Wailaogong (EX-UE8): The Back-of-Hand Point for a Stiff Neck

Where Wailaogong Sits

This point sits on the back of the hand, in the groove between the bones of the first and middle fingers, about half a proportional unit behind the knuckles, and it is used for a neck that locks after sleep. Most points in this method sit on one of the fourteen traditional channels. This one does not. It belongs to the group called extra points: spots that teachers found useful over many generations and that were recorded on their own, outside the main lines. Some extra points are rarely used. This one is among the best known in Vietnam, because almost everyone has woken at some point with a neck that will not turn.

It sits on the back of the hand. Make a loose fist and look at the knuckles. Follow the long bones that run back from the knuckles of your first and middle fingers toward the wrist. Between those two bones is a groove. The point lies in that groove, about half a proportional unit behind the knuckles. Half a unit is roughly half the width of your thumb at its widest. In practice that means a short distance back from the dip between the two knuckles, where the bones are still close together.

Under the skin of the groove there is a thin muscle that lies between the two finger bones and helps spread the fingers. On either side run the tendons that straighten the first and middle fingers. You can see them rise when you lift your fingers off the table. The point lies between those tendons, over the small muscle, not on top of a tendon. Pressing on the tendon itself feels flat and dull. Pressing into the groove beside it gives the clearer, sharper sensation you are looking for.

The skin on the back of the hand here is served by fine branches of the radial nerve. They draw from nerve roots in the lower neck, the sixth and seventh cervical roots. Those roots also serve parts of the neck, the shoulder blade and the back of the arm. That shared wiring is part of why this patch of hand has long been connected with the neck in practice.

Why This Spot

The back of the hand is thin. There is very little padding between the skin and the bones, so a small, sharp target is easy to find and easy to hold. You can see the knuckles, feel the bones and follow the groove with your eyes open. You need no measuring tape and no help. For someone with a neck that will not turn, there is another advantage. You can reach this point without moving the neck at all, and while you press it you are free to move the neck slowly and see what changes.

That combination is the whole method of this point: press the hand, move the neck. The pressure on the hand gives a strong, local sensation. The slow movement of the head tests the stiff part, gently and on your own terms. Many people find it easier to turn the head a little further while something else holds their attention.

In this tradition the point's name tells you where it sits. It means the outer palace of toil. It is the outer twin of a well-known point in the centre of the palm, the palace of toil, which lies on the working surface of the hand. This one lies on the back of the hand, almost opposite it. The Vietnamese folk name, Lạc Chẩm, means roughly fallen off the pillow, and that is exactly what it is used for: the neck you wake up with after a night at an awkward angle.

What the Old Texts Say About Wailaogong

Extra points do not have the long written history of the main channel points. Many were passed on by practice and by word of mouth long before anyone wrote them into a standard list. This one is a good example. Teachers in China, Vietnam and Korea used it for a stiff neck under several local names. It was only in the twentieth century that it was gathered into the official lists of extra points and given a single code and a single description.

What did not change over that time was the use. Wherever the point is mentioned in the teaching tradition, it is tied to the same complaint: a neck that locks after sleep, often with pain running into one shoulder, and a head that will not turn to one side. The method also stayed the same. Press firmly on the back of the hand, and move the neck slowly while you do it. Some older teachers also used the point for an aching back of the hand and for fingers that would not open and close freely.

The World Health Organization's point location standard of 2008 includes it among the extra points. It places the spot on the back of the hand between the second and third finger bones, about half a unit behind the knuckle joints. That is where Vietnamese teachers have always put it. No written source proves how it works. The long record shows only that ordinary people kept reaching for this spot when they woke with a stiff neck, and kept teaching it to their children.

Points That Work With Wailaogong

The first partner sits on the outer edge of the same hand. Make a loose fist and look at the little-finger side. A crease forms behind the knuckle of the little finger, and at the end of that crease there is a firm ridge of flesh. Probe the hollow at the end of the crease. In this tradition it is commonly used for a stiff neck and an aching upper back, and it pairs well with this point because both can be worked on the same hand.

The second is at the top of the neck. Run your fingertips up the back of the neck to the base of the skull. Out to each side of the thick central muscles there is a soft hollow under the bone. It is used for tension at the back of the head and a neck that will not turn. Work it gently after the hand, when the neck has eased a little.

The third is on the forearm. Rest the arm thumb side up and lay two fingers above the wrist crease. Where the far finger lands, on the edge of the bone, there is a small groove. In this tradition it is one of the classic points for the head and the back of the neck.

How to Find and Press Wailaogong

Getting Into Position

Sit upright with your feet flat on the floor. Rest the working hand palm down on your thigh or on a table, fingers relaxed and slightly apart. Let the shoulders drop. Your neck should be in a comfortable middle position before you start, not already turned toward the painful side.

How to Find It

Look at the back of the hand and find the knuckles of the first and middle fingers. Between them is a small dip. Put a fingertip in that dip, then slide back toward the wrist, staying in the groove between the two long bones. After about half a finger-width the bones begin to feel closer together. That stretch is your area.

Now search inside it. Use a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short. Probe along the groove in small steps, a few millimetres at a time, pressing into the gap between the bones rather than onto either bone. Most spots feel like ordinary pressure. One spot will sting: a sharp, pinpoint tenderness that catches your attention. That is the point. It may lie a little nearer the knuckles or a little nearer the wrist than you expected, and on a stiff-neck morning it is often unusually easy to find. If you feel a buzz running into a finger, lighten and shift slightly.

How to Press It

Stay on the spot that stings and rub it in small circles, no wider than a grain of rice. Let the skin move with the tool rather than letting the tool slide over the skin. Aim straight down into the groove, between the two bones.

Then add movement. While you keep circling, turn your head slowly toward the stiff side, only as far as it goes without sharp pain. Breathe out as you turn. Come back to the middle and try again. Over a minute or two, many people find the turn goes a little further. If it does not, do not force it.

How Much Pressure

On this point, sharp under the tool is right. The sting should be clear but bearable, and it should fade within a few seconds of lifting off. If you are holding your breath or clenching your jaw, ease off a little. Stop if the pain stays after you lift off, if it spreads across the hand, or if the back of the hand turns swollen, hot or red. Stop too for any electric or numb sensation running into the fingers. The back of the hand bruises easily in later life, so start lighter than you think you need.

How Long

One to three minutes per hand. In the first sessions keep it near one minute, because the skin here is thin. As the days go on, build up a little toward two or three minutes. Start with the hand on the same side as the stiff part of the neck, then do the other hand for the same time. One or two sessions a day is plenty.

When to Do It

This point is most often used in the morning, soon after you discover that the neck has locked. A session at the breakfast table, with slow turns of the head, is the usual pattern. A second, shorter session in the afternoon or before bed is fine. Do not press in the middle of the night. If neck pain wakes you, change your position, support the neck with the pillow, and leave the hand alone until you are up. Working a sharp spot while half-awake is easy to overdo, and it tends to leave you more alert, not less.

What This Won't Do

It will not undo the cause of the stiffness. A neck that locks after sleep usually reflects a pillow that is too high or too flat, a draught on the shoulder, sleeping on the stomach with the head twisted, or long hours bent over a phone. Neck joints also stiffen with age. Pressing the back of your hand will not change any of that. Check the pillow, keep the shoulders warm, bring reading material up to eye level. This point can make the first stiff morning more bearable. It is a comfort measure, not a solution.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. A stiff neck with fever, a severe headache, sensitivity to light or confusion is an emergency; call for help. Neck pain after a fall, a car accident or a blow to the head needs to be seen before you press anything. Pain running down one arm, numbness or tingling in the hand, or a grip that is getting weaker points to a nerve being pressed in the neck and needs to be checked. So does stiffness that gets worse week after week, or that comes with weight loss you cannot explain. A neck that locks again and again deserves a proper look, not only a point on the hand.

Safety First

Do not work over skin that is broken, burned, infected, badly bruised or rashy. Leave the hand alone after a recent fracture of a finger bone, a fresh sprain, or surgery on the hand, and over any plate or pin. If the hand is swollen, hot and red, as can happen with a flare of arthritis, do not press it. If you take blood thinners, bruise easily, have a bleeding disorder, advanced diabetes or reduced feeling in your hands, use lighter pressure and shorter sessions, and talk to your doctor first.

Turn the head slowly and never force it. Stop at once if the fingers go numb, if the pain stays after you lift off, or if turning the head brings on dizziness, blurred vision or pain shooting down the arm. For the full list of cautions and the situations where self-applied pressure is not appropriate, read the full safety guide before you begin.

Questions People Ask

Where is the Wailaogong (EX-UE8) pressure point? Wailaogong (EX-UE8) sits on the back of the hand, in the groove between the bones that run to your first and middle fingers. Start at the dip between those two knuckles and slide back toward the wrist about half a finger-width. Probe there until one spot stings; that is the point.

What is Wailaogong (EX-UE8) used for, and why is it called the stiff-neck point? In Vietnamese traditional medicine it is used for a neck that locks after sleeping at an awkward angle, a stiff neck and shoulder, and an aching back of the hand. Its book name means "the Outer Palace of Toil" (Ngoại Lao Cung in Vietnamese). Its Vietnamese folk name, Lạc Chẩm, means roughly "fallen off the pillow", which is why it is called the stiff-neck point. It is usually pressed while the head is turned slowly.

Should I move my neck while I press it? Yes, gently. Rub the spot in small circles and at the same time turn the head slowly to the side that is stiff, only as far as it goes without sharp pain. Come back to the middle, then try again. Never jerk or force the turn.

Which hand should I use for Wailaogong? Start with the hand on the same side as the stiff part of the neck, because it is often more tender. Then give the other hand the same time. Working both hands keeps things even and costs only a few minutes more.

How long should I press Wailaogong (EX-UE8)? One to three minutes per hand. Stay near one minute in the first sessions, then lengthen a little as the days go on. One or two sessions a day is enough. If the neck is no easier after a few days, the cause probably lies elsewhere.

The spot is very sharp. Am I pressing too hard? A sharp, pinpoint sting under the tool is how you know you have found the point. It should fade within a few seconds of lifting off. If the pain stays afterward, spreads, or the back of the hand turns swollen, hot or red, stop and use less pressure next time.

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-UE8 · Wailaogong · The Outer Palace of Toil · Ngoại Lao Cung (Lạc Chẩm).)