Taiyang (EX-HN5): The Temple Point for a Headache at the Side of the Head

Where Taiyang Sits

The point sits at the temple, in the soft hollow at the side of the head. To place it, find the outer end of your eyebrow and the outer corner of your eye. Halfway between them is a small gap. From that gap, move back toward the ear about one finger-width. Your fingertip settles into a slight hollow, softer than the bone of the forehead in front of it. That is the area.

This is one of the extra points, which means it sits on none of the fourteen main channels of the traditional map. Its name means the great yang. In both Chinese and Vietnamese the same words are also the everyday name for the temple itself; a Vietnamese speaker with a headache at the temples says it hurts at the thái dương. Do not confuse the point with the two channels that share the name, one running down the back and one along the arm. They are different things that happen to carry the same label.

Under the skin is the temple region of the skull, a shallow bowl filled by a fan-shaped chewing muscle (the temporalis). Clench your teeth and you will feel it bulge under your fingertips; open the jaw and it softens. The muscle is covered by a tough sheet of tissue that you feel as a firm, smooth surface. Below the hollow, you can feel the bony bar of the cheekbone running back toward the ear.

The skin here is served by two small nerves, branches of the second and third divisions of the trigeminal nerve, the main nerve of feeling for the face. Branches of the temple artery cross the area, and many people can feel a pulse here. Under the muscle, the wall of the skull at the temple is thinner than at the forehead or the back of the head. That is the main reason this point is pressed lightly. It needs care, not force.

Why This Spot

The first reason is the muscle. The chewing muscle that fills the temple works whenever the teeth clench, whether you are eating, concentrating, bracing against pain or grinding the teeth at night. Many people who wake with pain also wake with a clenched jaw, and the ache that builds in this muscle is often felt as a headache at the sides of the head. The hollow at the temple sits at the front edge of that muscle, close to where the strain gathers.

The second reason is the nerves. The skin of the temple shares its nerve supply with the eyes, the cheek, the jaw joint and the ear. That overlap helps explain why the temples ache when the eyes are strained, when the jaw has been tight all day, or when a cold has settled into the head. It is also why a light, steady pressure here is felt clearly.

In this tradition the temples are where the yang of the head comes to the surface. They are described as the natural place to press when the head feels hot, tight and crowded, especially at the sides. The point is used to clear the head and brighten the eyes, and in Vietnamese practice it is one of the first places a grandmother reaches for when someone comes home with a pounding head. Those are traditional descriptions, offered as such.

What the Old Texts Say About Taiyang

This point has a shorter written history than the channel points on our site, and we would rather say so than borrow one. The great early catalogues arranged their points channel by channel, and a spot that belonged to no channel had no home in them. The temple was used all the same, passed on in practical handbooks, in families and from teacher to student. It is one of the most widely known extra points, and its name is the ordinary word for the place it sits.

When the World Health Organization published a proposed international naming system in 1991, it gave the point the code it carries now, as the fifth extra point of the head and neck. The code is modern. The practice is much older.

The Vietnamese tradition gives it a place of its own. The Vietnamese correspondence method set out by Lý Phước Lộc (Việt Nam Đồng Ứng Liệu Pháp) lists a headache at both temples as a separate complaint. It notes that this headache usually comes with a cold and fever. Its approach is to squeeze firmly from the base of the neck out toward both shoulders, then press a point on the thumb side of the wrist. That point is found by interlacing the hands so that the tip of the first finger lands on the opposite wrist. The approach shows how Vietnamese practice thinks about a temple headache. It sees it as part of a pattern running from the neck and shoulders, not as an isolated spot.

We have not found a classical passage for this point that we can quote with confidence, so we will not invent one. What the record shows is wide, everyday use for a headache at the sides of the head, often with tired eyes or the start of a cold.

Points That Work With Taiyang

The first partner is at the base of the skull. Run your fingers up the back of your neck until they meet the bone, then move out to each side, into the hollows between the two big neck muscles. Many temple headaches begin as a tight neck, and working these two hollows first often takes some of the load off the temples.

The second is on the wrist. Interlace your hands at the web between thumb and first finger, so that the tip of your first finger rests on the thumb side of the other wrist, a little above the crease. The tip lands in a small groove on the bone. In the Vietnamese correspondence method this is the wrist point for a headache at both temples, especially with a cold. Press the left wrist for the right temple and the right wrist for the left, as that method teaches.

The third is between the eyebrows, on the midline above the bridge of the nose. When the headache wraps across the front as well as the sides, work the temples and then this point.

How to Find and Press Taiyang

Getting Into Position

Sit at a table with both elbows resting on it, so your hands come up to the sides of your head without effort. Keep your head level. Close your eyes and let your jaw hang loose with the teeth apart, because a clenched jaw hardens the muscle and hides the point.

How to Find It

Put a fingertip on the outer end of your eyebrow and another on the outer corner of your eye. Picture the point halfway between them. From there, slide the tip back toward your ear about one finger-width. You will feel the firm bone of the eye socket rim give way to a soft hollow.

Now probe with the tip of your thumb or a rounded-tip tool. Press lightly, move a few millimetres up, down, forward and back, and press again. Most of the hollow feels like ordinary pressure. One spot will sting, a sharp, pinpoint tenderness clearly different from the area around it. That is the point. If you feel a pulse, move a little off it and search again. The photograph on this page shows the dots slightly further back, toward the hairline; that is part of the same hollow, and your own stinging spot is the one to trust.

How to Press It

Use the tip of the thumb with the nail cut short, or a pressing tool with a smooth, rounded tip. Many people like to work both temples at once, using the thumbs with the fingers resting on the top of the head for support. Hold the tip straight into the side of the head, never angled forward toward the eye.

Once you have the stinging spot, rub in small circles, no wider than a grain of rice. Keep the tip in contact with the skin so the skin moves with it over the muscle. Keep the pressure light and even. Breathe out slowly, and let the jaw stay loose; if the teeth come together, stop, let them part, and carry on.

How Much Pressure

Lighter than you think. A sharp sting under the tip is right, but you need only enough pressure to find it. The temple does not need force. When you lift off, the sting should fade within a few seconds, leaving the side of the head warm and quieter. If the pain stays after you lift off, spreads, or the area turns swollen, hot or red, stop for the day. If you feel dizzy, see spots, or the headache sharpens rather than eases, stop at once.

How Long

Rub each temple for one to three minutes. Stay near one minute in the first sessions and build toward three as the days go on. Do both sides, even if the headache seems to sit on one. Once or twice a day is plenty. More does not help, and the skin over the temple marks easily.

When to Do It

Daytime is best. Mid-morning after reading or screen work, or in the afternoon when a headache begins to tighten around the sides of the head, catches it early. A short round before bed is a calm way to let the jaw and the eyes settle, and a good moment to notice whether your teeth are clenched. Do not press in the middle of the night. If pain wakes you at two or three in the morning, change position, sip some water and let the temples wait until daylight.

What This Won't Do

It will not remove the cause of headaches that keep returning. At the temples the common causes are a jaw that clenches or grinds, eyes that need new glasses, long hours of close work, too little water, missed meals, and broken sleep. A neck held forward all day plays a part too. A hollow at the side of your head does not out-argue any of them. Look at the jaw, the eyes and the neck, and then this point has something to add. On its own it is a comfort measure, and a useful one.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. A sudden, severe headache unlike any before is an emergency. So is a headache with confusion, slurred speech, weakness or numbness on one side, a drooping face, or a stiff neck with fever. A headache after a blow to the head belongs in the same group. Call for help at once. Over fifty, a new headache at the temples needs a doctor within days, not weeks, if it comes with a tender scalp, pain in the jaw when chewing, or any change in vision. A headache that wakes you every night, or keeps getting worse week on week, also needs a proper look.

Safety First

Press lightly. The skull at the temple is thin, and this point never needs force. Do not press after a recent blow to the head, over a bruise, a swelling or a lump, or on broken, burned or rashy skin. Do not rub directly over a pulsing vessel. Keep all pressure on the side of the head, never angled toward the eye, and never press on the eyeball. If you take blood thinners or bruise easily, use the lightest touch and keep sessions short. If you have had surgery on the head, face or eyes in recent months, ask your surgeon first.

Stop at once if you feel dizzy, see spots, feel an electric or numb sensation, if the pain stays after you lift off or spreads, or if the area turns swollen, hot or red. Nothing here requires you to push through pain. For the full list of cautions and situations where self-applied pressure is not appropriate, read the full safety guide before you begin.

Questions People Ask

Where is the Taiyang (EX-HN5) pressure point? Taiyang (EX-HN5) sits in the soft hollow at each temple. Find the outer end of your eyebrow and the outer corner of your eye, picture the point halfway between them, then move back toward the ear about one finger-width. The point is the one spot in that hollow that stings when you press.

How long should I press Taiyang? One to three minutes on each side. Stay near one minute in the first sessions and build up as the days go on. Do both temples, one after the other or both at once with two hands. Once or twice a day is plenty.

How hard should I press on my temples? Lightly. The bone at the temple is among the thinnest on the skull, and a thick chewing muscle lies over it. You need only enough pressure to feel the sting of the point, never a hard push. If you use a pressing tool, let its weight do most of the work.

I can feel a pulse under my fingertip. Is that the point? Not quite. A branch of the temple artery runs through this area, and many people can feel it beat. Move your tip a few millimetres off the pulse and probe again for the spot that stings. Do not rub over a pulsing vessel. If the temple artery feels hard, thick or tender, see a doctor promptly.

Can I use Taiyang for a headache that comes with a cold? Many people do. In Vietnamese practice, a headache at both temples during a cold is often worked together with the base of the neck and the wrist point on the thumb side. Press gently, keep warm, and rest. If the cold brings a high fever, a stiff neck, or a headache that keeps getting worse, see a doctor.

When should I not press my temples? Do not press after a recent blow to the head, over a bruise or swelling, or when the scalp at the temple is tender to touch and chewing makes your jaw ache. That last pattern, especially after fifty, needs a doctor the same week. Do not press in the middle of the night either; daytime or before bed only.

Other Points in This Library

Each of these sits within reach of the same hand. They are often worked in the same sitting.

This page shares general information about a traditional practice. It is not medical advice and does not replace what your doctor has given you. If you are pregnant, managing a health condition, or unsure whether this applies to you, check with your doctor first.

The whole inner edge of the foot, laid out on one page with photographs, is in The Foot Map — the free book. For every point in this library, see the full pressure point index.

(Point shown: EX-HN5 · Taiyang · The Great Yang · Thái Dương.)