Shangjuxu

What is ST37?

ST37, also called Shangjuxu, is a point on the front of the lower leg, about a hand's width below the knee and just outside the shin bone.

In traditional Chinese medicine ST37 lies on the Stomach channel, but it is classed as the lower he-sea point of the Large Intestine. In plainer words, the old texts treated it as the leg point for bowel trouble: loose stools, constipation, griping pain and rumbling.

It is a mainstream point. It is named in the classical literature and taught in every modern curriculum, which is why it turns up so often in videos about digestion. That standing tells you the point matters to the tradition. It does not show that pressing it works, and it does not show that pressing it is safe for you. Those are separate questions, answered below.

The honest verdict on the evidence: ST37 does appear in real controlled human trials for chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and slow bowel recovery after abdominal surgery. In almost all of them it was needled with electrical stimulation, by a clinician, alongside several other points. That is a long way from a fingertip on your own shin.

Research testing self-applied finger pressure at ST37 on its own is thin to essentially absent. So the fair position is this: pressing ST37 is a low-cost comfort measure you can try beside proper care, not a treatment in its own right, and not a reason to delay seeing a doctor about a change in your bowel habits.

This page covers where ST37 is, how to press it, what tradition claimed, who should leave it alone, and when abdominal symptoms need a doctor rather than a fingertip.

Where is ST37 and how do you find it?

ST37 sits on the front of the shin, one finger-width out from the sharp front edge of the tibia (shin bone), three thumb-widths below ST36.

• Sit with the knee bent. Put your foot flat on the floor with the knee at roughly a right angle. The shin muscles need to be relaxed, not braced.
• Find the knee hollow first. Feel the soft dip just below the kneecap and to the outer side of the thick tendon running down from it. That dip is the classical measuring point, ST35.
• Measure six thumb-widths down. Traditional texts place ST37 six cun below that knee hollow. One cun is the width of your own thumb at the knuckle, so six is about 12 to 14 cm in most adults. Four fingers held together is roughly three cun, so measure two four-finger stacks.
• Step sideways off the bone. Run a fingertip along the sharp front ridge of the tibia at that level, then move about one finger-width towards the outside of the leg.
• Land in muscle, not bone. You should be on the firm, springy belly of the tibialis anterior muscle. If your finger is on a hard edge, you have not moved far enough outwards.
• Check the feel. The spot is often slightly tender or heavy-feeling under steady pressure, and that sensation usually fades when you lift off.

Use your own thumb to measure, not someone else's. Cun is a proportional unit, so a tall reader's six cun is longer than a short reader's.

If you are unsure, remember the ladder down the leg: ST36 is three thumb-widths above ST37, and ST39 is three thumb-widths below it, all on the same line beside the shin bone. Working the general area with steady pressure is reasonable if you cannot pin the exact spot.

How do you apply pressure to ST37?

1. Get comfortable. Sit on a chair or the edge of a bed with the knee bent and the foot supported. Bending forward to reach the shin is easier than stretching the leg out straight.
2. Place the thumb or fingertip. Settle the pad of your thumb, or your index and middle fingers, into the dip beside the shin bone. Keep nails short so you press with pulp, not edge.
3. Build pressure slowly. Lean in over about five seconds until you feel a firm, dull ache. Aim for about four or five out of ten, where ten is pain you would pull away from.
4. Hold or circle. Either hold steady for 30 to 60 seconds, or make small slow circles for one to two minutes. Breathe normally throughout rather than holding your breath.
5. Do both legs. ST37 is a paired point, so repeat on the other shin for the same length of time.
6. Repeat sensibly. Two or three short sessions a day is plenty. A few minutes per leg per session is the usual pattern described in self-care books.
7. Stop when told to stop. Ease off at once for sharp or shooting pain, numbness, pins and needles, a cold or dusky foot, or skin that stays red and marked after you lift your hand.

This is finger pressure only. Nothing on this page involves needles, skin-breaking, burning herbs over the point or suction cups. Anything that pierces or blisters the skin belongs with a licensed practitioner, not a home routine.

Warm hands work better than cold ones, and pressing through thin trouser fabric is fine if it stops your finger skidding. Harder is not better here. The shin is thinly covered, so heavy digging bruises easily without adding any benefit.

If pressing makes your symptom worse, or the shin stays sore the next day, leave the point alone.

What is ST37 traditionally used for?

• Diarrhoea and loose stools. As the lower he-sea point of the Large Intestine, ST37 was the classic leg choice for watery, urgent or painful stools. Direct human evidence for finger pressure here is essentially absent.
• Constipation. Tradition used ST37 for dry, difficult or infrequent stools. This is the strongest research area for the point, but the trials used electrically stimulated needles at several points at once, administered in clinic, not self-pressure.
• Bloating, cramping and rumbling. Texts describe ST37 for abdominal distension and borborygmus (gut rumbling). Irritable bowel syndrome trials have included it in needling prescriptions with mixed and modest results, and blinding in these studies is difficult.
• Slow bowel recovery after abdominal surgery. Hospital trials of electroacupuncture after laparoscopic bowel surgery have included ST37 alongside ST36 and reported a somewhat faster return of bowel function. That is clinician-delivered care in a ward, not something to copy at home on a fresh surgical wound.
• Appendicitis-type right-sided pain (historical only). Mid-twentieth-century Chinese hospital reports describe ST37 and nearby points being used in appendicitis. Today, suspected appendicitis is a surgical emergency. Severe, worsening pain in the lower right abdomen needs urgent assessment, never a self-care routine.
• Heavy, aching or weak legs. Tradition used ST37 for leg weakness and pain. Any relief you feel is at least as likely to come from ordinary massage of a tired shin muscle as from the point itself.

Across all of these, the pattern is the same. The traditional claim is old and consistent, the human evidence is small, mostly unblinded, short-term and built on needling rather than pressure. Pressing ST37 will not cure a bowel condition, and expecting it to will cost you time you could spend getting a diagnosis.

What might regular use of ST37 help prevent?

• Everyday bowel irregularity. Traditional practice treats ST37 as a maintenance point for keeping the bowels moving steadily. No study has tested whether routine self-pressure prevents constipation from developing, so this is a tradition-level claim only.
• Flare-ups of known gut symptoms. Some people with irritable bowel syndrome use ST37 as part of a daily wind-down routine, hoping to head off bad days. Any benefit here may come from the pause, the breathing and the attention rather than the point. That is still worth something, but it is not point-specific prevention.
• Slow bowel recovery after surgery. Needling trials in hospital suggest stimulation at points including ST37 may shorten the wait for bowel function to return after abdominal operations. This is prevention delivered by a clinical team, not something to attempt yourself, and never near a healing incision.

No serious evidence shows that pressing ST37 prevents any disease. It will not prevent bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis or appendicitis, and no amount of daily pressing replaces bowel screening where your country offers it.

The ordinary things still do the heavy lifting for bowel health: fluid, fibre, movement, not ignoring the urge to go, and attending screening invitations. Treat ST37 as a small optional extra sitting on top of those, not as a substitute for any of them.

Are there tips for using ST37 effectively?

• Hunt for the dip, not the number. Measurements get you to the right neighbourhood. The point itself usually feels like a slightly tender, springy hollow in the muscle beside the shin bone, so let your finger settle where the tissue gives.
• Angle into the muscle. Press towards the back and slightly inwards, into the soft belly of the muscle, rather than straight down onto the hard ridge of the tibia.
• Keep sessions short and regular. A minute or two per leg, two or three times a day, beats one long grinding session that leaves the shin sore.
• Pair it with a toilet routine. If your interest is constipation, many people press after breakfast and then sit unhurried on the toilet. The routine itself has decent support in bowel care, whatever the point adds.
• Press both legs. ST37 is paired, and traditional practice always treats both sides.
• Keep a simple note. Track stool frequency or pain scores for two weeks. If nothing has shifted, you have your answer and can stop without wondering.
• Use a knuckle if your thumbs hurt. People with thumb arthritis can press with a bent index knuckle or a soft massage ball against the muscle instead.
• Mind the skin. The shin has little padding. Stop before the skin turns white or stays blotchy, and never press hard enough to bruise.

One sensible rule of thumb: anything that makes you dread the next session is too hard, too long, or both. Comfortable pressure held calmly is the version described in every self-care tradition, and it is the version least likely to hurt you.

What do people get wrong with ST37?

• Pressing on bone. Landing on the sharp front ridge of the tibia instead of the muscle hollow a finger-width to the outside. It hurts, it bruises, and it misses the point entirely.
• Confusing ST37 with ST36. ST36 sits three thumb-widths higher on the same line. They are different points with different traditional jobs, and most videos about leg points are actually showing ST36.
• Measuring with the wrong thumb. Cun is proportional to your own body. Using a partner's hand, or a fixed centimetre figure from an article, puts tall and short readers in the wrong place.
• Expecting a cure. No point cures constipation, irritable bowel syndrome or any bowel disease. Treating ST37 as a fix rather than a comfort measure sets up disappointment and delays real care.
• Pressing through a warning sign. Using the point for severe, worsening or one-sided abdominal pain instead of getting assessed. Appendicitis, obstruction and other surgical problems do not wait.
• Going too hard. Believing that more pain means more effect. Heavy digging on a thinly covered shin leaves bruises and tender skin, especially in older readers and anyone on blood thinners.
• Ignoring numb skin. People with diabetic nerve damage may not feel how hard they are pressing, and can injure skin without noticing until it is marked.
• Dropping the basics. Substituting a point routine for fluid, fibre, movement or prescribed medication. The point is an add-on at best.

A last one worth naming: chasing instant results. If anything shifts, it tends to be gradual and modest, and it is reasonable to stop after a couple of weeks of nothing.

What does the research on ST37 actually say?

ST37 has more human research behind it than most acupressure points, but almost none of it tests acupressure.

The clearest work is in chronic functional constipation. A large multicentre randomised trial in China tested electroacupuncture at a small set of abdominal and leg points, with ST37 among them, against a sham procedure. It reported a modest increase in the number of complete spontaneous bowel movements per week, sustained for some weeks after treatment ended. That is real, controlled human evidence, but it involved needles plus electrical current, delivered by clinicians over many sessions, at several points together. You cannot read across from it to a fingertip on one shin.

A second strand comes from surgical wards. Trials of electroacupuncture after laparoscopic bowel surgery, including work from Hong Kong, have used point combinations containing ST36 and ST37 and reported a somewhat quicker return of bowel function and less need for painkillers. Again this is hospital treatment with needles, in patients under medical supervision.

Irritable bowel syndrome trials have also included ST37 in needling prescriptions. Results there are mixed and generally modest, and the studies are hard to blind, since patients usually know whether they were needled. Laboratory and imaging work has looked at how stimulating ST36 and ST37 affects gut motility and brain activity, but these are mechanism studies in small groups, not proof of clinical benefit.

What is missing is the thing this page is about. No good controlled trial has isolated ST37 on its own, and no reliable study has tested self-applied finger pressure at ST37 for any bowel symptom. So the honest summary is that needling ST37 within multi-point protocols has some supportive evidence for constipation and post-surgical bowel recovery, while home pressure at ST37 is untested and should be judged on that basis.