TB5 (Wàiguān, “Wàiguān”) is the Luo-Connecting point of the San Jiao channel point of the Triple Burner Meridian. It is located on the dorsal aspect of the forearm, in a depression between the radius and ulna, 2 cun proximal to the dorsal wrist crease. It expels wind and resolves the exterior, clears heat, activates the channel and alleviates pain, soothes the sinews, opens the orifices, and connects with the Pericardium channel.
On the dorsal aspect of the forearm, in a depression between the radius and ulna, 2 cun proximal to the dorsal wrist crease.
Perpendicular insertion 0.5 to 1.0 cun, or oblique insertion proximally or distally.
Expels wind and resolves the exterior, clears heat, activates the channel and alleviates pain, soothes the sinews, opens the orifices, and connects with the Pericardium channel.
Lockjaw, trismus, facial paralysis, elbow and wrist pain with difficult flexion and extension, pain of the five fingers, inability to grasp objects, arm weakness and numbness, elbow and arm aching and heaviness, arm cannot reach the head, deafness, tinnitus, toothache, chills and fever, headache, dizziness, limb joint pain, coldness in the shoulder and arm, hand and foot heat, hand and foot numbness and pain, epistaxis (nosebleed), red eyes, eye pain, eye film or opacity, watery eyes,night sweats, pain in the arms, head, and neck, pain in the lumbar and back, pain in the lumbar and hip, tetanus, postpartum body swelling, infantile malnutrition with sores.
As the Luo-connecting point of the San Jiao and the confluent point of the Yang Wei Mai, Waiguan is a primary point for expelling exterior pathogens, treating chills and fever, and addressing disorders along the entire Shaoyang channel, especially headache, ear problems, and pain in the neck, shoulder, and arm. Its connection to the Yang Wei Mai makes it effective for a wide array of systemic and channel-related pain and febrile conditions. It is frequently paired with Zulinqi (GB41) to open the Yang Wei and Dai Mai, powerfully treating pain and stagnation throughout the body's exterior and lateral aspects.
Classical text; the translation was prepared with AI and is not clinical advice.
《醫宗金鑑·刺灸心法要訣》 Yīzōng Jīnjiàn · Cìjiǔ Xīnfǎ Yàojué — Golden Mirror of Medicine: Essential Teachings on Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Wu Qian et al., 1742 · 卷一 · 十二經表裡原絡總歌 · 心包絡經表裡原絡穴主治歌 · Source: jicheng.tw ↗
三焦表之絡穴外關，二穴應刺之證即：面紅目赤，好笑不休，心中動悸，內熱，手心熱，胸腋與臂手疼痛The text records that TB5, the luo point of the san jiao channel, was needled for a red face and red eyes, incessant laughing, palpitations in the heart, internal heat, hot palms, and pain of the chest, armpit, arm and hand.
《針經指南》 Zhēnjīng Zhǐnán — Guide to the Needling Classic, Dou Hanqing, 1295 · 定八穴所在 · Source: jicheng.tw ↗
外關二穴，手少陽三焦經，在手腕後二寸，別起心主。 令病人穩坐，覆手取之According to this text, TB5 on the hand shaoyang san jiao channel lies 2 cun behind the wrist, where a branch diverges to the heart master (pericardium); it is located with the patient seated steadily and the hand turned palm down.
《醫學入門》 Yīxué Rùmén — Introduction to Medicine, Li Chan, 1575 · 经穴起止 · Source: Wikisource ↗
外关阳池后二寸。 针三分，灸三壮。 主肘腕酸重不得屈伸，手指尽痛，耳浑浑无所闻，臂痿不仁According to this text, TB5 lies 2 cun behind Yangchi, needled 0.3 cun with 3 moxa cones, and was used for aching, heavy elbows and wrists that cannot bend or stretch, pain in all the fingers, muffled hearing, and weakness and numbness of the arm.
《針灸甲乙經》 Zhēnjiǔ Jiǎyǐ Jīng — Systematic Classic of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, c. 256–282 · 卷02 · Source: Wikisource ↗
手少陽之別，名曰外關，去腕二寸，外繞臂，註胸中，合心主According to this text, the divergent luo of the hand shaoyang is called Waiguan (TB5); it lies 2 cun from the wrist, winds around the outside of the arm, pours into the chest and joins the heart master.
TB5 is one of 23 points on the Triple Burner Meridian. Nearby points:
TB5 (Wàiguān) is located on the dorsal aspect of the forearm, in a depression between the radius and ulna, 2 cun proximal to the dorsal wrist crease.
TB5 expels wind and resolves the exterior, clears heat, activates the channel and alleviates pain, soothes the sinews, opens the orifices, and connects with the Pericardium channel. Common clinical indications include lockjaw, trismus, facial paralysis, elbow and wrist pain with difficult flexion and extension, pain of the five fingers, inability to grasp objects, arm weakness and numbness, elbow and arm aching and heaviness, arm cannot reach the head, deafness, tinnitus, toothache, chills and fever, headache, dizziness, limb joint pain, coldness in the shoulder and arm, hand and foot heat, hand and foot numbness and pain, epistaxis (nosebleed), red eyes, eye pain, eye film or opacity, watery eyes,night sweats, pain in the arms, head, and neck, pain in the lumbar and back, pain in the lumbar and hip, tetanus, postpartum body swelling, infantile malnutrition with sores.
Perpendicular insertion 0.5 to 1.0 cun, or oblique insertion proximally or distally.
TB5 is a point on the Triple Burner Meridian (Sān Jiāo).