Kouheliao

What is LI19?

LI19 (Kouheliao) is a Large Intestine channel point on the face, sitting just below the outer edge of each nostril.

The name Kouheliao is usually rendered as Mouth Grain Crevice or Grain Hole. It is the second-to-last point on the Large Intestine channel, which runs from the index finger, up the arm and neck, and finishes beside the nose. Because it is so close to the nostril and the upper lip, classical texts group it with the nose and mouth points.

In traditional use, LI19 is described as a local point for a blocked or runny nose, nosebleed, facial paralysis and a clenched or stiff jaw. Those are claims about what practitioners have long done with the point, not findings from trials.

Two things are worth saying once, up front. A long traditional record is not evidence that a point works, and it is not evidence that a point is safe either. Both have to be checked separately, and this page tries to do that honestly.

The honest verdict on evidence: there is essentially no human research testing LI19 on its own. Acupuncture and acupressure studies for stuffy nose and allergic rhinitis usually press or needle LI20, LI4, Yintang and GV20 instead, and those trials are mostly small, short and unblinded. Where LI19 appears at all, it is one name in a long list of points used together, so nothing can be credited to it.

What LI19 realistically offers a reader at home is a minute of gentle, self-applied fingertip pressure on a sensitive part of the face. Some people find that soothing alongside steam or a saline rinse. It is not a treatment for infection, for a broken nose, or for sudden facial weakness, and it should never replace care for those. Everything described on this page is finger pressure only.

Where is LI19 and how do you find it?

LI19 sits directly below the outer edge of the nostril, level with the midpoint of the philtrum, the vertical groove between your nose and upper lip.

• Find the philtrum. Look in a mirror and find the shallow vertical groove running from the base of your nose down to the dip in your upper lip. That groove is the midline landmark for LI19.
• Mark the midpoint. Put a fingertip halfway down that groove, between the nose and the lip edge. On most adults this is roughly 1 to 1.5 cm below the nose.
• Slide outwards. From that midpoint, move sideways about half a thumb-width, around 1 cm, towards the same side as the nostril above. Classical texts give this as 0.5 cun lateral to the midline.
• Check the line up. Draw an imaginary vertical line down from the outer edge of the nostril opening. LI19 is where that line meets the level of the philtrum midpoint.
• Feel the texture. You should be on soft tissue of the upper lip, not on the hard bone higher up near the nostril base. It often feels slightly tender under light pressure.
• Do both sides. There is an LI19 on the left and one on the right. They are mirror images.

A common mix-up is worth heading off. LI20 (Yingxiang) is a different point, higher up, in the crease beside the flare of the nostril wing. LI19 is lower, on the upper lip itself, and closer to the midline.

If you are not sure, press the whole small area with a flat fingertip rather than hunting for a precise spot with a nail. Facial points are close together, and gentle pressure over a slightly wider area is safer and just as useful at home.

How do you apply pressure to LI19?

1. Wash your hands first. You are touching skin right beside the nose and mouth, so clean hands and short nails matter more here than on arm or leg points.
2. Sit upright and settle. Use a mirror the first few times so you can see where your fingertip lands. Rest your elbows on a table so your hands stay steady.
3. Use the flat of the fingertip. Place the pad of your index or middle finger on LI19, just below the outer edge of the nostril and level with the middle of the philtrum. Never use a fingernail, pen cap or massage tool on the face.
4. Press lightly. Facial skin is thin. Aim for gentle, steady pressure that feels like a firm touch, not a dig. A dull awareness is fine; sharp pain, stinging or watering eyes mean you are pressing too hard.
5. Hold or circle. Hold steady for 30 to 60 seconds, or make small slow circles without dragging the skin. Breathe normally and keep your jaw relaxed.
6. Do both sides together. Use one finger on each side at the same time, with equal pressure. It is easier to keep symmetrical and takes less time.
7. Keep sessions short. One to three rounds per session, and up to two or three sessions a day, is plenty. More pressure is not better on the face.
8. Stop at these signs. Stop if the skin reddens and stays red, if it stings or breaks, if your nose starts to bleed, or if pressing makes pain worse rather than easier.

Do not block the nostril while you press, especially with children, and do not press on a child hard enough to make breathing feel harder. If you wear makeup, pressing will smudge it and can push product into pores, so a clean face is better.

Give any self-care trial a fixed window, such as one to two weeks. If nothing changes, stop and look at other options rather than pressing harder.

What is LI19 traditionally used for?

• Blocked or runny nose. This is the main traditional use, as a local point for nasal congestion and a running nose. Human evidence for LI19 specifically is absent; the acupressure trials in allergic rhinitis mostly use LI20, LI4 and Yintang, and those studies are small, short and usually unblinded, with modest and uncertain results.
• Nosebleed. Classical sources list LI19 for nosebleed because of its position beside the nose. There is no controlled human research supporting finger pressure here for bleeding. Standard first aid, pinching the soft part of the nose and leaning forward, is what actually works.
• Facial paralysis and facial pain. Tradition uses LI19 in combinations for a drooping or weak face and for pain around the nose and upper lip. Acupuncture research in Bell palsy and facial pain exists but uses many needled points together, so nothing can be attributed to LI19, and self-applied pressure has not been tested at all.
• Clenched or stiff jaw. Older texts mention trismus, meaning a jaw that will not open freely. No modern human trial tests LI19 for this. Jaw problems have many causes and deserve a dental or medical assessment.
• Loss of smell. Some modern point guides repeat a traditional claim about restoring smell. Evidence for acupuncture in smell loss is early and mixed, and none of it isolates LI19.
• A moment of calm during a cold. Many people simply find slow, gentle pressure on the face soothing while congested, particularly after steam or a saline rinse. That is a comfort effect, and it is a reasonable thing to want.

Taken together: the traditional record for LI19 is clear and consistent, and the human evidence is close to empty. Treat it as a comfort measure sitting alongside proven care, not as a substitute for it.

Are there tips for using LI19 effectively?

• Warm your hands first. Cold fingertips on the upper lip are distracting and make you tense the face. Rub your palms together for a few seconds before you start.
• Clear the nose first. If congestion is the reason you are pressing, a saline rinse, a warm shower or steam over a bowl does more of the work. Use LI19 afterwards, when the area is already softer.
• Press both sides at once. Using one finger on each side keeps the pressure even and halves the time. It also stops you leaning your head to one side.
• Go lighter than you think. The upper lip has thin skin over bone and teeth. If you see a red mark afterwards, you were too firm.
• Keep nails short and clean. This is a point near the nostril and mouth. Long nails scratch, and dirty fingers carry bacteria straight to a sensitive area.
• Set a time limit. Try it for one to two weeks and note whether anything actually changes. A plan with an end date stops open-ended self-treatment.
• Write down what you notice. A one-line note each day, such as how blocked your nose felt out of ten, is far more reliable than memory.
• Pair it with the treatment that is proven. If you have allergic rhinitis, keep using the saline rinse, antihistamine or steroid spray your doctor or pharmacist recommended. LI19 is an add-on, not a replacement.
• Skip it if you are sore. Chapped lips, a cold sore starting, a shaving nick or a sunburnt lip line all mean leave the area alone for a few days.
• Watch the mirror the first few times. Once you know where your fingertip belongs, you can do it with your eyes shut.

What do people get wrong with LI19?

• Expecting a cure. A minute of fingertip pressure will not clear a sinus infection, fix a deviated septum or reverse facial palsy. Expecting that sets you up to press harder and longer, which only irritates the skin.
• Confusing it with LI20. LI20 (Yingxiang) lies higher, in the crease beside the nostril wing. LI19 is lower, on the upper lip, level with the middle of the philtrum. Many videos point to one and name the other.
• Pressing far too hard. Facial tissue is thin and sits over bone and tooth roots. Heavy pressure leaves a red mark or a bruise and makes the area tender for days.
• Using a tool or a fingernail. Massage sticks, pen caps and nails are all too sharp for this spot. A flat fingertip pad is the only sensible contact.
• Pressing over a spot or cold sore. Rubbing an inflamed pimple, a cold sore or broken skin between nose and lip can spread infection in an area where infections are taken seriously. Wait until the skin is intact.
• Using it during a nosebleed instead of first aid. Pinch the soft part of the nose, lean forward and hold for ten minutes. Do not swap that for pressing points.
• Dirty hands. Going straight from phone, pet or keyboard to the skin beside your nostril is an easy way to introduce bacteria.
• Ignoring one-sided symptoms. A nose blocked on only one side for weeks, repeated one-sided nosebleeds, or new numbness in the face needs a doctor, not more pressure.
• Treating tradition as proof. That a point appears in old texts tells you it was used. It does not tell you it works, and it does not tell you it is harmless in your situation.

What does the research on LI19 actually say?

There is no useful human research on LI19 on its own. No controlled trial that we can point to has tested acupressure at Kouheliao for nasal congestion, nosebleed, facial palsy or jaw stiffness as a single intervention.

What does exist sits one step away. Trials of acupuncture and acupressure for allergic rhinitis and for blocked nose generally use a fixed group of points, most often LI20 beside the nostril wing, LI4 on the hand, Yintang between the eyebrows and GV20 on the top of the head. Those studies tend to be small, run for a few weeks, and are hard to blind, since a person usually knows whether they are being pressed or needled. Reported benefits are often modest and sit close to what sham pressure produces.

LI19 sometimes appears inside longer point prescriptions in facial palsy research, where many points are needled in one session. That design cannot tell you what any single point contributed. It also describes needling by a practitioner, which is a different thing from a reader pressing their own face with a fingertip.

What that absence means in practice. It does not prove LI19 does nothing; it means nobody has done the work to find out. The reasonable reading is that gentle pressure here is low risk on healthy skin, may feel soothing during congestion, and should not be relied on for anything that matters medically.

If you want to judge it for yourself, treat it as a personal trial. Keep every other part of your routine the same, press LI19 for one to two weeks, and score your symptom out of ten each day. That will not prove anything general, but it will tell you honestly whether it is worth your minute.