Acupressure for Hypertension

Acupressure is useful as a Complementary therapy in managing hypertension. In traditional Oriental medicine, hypertension is said to be intimately connected with blockages in the Liver meridian. The following points are useful for managing acupressure: Gb 20, Li 11, Ht 3, St 36, Lv 3, and Kd 1 Caution: If blood pressure exceeds 200/100, do not do acupressure at all. 1. (Gb 20, Wind Pool) How To Locate This point: Place your thumbs on your earlobes. Slide them back toward the center of your neck. Now your thumbs will be approximately one thumb width above the hairline of your neck. Your thumbs will fall into a depression on either side of the vertebra of your neck, at the base of the skull. (If you slowly bend your head forward and then back again, you will be able to identify these depressions easily.) Wind Pool (Gb 20) is located in these depressions.

How To Apply Pressure: Use the thumbs to apply medium to firm pressure, and hold for a minute or even more. Breathe deeply and build up and release pressure gradually. Gb 20 is helpful in relieving headaches and colds, neck stiffness and pain, and helps to regulate the internal movement of energy. 2. Li 11 and Ht 3 How To Locate Points: To locate Li 11, hold your arm in front of your chest, as if you were holding a cup in your hand. The point is at the outside end of the crease on your arm at the elbow joint. To find Ht 3 (Lesser Sea), hold your palms facing up. From Li 11 slide your fingers across the elbow crease until you feel the bony projection of the outside of your funny bone. Just above this bony projection is a natural depression. Ht 3 is in this depression. Applying Pressure: Place your thumb on Ht 3 and your middle finger on Li 11 and apply strong pressure for about a minute.

3. (St 36, Three Mile Foot) St 36 is the most effective point to rejuvenate the ch'i and blood. The combination of Li 11 and St 36 is used extensively to treat hypertension. How To Locate St 36: This point is located four finger widths below the lower border of the kneecap and one finger width off the shin bone to the outside. Flex your foot up and down; you will feel the muscle move under your fingers if you are on St 36. Applying Pressure: Apply moderate to firm pressure on St 36. Hold the pressure for one minute. This point can also be stimulated either with the heel of your opposite foot, or with your fingers. 4. (Lv 3, Bigger Rushing) Traditional Oriental medicine practitioners believe that hypertension is intimately connected with blockages in the liver meridian. Lv 3 exerts a powerful, beneficial influence on all aspects of the body associated with the liver meridian. How To Locate Lv 3: This point is located on the top of your foot, between the big toe and second toe. Start at the web margin of skin between the two toes. Now slide your index finger up between the bones until you feel a depression about 1/2 inch up. Applying Pressure: Using your index finger, press between the bones. Start with light pressure. Increase the pressure gradually as much as you can tolerate or until you are using moderate to firm pressure. Press for about 1 minute. 5. (Kd 1, Bubbling Spring) How to Locate Point: Kd 1 is on the sole of the foot between the second and third toe bone, two thirds of the distance from the heel to the base of the second toe. It's just below the ball of the foot.

Applying Pressure: Press firmly on the point for about a minute.