirds of a curved line from SJ-17 to SJ-20, with SJ-18 at one third — and this library has since found the same divide-the-span method on the Gallbladder channel, where GB-04, GB-05 and GB-06 quarter the line from ST-08 to GB-07. Both constructions ultimately depend on SJ-20, found by folding the ear forward, so one landmark fixes six points. Its indication list is SJ-18’s plus one entry. And despite xi in its name, it is not a Xi-Cleft point — the San Jiao’s is SJ-07, verified against the full set of sixteen.

A note on searching for it. “SJ 19”, “TE 19”, “TB 19” and “Luxi” searches return protocol trials and a large volume of unrelated material — “Luxi” matches place names and is also a common transliteration of unrelated words. This channel is coded three ways across the literature: SJ, TE and TB; our library uses SJ-. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and translation records; the sixteen Xi-Cleft designations counted, the SJ-18 comparison made entry by entry, and the GB-04 to GB-07 constructions checked, against our own data).