ST-26 (Wai Ling) Outer Mound

What does ST-26 Wai Ling do?

ST-26 regulates qi and alleviates pain — a single, focused recorded action, on the lower abdomen just below the navel.

• Regulates qi and alleviates pain — the whole of the recorded action, aimed at the lower abdomen

A qi-and-pain point of the lower abdomen. ST-26’s action is matched by its indications — abdominal pain, hernia and painful periods, all qi-stagnation-and-pain patterns of the lower jiao. It sits one cun below the navel on the Stomach’s abdominal line, among the Stomach points that regulate the belly.

The Stomach’s abdominal line is 2 cun, not 4. The Stomach channel runs its chest points 4 cun lateral to the midline, but its abdominal points only 2 cun lateral — the channel steps inward crossing from chest to belly. ST-26 sits on that 2-cun abdominal line, which our major Stomach abdominal point ST-25 Tian Shu (level with the navel) anchors. The line sits between the Kidney line (0.5 cun) and the Spleen line (4 cun).

On the name. “Wai Ling” means Outer Mound — wai outer or lateral, ling a mound or hill. The reading usually offered ties the name to the raised mound of the abdominal muscle lateral to the midline that the point sits on.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the ST-25 record and the abdominal channel lines queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is ST-26 Wai Ling used for?

ST-26 is used for abdominal pain, hernia, and painful menstruation. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Abdominal pain
• Hernia
• Dysmenorrhoea (painful periods)

Lower abdomen, three ways. All three entries belong to the lower abdomen the point overlies, and all are the qi-stagnation-and-pain pattern its single action addresses — visceral pain, hernia, and menstrual pain.

An honest note. Abdominal pain that is severe, sudden or persistent requires medical assessment; its causes include surgical and gynaecological emergencies. A hernia requires assessment; one that becomes hard, painful or irreducible is a surgical emergency. Painful periods that are new, worsening or severe warrant assessment. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With ST-25 Tian Shu above and ST-27 Da Ju below on the same line, and with SP-06 San Yin Jiao and REN-04 Guan Yuan for menstrual pain. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the REN-04, SP-06, ST-25 and ST-27 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is ST-26 Wai Ling located?

ST-26 is on the lower abdomen, one cun below the navel and two cun out to the side of the midline.

• 1 cun below the umbilicus (navel)
• 2 cun lateral to the midline — the Stomach abdominal line; level with REN-7 Yin Jiao on the midline
• Below ST-25 Tian Shu (level with the navel) on the same line

Found from the navel and the 2-cun line. Fix ST-25 first — level with the navel, 2 cun lateral — then drop one cun to reach ST-26. The 2-cun abdominal line is the middle of the three parallel lines (Kidney 0.5, Stomach 2, Spleen 4).

On the name. “Wai Ling” — Outer Mound, the raised mound of abdominal muscle, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the ST-25 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 149): On the lower abdomen, 2 cun lateral to the midline and 1 cun inferior to the umbilicus, level with Yinjiao REN-7.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 152): 1 cun below the umbilicus, 2 cun lateral to Yinjiao (REN-7).

How is ST-26 Wai Ling needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.7–1.2 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, 0.7–1.2 inches — a moderate abdominal depth.
• Moxibustion: recorded as applicable.
• Regional anatomy: the point overlies the rectus abdominis and its sheath; deep to it lies the small intestine, and in pregnancy the enlarging uterus; the inferior epigastric vessels run in the rectus sheath.

Hazard, stated plainly. The consideration at a lower-abdominal point is the organs beneath — bowel, and in pregnancy the uterus; deep or careless needling of the lower abdomen in pregnancy is specifically to be avoided. Our record carries no arterial caution at ST-26, and it is not among the nine points that do. Not a point for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at ST-26 could be located, and none is borrowed. No case report naming ST-26 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 ST-26, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates ST-26. Where the point appears it is one component of an abdominal protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. ST-26 Wai Ling (“Outer Mound”) is a lower-abdominal Stomach point whose single action — regulate qi and alleviate pain — is matched by its three indications, abdominal pain, hernia and painful periods. It sits 1 cun below the navel on the Stomach’s 2-cun abdominal line (narrower than the channel’s 4-cun chest line), the middle of the three parallel abdominal channel lines.

A note on searching for it. “ST 26”, “S 26” and “Wailing” searches are actively confusing — “Wailing” is an ordinary English word, flooding any plain search. 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 ST-25 record and the abdominal channel lines queried, against our own data).