Yintang (GV29): The Point Between the Eyebrows for a Tense, Aching Forehead

Where Yintang Sits

The point sits on the midline of the face, halfway between the inner ends of your two eyebrows, directly above the bridge of the nose. Most people can put a finger on it without looking. It is the place you rub without thinking at the end of a long day of reading, or when a headache settles behind the forehead. Vietnamese references count it as the twenty-ninth stop on the channel that runs up the middle of the back, over the crown and down the forehead, which this tradition calls the Governing Vessel. For centuries it was filed as an extra point outside the channel system. Modern standards have since placed it on that midline channel, and the Vietnamese texts already list it there.

Under the skin is the broad, smooth part of the forehead bone between the brows. Over it lies a small vertical muscle (the procerus) that pulls the brows down and wrinkles the top of the nose. Beside it run the inner fibres of the muscles that draw the brows together in a frown. If you scowl in a mirror, the short horizontal creases that appear at the top of the nose sit over the point.

The skin here is served by small branches of the nerve that carries feeling from the forehead, the eyes and the upper face (the first, or ophthalmic, division of the trigeminal nerve). The main twig is the supratrochlear nerve, with fine blood vessels of the same name running alongside. There is no large vessel and no joint beneath, and the bone is close to the surface. That means firm, controlled pressure is possible without the soft give you feel elsewhere on the face.

Finding it takes two imagined lines. Run a fingertip along each eyebrow toward the nose until the hairs stop; those are the inner ends. Picture a line joining them. Then picture a second line running straight up from the centre of the nose. Where the two cross is the area. The point itself is the one spot inside that area that stings when you press. On some people it sits a few millimetres above the eyebrow line, on others exactly on it.

Why This Spot

There are practical reasons first. The bone gives a firm, flat surface to press against, so you always know how much pressure is going in. The point is on the midline, so one point serves both sides of the head. And it sits in the middle of the muscles that tighten when you concentrate, squint, worry or brace against pain. Many people who have lived with pain for years carry a permanent frown without knowing it. Pressing here brings your attention to that knot and gives you a chance to let it go.

The nerve supply is shared with the eyes, the upper eyelids, the front of the scalp and the lining of the upper nose. That overlap is one plain reason the same small area turns tender when the eyes are strained, the nose feels full, or a headache sits across the brow.

In this tradition the point is described as a place where the mind is settled. Its Chinese name means the hall of the seal, after the place on the forehead where a mark of rank or blessing was placed. Vietnamese teachers call it Ấn Đường, the same two characters read in Vietnamese. It is used to clear the head, to open the nose and eyes, and to quieten a mind that keeps turning. Those are traditional descriptions, not measurements, and we keep them labelled that way.

What the Old Texts Say About Yintang

This point has a different history from most on our site, and it is better to say so plainly. For most of its life it sat outside the formal channel system. The great early catalogues that set out the channel points one by one were organised along the channels. The oldest that survives is the Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, compiled by Huangfu Mi in the third century. A spot that belonged to no channel had no place in that scheme. Practitioners used the space between the brows all the same. It was passed on in practical handbooks and from teacher to student, and over time it gathered the name it carries now.

When the World Health Organization published a proposed international naming system in 1991, it listed the point among the extra points of the head and neck. In the years since, standard tables have placed it on the midline channel that runs over the head, giving it the number at the top of this page. The location did not move. Only the filing changed.

The Vietnamese reference we work from, Ngô Trung Triều's Huyệt vị kinh lạc cơ thể người (Points and Channels of the Human Body), already lists it as the twenty-ninth point of that midline channel. It places it exactly at the centre between the inner ends of the brows, on the line of the nose. It gives four uses: headache, steadying the spirit, colds, and clearing the nose and the eyes. That short list matches what people across Vietnam still reach for it for.

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 does show is long, steady use for the same small group of complaints: an aching forehead, a blocked nose, strained eyes and a restless mind. That is no proof of how it works. It does tell you it has been in ordinary hands for a long time.

Points That Work With Yintang

The closest partners sit a short distance away on each side: the small hollow at the inner end of each eyebrow, above the inner corner of the eye. Run a fingertip along the brow toward the nose and feel for a little notch in the bone under the first hairs. Those two spots and this one form a short line across the base of the forehead. Many people work all three in turn for a headache that sits behind the brow, or eyes that ache after reading.

The second partner is at the temples. From the outer end of the eyebrow, move back about a finger's width toward the ear, into the soft hollow at the side of the head. It is used when the headache wraps around the sides as well as the front.

The third is on the crown. Fold the tops of both ears forward and picture a line over the top of your head joining their tips. Where it crosses the midline is the spot. In this tradition the crown and the space between the brows lie on the same midline channel, and the two are often pressed one after the other for a heavy, foggy head.

How to Find and Press Yintang

Getting Into Position

Sit at a table with both elbows resting on it, so your hands come up to your face without effort and your head stays level. A chair with a high back works too, with your head supported. Close your eyes. Loosen your jaw and drop your shoulders before you start.

How to Find It

Find the inner ends of both eyebrows with your fingertips. Picture a line joining them, and a second line rising from the middle of your nose. Rest the tip of your thumb, or the rounded tip of a pressing tool, where those lines meet.

Now probe. Press lightly, move a few millimetres up, down and to each side, and press again. Most of the area will feel like ordinary pressure on bone. One spot will sting, a sharp, pinpoint tenderness that is clearly different from the skin around it. That is the point. On some days it is obvious; on others you have to search a little longer. If nothing stings, ease off and search again more slowly. Pressing harder rarely helps you find it.

How to Press It

Use the tip of the thumb with the nail cut short, or a pressing tool with a smooth, rounded tip. A tool spares the thumb joint, which matters if your hands are stiff. Hold the thumb or the tool upright, pointing into the bone, and keep your elbow supported on the table so the tip cannot slip.

Once you have the stinging spot, stay on it and rub in small circles, no wider than a grain of rice. Keep the tip in contact with the skin rather than sliding over it, so the skin moves with the tip over the bone underneath. Keep the direction of pressure into the forehead and slightly upward, never down toward the eyes. Breathe out slowly as you rub.

How Much Pressure

A sharp sting under the tip is what you are looking for, and it is right. What matters is what happens when you lift off. The sting should fade within a few seconds, leaving the area warm and lighter. If the pain stays after you lift off, spreads across the forehead, or the skin turns swollen, hot or red, stop and leave it for the day. Watch the rest of your body too. If you are holding your breath or clenching your jaw, you are pressing harder than you need. On the forehead a little goes a long way.

How Long

Rub the spot for one to three minutes. In the first sessions stay near one minute; as the days go on and the area gets used to the work, build toward three. Once or twice a day is plenty. There is only one point here, so there is no second side to do. If you add the points at the inner ends of the eyebrows, give each of those the same time.

When to Do It

Daytime suits it well: mid-morning after a stretch of reading or screen work, or late afternoon when a headache begins to gather behind the brow. A short round before bed, sitting on the edge of the bed with the light on, is a calm way to close the day. Do not press in the middle of the night. If pain wakes you at two or three in the morning, change position, have a sip of water and let the point wait until morning. Pressing in the dark when you are half awake makes it easy to slip toward the eye.

What This Won't Do

It will not remove the reason a headache keeps coming back. For people in their fifties, sixties and seventies the reasons are often ordinary ones. Glasses that no longer suit the eyes, hours at a screen, a head held forward, broken sleep, too little water, or a jaw that clenches all play a part. A point between the brows sits downstream of all of that. Get the eyes checked, raise the screen, take the breaks, and then this point has something to add. On its own it is a comfort measure, and a worthwhile one.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. Some headaches are warnings. A sudden, severe headache unlike any before is an emergency. So is a headache with confusion, slurred speech, weakness or numbness down one side, or a face that droops. The same goes for a headache with a stiff neck and fever, or one that follows a blow to the head. Call for help; do not sit pressing a forehead. A new headache that starts after fifty and keeps getting worse needs a doctor promptly. So does pain at the temples with a tender scalp or pain when chewing, a painful red eye, or a sudden change in vision. A blocked nose with fever, swelling of the face, or pain that has not eased after a week or two also deserves a proper look.

Safety First

Do not press on skin that is broken, burned, infected, sunburned or covered in an active rash, and leave the area alone after a recent blow to the head or face. If you have had surgery on the face, forehead or eyes in recent months, including cataract or eyelid surgery, ask your surgeon before pressing anywhere near the eyes. If you take blood thinners, bruise easily or have a bleeding disorder, use lighter pressure and keep sessions short, because the forehead marks easily. Never press on the eyeball or let the tip slide down into the eye socket.

Stop at once if you feel dizzy, if the pain stays after you lift off or spreads, if the area turns swollen, hot or red, or if you feel an electric or numb sensation. 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 Yintang (GV29) pressure point? Yintang (GV29) sits on the midline of your face, halfway between the inner ends of your eyebrows, directly above the bridge of the nose. Picture a line joining the inner ends of the brows and a second line rising from the middle of the nose. Where they cross is the area. The point is the one spot inside it that stings when you press.

How long should I press Yintang? One to three minutes. Stay near one minute in the first sessions and build toward three as the days go on. Once or twice a day is plenty, and longer sessions only add soreness to the skin over the bone. If you also work the inner ends of the eyebrows, give each of those the same time.

Is it safe to use a pressing tool so close to my eyes? Yes, if you use it with care. Rest your elbow on a table so your hand cannot slip, hold the tool upright against the bone, and press into the forehead and slightly upward, never down toward the eyes. If your hand is shaky, use the tip of your thumb instead. Never press on the eyeball itself.

The spot stings when I press. Is that normal? Yes. A sharp, pinpoint sting under the tip is how you know you have found the point. What matters is what happens when you lift off. The sting should fade within a few seconds. If the pain stays afterwards, spreads across the forehead, or the skin turns swollen, hot or red, stop for the day.

Can I press Yintang when pain wakes me in the night? Better not. In this method pressing is done by day or before bed, not in the middle of the night. When you are half awake in the dark it is easy to press too hard or slip toward the eye. Change position, have a sip of water, and save the point for the morning.

Should I press Yintang for a sudden, severe headache? No. A sudden headache unlike any you have had before, or a headache with confusion, slurred speech, weakness down one side, a drooping face, or a stiff neck and fever, is an emergency. Call for help at once. This point is for the familiar, everyday headache you already know.

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: GV29 · Yintang · The Hall of the Seal · Ấn Đường.)