Juliao

What is ST3?

ST3 (Juliao) is a Stomach-channel point on the cheek, directly below the pupil and level with the lower edge of the nostril.

Its Chinese name is usually translated as "Great Crevice", a reference to the soft hollow in the cheek where the point sits. It is one of a short run of Stomach-channel points that cross the face from under the eye down towards the jaw. Classical texts link it with the cheek, the upper teeth, the nose and the muscles of facial expression.

Traditionally, ST3 is used for facial problems on the same side as the point: drooping or weakness after facial palsy, twitching under the eye, cheek and upper-tooth pain, a blocked nose and puffiness around the cheekbone. It is taught in most standard point curricula, though it is a supporting point rather than a headline one.

Two things are worth saying clearly, once. First, the fact that a point has been used for centuries is not evidence that it works; long tradition tells you what people believed, not what a trial measured. Second, tradition is not evidence of safety either, and ST3 sits on thin skin close to the eye and to a sensitive facial nerve branch, so the usual caution applies.

The honest verdict on evidence: there is essentially no research testing finger pressure on ST3 by itself. ST3 does turn up inside multi-point needling protocols studied for Bell's palsy and for nasal allergy, but those studies cannot tell you what this one point contributed, and most are small and poorly blinded. Acupressure research in general is short-term, small and often unblinded.

Treat ST3 as a low-risk comfort measure you can try with light fingertip pressure, not as a treatment for a nerve problem, a dental problem or a sinus infection. If something on your face is new, worsening or one-sided, that needs a clinician, not a pressure point.

Where is ST3 and how do you find it?

ST3 sits on the cheek directly below the centre of the pupil, level with the bottom edge of your nostril, in the soft hollow beside the nose.

• Start at the pupil. Look straight ahead into a mirror and imagine a vertical line dropping from the centre of your pupil down the cheek. Every landmark for ST3 is measured from that line.
• Find the nostril edge. Put a fingertip on the lower border of the flared part of your nostril, where it curves into the cheek. That gives you the horizontal level.
• Cross the two. ST3 is where the vertical pupil line meets the nostril level. On most adults that is roughly 2.5 to 3 cm out from the midline of the nose.
• Feel for the hollow. Slide your fingertip gently around. You should find soft cheek tissue, not hard bone. If you are on the solid ridge of the cheekbone, you have gone too high and too far out.
• Check with the nose crease. The point lies just outside the nasolabial groove, the crease running from the side of the nose towards the corner of the mouth. Do not press inside the crease itself.

In traditional measurement the point is described as level with the lower border of the ala nasi, on the line through the pupil. Using your own thumb width as one cun, it is roughly two thumb-widths out from the centre of the nose.

A common cause of confusion is the neighbouring points on the same line. ST2 sits higher, in the small dip below the lower eye-socket rim, and ST4 sits lower, beside the corner of the mouth. ST3 is the middle of those three, at nostril level.

This library covers finger pressure only. No depth, angle or insertion information is given anywhere on this page.

How do you apply pressure to ST3?

1. Wash your hands. You are touching facial skin next to the nose and eye. Clean hands and short nails lower the risk of irritating the skin or spreading a spot.
2. Sit and settle. Sit upright with your elbows supported on a table. A stable arm makes light, steady pressure much easier than a floating hand.
3. Locate first, press second. Find the hollow below the pupil at nostril level with your fingertip before you add any force. Use a mirror the first few times.
4. Use the flat pad of one finger. The index or middle fingertip is right. Never use a knuckle, a nail, a pen cap or any hard tool on the face.
5. Press lightly inward. Aim gently towards the cheek, angling very slightly up and in. Facial skin is thin, so about a 3 out of 10 on a pressure scale is plenty.
6. Hold or circle. Either hold steady for 30 to 60 seconds, or make small slow circles for one to two minutes. Keep breathing normally throughout.
7. Do both sides. Work one cheek then the other, or both together with matching fingers. Keep the pressure equal side to side.
8. Repeat sparingly. One to three short sessions a day is enough. There is no benefit to grinding away for longer.

Stop straight away if you feel a sharp, electric or shooting sensation into the lip, nose or upper teeth. That is nerve irritation, not a sign the point is working. Ease off, move a few millimetres and use lighter pressure, or stop for the day.

Mild warmth or a dull local ache that fades within a minute is normal. Redness that lasts, bruising, swelling or lingering numbness means the pressure was too firm. Keep your fingers well clear of the eyeball at all times, and never press into the eye socket.

What is ST3 traditionally used for?

• Facial weakness and droop. ST3 is a standard component of traditional point groupings for facial paralysis, including Bell's palsy. Human evidence comes almost entirely from needling trials that used many points at once, were small, and rarely blinded properly. Nothing shows what finger pressure on ST3 alone does.
• Twitching below the eye. Tradition uses ST3 for eyelid and cheek twitching on the same side. Most ordinary twitching settles on its own with rest and less caffeine, so any improvement after pressing is hard to attribute to the point.
• Cheek and facial nerve pain. Classical texts list ST3 for pain across the cheek, a picture that overlaps with what is now called trigeminal neuralgia (sharp facial nerve pain). Trial evidence for acupressure here is effectively absent, and this condition needs medical assessment.
• Upper toothache and jaw ache. The point is traditionally paired with others for pain in the upper teeth. There is no trial support for using it this way, and it does nothing about decay, an abscess or a cracked tooth.
• Blocked nose and sinus pressure. ST3 sits beside the nose, and tradition uses it for nasal congestion and nosebleed. Acupressure studies on nasal allergy usually combine several face points, so the effect of ST3 by itself is unknown. Reported relief is usually brief.
• Puffiness around the cheekbone. Facial swelling is a classical indication, and the point appears in modern facial massage routines. Claims about lifting, draining or slimming the face are marketing, not findings.
• A few calm minutes. Slow, light self-massage with steady breathing is pleasant and relaxing. That general effect may explain a good deal of what people notice, and it is a fair reason to use the point.

None of the above is a treatment for the underlying condition. ST3 is a comfort measure that sits alongside proper care, never in place of it.

Are there tips for using ST3 effectively?

• Go lighter than you think. The cheek is thin-skinned and close to the eye. Light, patient pressure is more comfortable and no less useful than digging in, and it will not leave marks.
• Use a mirror the first few times. Checking the pupil line and nostril level visually stops you drifting up onto the cheekbone or down towards the mouth. After a week or two your finger will find it unaided.
• Warm the area first for congestion. A warm flannel on the face for a minute makes the tissue more comfortable to work on. The warmth itself is often the more noticeable part.
• Work both cheeks evenly. Even when only one side bothers you, doing both sides keeps the routine balanced and stops you over-working one patch of skin.
• Keep sessions short and regular. Two minutes a couple of times a day beats one long session. Over-working facial skin causes redness and soreness for no gain.
• Mind your skincare. Press before applying make-up, not through it. If you use acids, retinoids or have had a recent facial peel, skip the point until your skin is calm again.
• Note what actually changes. Jot down the symptom and a 0 to 10 score before and after for a week or two. It is the quickest honest way to see whether it is doing anything for you.
• Traditional pairings are tradition, not proof. Practitioners often combine ST3 with other face and hand points. That is how the system is taught; it is not evidence that the combination outperforms pressing one spot.
• Keep up your real treatment. If you have been given facial exercises, eye protection, antivirals or dental care, ST3 does not replace any of them. Use it as an extra, not a swap.

What do people get wrong with ST3?

• Expecting a cure. The biggest error is treating ST3 as a fix for facial palsy, nerve pain or toothache. No pressure point cures these, and waiting on it can delay care that genuinely helps.
• Pressing far too hard. People use the force they would use on a calf muscle. On the cheek that causes redness, bruising and soreness without any extra benefit.
• Landing on the wrong point. Drifting up into the dip below the eye socket puts you on ST2, and sliding down to the mouth corner puts you on ST4. ST3 is the middle position, at nostril level under the pupil.
• Pressing on bone. Ending up on the hard ridge of the cheekbone instead of the soft hollow below and inside it. Bone contact is uncomfortable and tells you to move inward and down.
• Ignoring the electric zing. A shooting feeling into the lip, nose or upper teeth means you are irritating a nerve branch. Pushing through it is how people end up with hours of facial tenderness.
• Using tools or nails. Pen caps, massage sticks and long nails do not belong anywhere near the eye. Fingertip pads only.
• Pressing over a spot or cold sore. Working over acne, a cold sore or broken skin spreads bacteria or virus across the face and worsens the problem.
• Dirty hands. Going straight from phone or keyboard to face is a reliable way to provoke breakouts around the nose.
• Treating a new one-sided droop at home. Sudden facial weakness can be a stroke. Trying pressure points first instead of calling emergency services is the most dangerous mistake on this list.
• Overdoing frequency. Twenty sessions a day does not multiply any effect. It just irritates the skin and the nerve underneath.

What does the research on ST3 actually say?

There is no useful human research on self-applied finger pressure at ST3 on its own. No controlled trial has isolated this point and measured what pressing it does.

What does exist sits one step removed. ST3 appears as one of several local face points inside acupuncture protocols studied for Bell's palsy, the sudden one-sided facial weakness that usually recovers by itself. Those studies used needling, not finger pressure, and they almost always combined many points in a single session. Systematic reviews of acupuncture for Bell's palsy have repeatedly concluded that the trials are small, poorly reported and at high risk of bias, with blinding that is difficult to achieve. Because most people with Bell's palsy improve naturally over weeks, an uncontrolled improvement after treatment tells you very little.

ST3 also turns up occasionally in multi-point face protocols for allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and nasal congestion, again as part of a group. Those designs cannot separate out the contribution of any single point.

To be clear about what this page is not doing: reporting that a published trial used needles at a point is a description of the study, not an instruction. Nothing here tells you how to needle anything.

So what should a reader take from this? ST3 has strong traditional standing on the face and a thin, indirect evidence base. Light fingertip pressure is low risk for most people and may feel soothing, and that is a reasonable reason to try it. It is not a reason to postpone seeing a doctor or dentist about facial weakness, persistent facial pain, a painful tooth or a sinus problem that is not settling. If a claim you have read promises recovery from facial palsy through pressure on ST3, the published evidence does not support it.