Lingxu

What is KI24?

KI24, Lingxu, is a point on the Kidney channel in the third rib space of the chest, about two thumb-widths out from the breastbone.

Its Chinese name is usually translated as "Spirit Burial Ground" or "Spirit Hill". It belongs to the short run of Kidney channel points that climb the front of the chest, one per rib space, from KI22 up to KI27 below the collarbone.

In classical texts KI24 is grouped with its neighbours as a local chest point. The traditional indications are things felt in the chest: fullness, tightness, cough, wheeze, breast soreness and a fluttering or anxious feeling. It was never a headline point in the way that LI4 or PC6 are, and most practitioners use it occasionally rather than daily.

Two separate things are worth keeping apart. One is how well established a point is inside the tradition. The other is whether modern human research shows it does anything. Being listed in every classical text for two thousand years tells you that practitioners used it. It does not tell you that it works, and it does not tell you that it is safe for you.

The honest verdict on evidence: there is essentially none for KI24 specifically. No controlled human trial that we could identify tested this point on its own for any condition. Acupressure research as a whole is mostly small, short and unblinded, and KI24 is not even among the points that research has looked at.

That does not make gentle finger pressure useless as a comfort measure. It does mean nobody can tell you it treats a chest or breathing problem. The chest also deserves more care than a hand or foot point. Pressure here sits over ribs, breast tissue and, further in, the heart and lungs, so the "who should avoid it" list below matters more than usual.

Where is KI24 and how do you find it?

KI24 sits in the third intercostal space — the soft gap between the third and fourth ribs — about two thumb-widths to the side of the centre line of your breastbone.

• Find your sternal angle first. Run a finger down the front of your neck into the dip at the top of the breastbone, then slide down about 5 cm. You will feel a small ridge where the upper breastbone meets the lower part. That ridge sits level with the second rib.
• Count down two spaces. From the ridge, step your fingertip sideways onto the second rib, then drop into the gap below it. That is the second intercostal space. Drop over one more rib into the next gap: that is the third space, the level of KI24.
• Measure out from the midline. KI24 lies 2 cun from the centre of the breastbone. Two cun is roughly two of your own thumb-widths, or about 4 to 5 cm for most adults. Use your own thumb, not someone else's.
• Check against the nipple. In most men the nipple sits in the fourth rib space, one gap below KI24, and about four thumb-widths out. KI24 is higher and much closer to the breastbone than the nipple.
• Feel for the soft gap. The point sits in the springy hollow between ribs, not on the hard bone above or below it. There is often mild tenderness there.
• Do both sides if you like. KI24 is a paired point, one on the left and one on the right of the breastbone.

If counting ribs is awkward because of breast tissue, body shape or tenderness, do not dig for it. Work on the surface, close to the breastbone edge where the ribs are easiest to feel. An approximate spot pressed gently is fine; this is finger pressure on skin, and nothing is ever inserted.

How do you apply pressure to KI24?

1. Sit upright and warm your hands. A seated or half-reclined position lets your chest move freely. Cold fingers on the chest make most people tense and hold their breath.
2. Place the flat pad of one finger. Use the pad of your index or middle finger, not the nail or fingertip. Settle it into the rib gap rather than on the bone itself.
3. Press lightly at first. Build to a steady pressure that feels like a firm, slightly achy press — never sharp, never enough to make you flinch. On the chest, less force is right. A level you would rate about 3 out of 10 is plenty.
4. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds. Keep the pressure even. Breathe slowly through your nose; do not hold your breath against the finger.
5. Add small circles if you prefer. Slow circles the size of a pea, for about a minute, are an alternative to a static hold.
6. Swap sides. Treat the matching point on the other side of the breastbone for the same length of time.
7. Repeat up to two or three times a day. A couple of short sessions is enough. There is no benefit to grinding at it for twenty minutes.

Press on the rib space close to the breastbone, not into breast tissue. If the point falls under breast tissue for you, angle your finger towards the edge of the breastbone and keep the pressure light.

Stop straight away if you feel sharp pain, a cracking sensation, dizziness, breathlessness or a racing heart. Stop and leave the area alone for several days if the skin stays sore or bruised afterwards.

Nothing here involves needles, skin-breaking, heat on the skin or cupping. This is self-applied finger pressure only, and that is the only way this page covers KI24.

What is KI24 traditionally used for?

• Chest fullness and tightness. The main classical use. Texts describe KI24 for a stuffed, oppressed feeling in the chest. No human trial has tested the point for this, so treat it as a comfort measure and not as treatment for a chest condition.
• Cough and wheeze. As a local point over the rib spaces, KI24 was used alongside neighbours like KI23 and KI27 for coughing and difficult breathing. There is no controlled evidence that pressing it changes airway function, and it is not a substitute for an inhaler or any prescribed medicine.
• Palpitations and an anxious, unsettled feeling. The "spirit" in the name Lingxu points to this. Slow pressure with slow breathing can feel calming, but the calming is plausibly the breathing and the pause rather than the point itself. New or recurrent palpitations need a medical opinion, not a pressure point.
• Breast tenderness and congestion. Classical lists include breast pain and swelling for the Kidney chest points. Evidence is absent. Any new lump, skin change, dimpling or one-sided nipple discharge is a reason to see a doctor promptly and to leave the area unpressed.
• Nausea and vomiting. Some older sources mention this for the chest Kidney points. If nausea is your actual problem, PC6 on the inner forearm is the point with real human evidence behind it — several controlled trials support PC6 acupressure for nausea in pregnancy, after surgery and during chemotherapy. KI24 has nothing comparable.
• General relaxation. Many people simply find slow chest-wall pressure pleasant. That is a reasonable thing to use it for, and an honest description of what it is.

Across all of these, the pattern is the same: a long traditional record and almost no modern testing. Use KI24 for comfort, alongside proper care for anything that is actually wrong, and judge it by whether you personally feel better for a few minutes afterwards.

Are there tips for using KI24 effectively?

• Count ribs from the sternal angle. The ridge partway down the breastbone is level with the second rib and is far easier to feel than trying to count from the collarbone. From there, two gaps down is KI24.
• Use your own thumb as the ruler. Two cun is about two of your own thumb-widths out from the midline. Body measurements scale to the body you are measuring.
• Keep pressure light on the chest. The force you would use on a shoulder knot is far too much over ribs. Firm but comfortable is the ceiling here.
• Pair it with slow breathing. Breathe out as you press, in as you ease off. Much of the settled feeling people report from chest points comes from the breathing pattern, and that is still worth having.
• Work both sides. KI24 is paired. Treating only one side often leaves the chest feeling lopsided and tight.
• Flat pad, short nails. A broad contact spreads the force across skin and muscle. A nail edge concentrates it and leaves a sore spot.
• Try it when you are already settled. Sitting quietly after a shower beats pressing a point while rushing. Warm, relaxed muscle is easier to work with.
• Give it a fair, short trial. A minute a side, twice a day, for a week or two is enough to tell whether it does anything for you. Write down how you felt before and after.
• Keep it well away from anything unusual. Skip the area entirely if there is a rash, a bruise, a lump, a scar that is still healing or a device under the skin.
• Let it be an add-on. Keep taking prescribed medicines and keep your appointments. Acupressure sits alongside those, never in place of them.

What do people get wrong with KI24?

• Expecting a cure. The commonest error by far. No acupressure point cures asthma, heart disease, breast problems or anxiety, and KI24 has no trial evidence behind it at all. Expect, at most, a few minutes of feeling easier.
• Self-treating chest pain. Pressing a point while waiting to see if chest pressure passes can cost you the hour that matters most in a heart attack. New, severe or spreading chest pain means emergency help, immediately.
• Counting rib spaces wrong. Starting the count from the collarbone instead of the sternal angle usually lands people a space too high or low. Find the ridge on the breastbone first.
• Pressing on the rib instead of between them. KI24 sits in the springy gap. Landing on hard bone gives you a bruise and nothing else.
• Confusing it with midline or stomach-channel points. KI24 is two thumb-widths out from the midline. Points directly on the breastbone belong to the Conception Vessel, and the Stomach channel runs further out near the nipple line.
• Digging into breast tissue. Deep pressure into the breast is uncomfortable and unnecessary. Work at the edge of the breastbone where the rib gap is close to the surface.
• Using far too much force. The chest wall is not the shoulders. Hard pressure over ribs can bruise cartilage and leave you sore for a fortnight.
• Trying to needle it from a video. Some clips show needling at chest points. Needling near the chest wall carries real risk and belongs to trained practitioners. This page is finger pressure only, and that is the only safe home version.
• Ignoring a new lump or skin change. People sometimes find something while locating the point and press on anyway. Stop pressing and get it checked.

What does the research on KI24 actually say?

There is essentially nothing. We could not identify any controlled human trial, or any published case series, that tested KI24 on its own for any condition. That is the honest state of the literature, and inventing a study to fill the gap would not help you.

Where KI24 does appear in research, it is almost always buried inside a multi-point acupuncture or acupressure protocol with five or ten other points. Those designs cannot tell you what any single point contributed. A result from such a study is not evidence about KI24.

The wider acupressure literature has the same weaknesses throughout. Most trials are small, run for days or weeks rather than months, and cannot blind participants to whether they were pressed. People often report feeling better after any attentive hands-on contact, which inflates results in unblinded studies.

There is one clear exception worth knowing, because it shows what decent evidence looks like. PC6, on the inner forearm, has been tested repeatedly in controlled trials for nausea and vomiting — after surgery, in pregnancy and during chemotherapy — and acupressure there has a reasonable record for reducing nausea. Some of those trials used needles, some used wristbands or finger pressure. That is a specific point with a specific use and real human data behind it.

KI24 is nowhere near that standard. Its standing rests on classical texts and practitioner habit, not on measurement.

What this means for you is simple. Gentle finger pressure at KI24 is reasonable as a comfort routine if it feels pleasant and your chest is otherwise healthy. It is not a treatment, and it should never replace investigation of a cough that will not clear, breathlessness, palpitations, chest pain or a breast change. If someone sells you KI24 as a proven therapy, they are going well beyond what anyone can show.