ST-10 (Shui Tu) Water Prominence

What does ST-10 Shui Tu do?

ST-10 benefits the throat and neck, and it descends Lung qi — a short, entirely regional record.

• Benefits the throat and neck — shared word for word with ST-09 above it
• Descends Lung qi — the action its cough and asthma indications rest on

Its record holds no category at all, which sets it apart sharply from its neighbour. ST-09 Ren Ying carries three — Window of Heaven, Sea of Qi, and a two-channel meeting point — and ST-10, a short distance below on the same muscle border, carries none. Where our data holds nothing, this page says so rather than supplying a classification.

The Stomach channel’s neck run. ST-09 at the level of the Adam’s apple, ST-10 below it, ST-11 Qi She at the collarbone, then ST-12 Que Pen in the supraclavicular fossa. The throat and respiratory indications run down that whole stretch, and each point’s recorded actions narrow as the channel descends toward the chest.

On the name. “Shui Tu” means Water Prominence. Shui is water and tu a prominence or protrusion — the readings offered relate it to the swallowing motion of the throat beside the point, or to the laryngeal prominence itself. Our record holds Water Prominence; the sense is not settled in our data and this page does not choose.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the ST-09, ST-11 and ST-12 records queried and their categories compared against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-10 Shui Tu used for?

ST-10 is used for sore throat, asthma and cough. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full — three entries.

• Sore throat
• Asthma
• Cough

Three entries, all respiratory or throat, and the page will not stretch them. Comparing our records, ST-09 above carries five — sore throat and asthma shared with this point, plus goitre, dizziness and facial flushing. ST-10 records none of those three. Where a record is short this library states its limits rather than filling the space, as it does at BL-06, SI-13, SJ-14 and DU-07.

An honest note. ASTHMA CAN BE FATAL and requires medical diagnosis and prescribed management; worsening breathlessness or an attack not responding to reliever medication is a medical emergency. Sore throat with difficulty swallowing or breathing, drooling, or a muffled voice is a medical emergency — and a sore throat lasting more than a week or two, or one-sided, needs assessment. A cough lasting more than three weeks, or with blood, weight loss or fever, requires medical assessment. This record documents classical use only.

And a caution about the region rather than the indication. A new or growing lump in the neck, a hoarse voice lasting more than three weeks, or difficulty swallowing requires prompt medical assessment. Our ST-09 record sets out the thyroid causes; the neck holds structures where delay matters, and that is worth stating on any point sited here.

How it is combined. With ST-09 Ren Ying above and ST-11 Qi She below — the two points our record measures it between. With REN-22 Tian Tu at the suprasternal notch for the throat and cough. With LU-07, LU-10 and LU-11 distally. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication record, compared entry by entry against ST-09's; the BL-06, DU-07, LU-07, LU-10, LU-11, REN-22, SI-13, SJ-14, ST-09 and ST-11 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-10 Shui Tu located?

ST-10 is on the neck, at the front edge of the big strap muscle, midway between ST-09 and ST-11.

• At the anterior border of sternocleidomastoid
• Midway between ST-09 Ren Ying and ST-11 Qi She
• ST-09 sits level with the tip of the laryngeal prominence; ST-11 at the upper border of the collarbone

A midpoint location, and both anchors are firm. The laryngeal prominence and the collarbone are unmistakable, so ST-10 is fixed by dividing a span between two features rather than by measurement in cun. This library has documented several such constructions — GB-15 between DU-24 and ST-08, DU-18 between DU-16 and DU-20, SJ-15 between GB-21 and SI-13 — and the advantage is the same each time: the placement holds whatever the size of the neck, where a fixed measurement would not.

Which side of the muscle matters, and it matters here. Our record specifies the anterior border of sternocleidomastoid. The great vessels of the neck — the carotid artery, internal jugular vein and vagus nerve — run in the carotid sheath in front of and deep to that muscle. Our SJ-16 Tian You record specifies the posterior border, where they are not. Anterior and posterior are different anatomical situations, not a stylistic variation in wording.

On the name. “Shui Tu” — Water Prominence. As noted above, the sense is not settled in our data.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged including the midpoint construction; the DU-18, GB-15, SJ-15, SJ-16, ST-09 and ST-11 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 138): On the neck, at the anterior border of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, midway between Renying ST-9 and Qishe ST-11.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 148): At the midpoint of the line joining Renying (ST-9) and Qishe (ST-11), on the anterior border of m. sternocleidomastoideus.

How is ST-10 Shui Tu needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch, with moxibustion applicable — and it carries NO arterial caution, where ST-09 immediately above it names the common carotid specifically. 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, 0.3–0.5 inch — the same range as ST-09.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable. ST-09’s record does not state it; ST-10’s does. The difference is in our data and nothing is asserted about why.
• Regional anatomy: the anterior border of sternocleidomastoid overlies the carotid sheath — carotid artery, internal jugular vein and vagus nerve — with the thyroid gland medial and the larynx and trachea medial to that. The carotid sinus sits at about the level of ST-09 above.

What our record carries and what it does not, stated precisely. Nine points in this library carry an explicit arterial caution, counted by re-querying every needling record: ST-05, ST-09, ST-42, SP-12, SJ-22, HT-01, LU-08 and LU-09. ST-10 is not among them, and this page does not import ST-09’s caution.

But the anatomy does not stop at a point boundary, and this page says so. The carotid sheath runs the length of the neck along the border this point sits on. Our record carries no warning; the vessels are nonetheless there, and stating the regional anatomy while attributing the recorded caution to ST-09 alone is the only honest way to present both facts. This library takes the same approach at ST-04, whose page states the facial artery’s course while attributing the caution to ST-05 beside it.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at ST-10 could be located, and none is borrowed. Neither measured-depth study this library uses reaches the neck. No case report naming ST-10 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged, and the ST-09 caution and moxibustion statement compared directly; every needling record re-queried with a corrected pattern and the nine arterial cautions counted), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on ST-10, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates ST-10. Where the point appears it is one component of a throat or respiratory 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 neighbour with the attention is ST-09 Ren Ying, immediately above — a Window of Heaven point, a Sea of Qi point, and the point beside the carotid sinus. Evidence and claims found near ST-10 usually belong to it. Our ST-09 record also notes that nothing in our data supports a blood-pressure indication at either point.

What this page can state with confidence, including its limits. ST-10 holds two recorded actions and three recorded indications, all throat and respiratory, and no category at all — against ST-09’s three classifications a short distance above. It is placed as a midpoint between two firm landmarks, which holds whatever the size of the neck. It records moxibustion where ST-09 does not, and it carries no arterial caution where ST-09 names the common carotid. All four differences are in our data, and all four are stated rather than smoothed toward the neighbour.

A note on searching for it. “ST 10”, “S 10” and “Shuitu” searches return protocol trials and a large volume of unrelated material — “Shuitu” matches ordinary vocabulary and place names. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication, location and needling records; the ST-09 record compared field by field, and every needling record re-queried for arterial cautions, against our own data).