Kidney

KI3

太溪 · Taixi

Great Ravine

Inner ankle hollow, the Kidney source point.

Yuan-source · Shu-stream · Earth point of the Kidney

Use caution

System

Channel: Kidney (KI)
Element: Water
Yin or yang: yin
Organ system: Kidney
Region: Foot
Limb rule: Foot Shaoyin

Open the Kidney page

Where it is

Halfway between the tip of the inner ankle bone and the Achilles tendon, in the hollow.

Nearby: The posterior tibial artery pulses here. Find the hollow, feel for a beat, and do not occlude it.

Traditionally said to

Yuan-source and shu-stream point of the Kidney. The main point students learn to “support kidney yin and yang” as a broad traditional idea: low back, ears, sleep, deep tiredness, and erectile difficulty when it is taught as a kidney pattern. Not a treatment for ED.

What people look up

Energy and fatigue Sleep Stress and shen Pain relief Erectile difficulty Memory and focus Dizziness Ears Urinary Cold limbs Low back

Acupressure

Thumb in the hollow beside the tendon, mild to moderate, 45–60 seconds, off the pulse.

When not to press: Stop if the toes tingle or you are pressing a pulse. Skip a sprained inner ankle.

About 30–90 seconds is the usual window, unless the step above is shorter. Stop if pain, dizziness, or anything unusual shows up.

Licensed practice only

Needle depth, angle, electroacupuncture

Textbook language for students. Not instructions. A cun is a body-inch on that person, not a ruler inch. Do not needle yourself.

Depth

Common textbook range: about 0.5–1 cun perpendicular. The tibial nerve and artery are adjacent.

Angle

Perpendicular, between the malleolus and the Achilles.

Electroacupuncture

Introductory charts rarely assign a standard electroacupuncture setting here. Clinics that use current choose frequency and intensity for that person. No milliamp figure is given, because copying one would be misleading.