Shaohai (HT3): The Inner Elbow Point for a Sore Elbow and a Numb Arm

Where Shaohai Sits

This point sits on the inner side of the elbow, the side that faces your body when your arms hang down. It is at the inner end of the elbow crease, in the small dip in front of the bony bump you can feel on the inside of the elbow.

The line it belongs to is short and runs along the inner arm. It starts in the armpit, travels down the inner side of the upper arm, crosses the inner elbow, runs down the inner forearm on the little-finger side, crosses the wrist and ends at the tip of the little finger. Vietnamese and Chinese texts call it the Heart channel. This point is its third stop, and the only one at the elbow.

The landmark is bone. The bump on the inner elbow is the inner end of the upper arm bone (the medial epicondyle). The World Health Organization's 2008 standard places the point in front of that bump, level with the elbow crease. The Vietnamese handbook by Ngo Trung Trieu gives a practical version: bend the forearm toward the upper arm, find the inner end of the crease, and take the point there, in front of the cord of muscle that grips the bony bump.

Underneath, several forearm muscles begin at that bump. One turns the palm down (the pronator teres). Others bend the wrist and fingers. They pull on this corner every time you grip a jar lid, a walking stick, a garden tool or a heavy bag. That is why the inner elbow so often aches in people who use their hands hard, and why the skin and muscle here can feel thick and tender.

Two nerves explain the sensations. The skin over the point is served by a branch that runs down the inner forearm (the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve), from the lowest roots of the neck and the first root of the chest. Behind the bony bump, in a groove, runs the ulnar nerve, the one that makes the funny bone. If you press too far back onto the bone, you will feel that familiar zing into the little finger.

Why This Spot

On the anatomical side, it is an easy place to reach. You can work it sitting at a table with your arm resting, and the bony bump guides you every time. The muscles that grip and twist start here, so when they are overworked the strain often gathers at this corner. Many people in their sixties and seventies notice the inner elbow first when they carry shopping, lean on a stick, or knit and sew for long spells.

In this tradition the point is the sea point of its channel. In the old picture, each channel's flow starts small at the fingertips and gathers as it travels toward the trunk, like water joining a river and then entering the sea. At the elbow it is described as running deep and broad. Sea points are commonly used for problems along the length of the channel, and this one is often chosen for the arm itself: the elbow, the forearm and the hand.

The name says the same thing. The Heart channel belongs to the group called lesser yin, and the elbow is its sea. Lesser Sea is a plain translation. The Vietnamese name, Thiếu Hải, carries the same two words.

What the Old Texts Say About Shaohai

The point appears under this name in the Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing, compiled by Huangfu Mi in the third century. That book gathered the earlier point lore into one order, and it is where most of the elbow points first appear with set names and places. It records this one at the inner side of the elbow, behind the large bone, in a hollow you find with the arm bent.

The Vietnamese handbook of points and channels by Ngo Trung Trieu, published by Hong Duc, gives a short and practical list. It names numbness of the arm and hand, pain in the elbow joint and in the soft tissue around it, and nervous exhaustion. The first two entries follow the line of the channel down the inner arm. The third reflects the older idea that this channel touches the spirit as well as the body, which is why the point appears in the old books for restlessness and frayed nerves as well as for the arm.

The same handbook places it a short distance in front of the bony bump on the inner elbow, and asks you to bend the forearm toward the upper arm to see the crease clearly. That is the method used in this page. It is a sensible one: with the arm bent, the end of the crease shows itself, and the bump sits right beside it.

In the wider tradition, teachers often pair this point with its neighbour on the outer end of the same crease. One sits on the inner side, one on the outer side, and between them they cover the elbow from both directions. That habit comes from long use rather than proof. It tells you the point was trusted by many hands for the kind of elbow ache that comes from a lifetime of gripping, lifting and carrying.

Points That Work With Shaohai

The first partner sits in the same crease. Bend your arm and feel the thick tendon in the middle of the crease, the one that stands up like a cord when you tighten your biceps. The point lies in the soft hollow right beside that tendon, on the side toward your body. In this tradition it is commonly used with this one for an aching elbow and for restlessness, and the two can be worked in the same sitting.

The second partner sits at the other end of the crease. Bend the elbow and find where the crease ends on the outer side, the thumb side. The point lies in the dip between that end and the bony bump on the outer elbow. It is used with this one when the whole elbow aches, inside and out.

The third sits lower on the same line as this point, at the wrist. Turn your palm up and follow the crease of the wrist to the little-finger side. The point lies in the small dip right inside the tendon you feel there. It is used with this one when tingling or tiredness runs down the inner arm into the hand, and when the mind is unsettled as well.

How to Find and Press Shaohai

Getting Into Position

Sit at a table and rest your forearm on it, palm up, with a folded towel under the elbow if the table is hard. Bend the elbow to roughly a right angle. Let the shoulder drop. The arm should feel heavy and loose, so do not make a fist.

How to Find It

With your other hand, feel along the inner side of the elbow until you meet a hard, rounded bump. That is the inner end of the upper arm bone. Now bend the elbow fully and look at the crease: its inner end lies a little in front of that bump. The area you want is the small dip between the two. Let the arm open back to a right angle before you begin.

Probe the dip with a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short. Move in small steps around it. Most of it will feel like ordinary tissue, perhaps a little thick. One spot will sting: a small, sharp, pinpoint tenderness. That spot is the point. If instead you feel an electric zing into the ring and little fingers, you have slid back onto the funny-bone nerve. Lift off, move forward toward the crease, and use less force.

How to Press It

Keep the tip of the tool or thumb on the stinging spot and rub in small circles, about the size of a fingernail, roughly one each second. Aim the pressure straight into the arm, slightly toward the crease, not backward toward the bump. Let the forearm rest on the table so it stays still. Keep the tip on the same spot; do not let it slide over the bone.

How Much Pressure

Sharp under the tool is right. That small sting tells you that you are on the point. The test is what happens when you lift off: the sting should fade within moments. If the pain stays after you lift the tool, if it spreads, or if the area turns swollen, hot or red, stop and leave it for several days. Stop at once for any electric or numb feeling into the fingers. If your shoulder creeps up toward your ear, or you are holding your breath, you are pressing too hard. Ease off until you can breathe slowly through the sting.

How Long

Work each arm for one to three minutes. In the first sessions keep to about one minute, because this corner is often tender at the start. As the days go on, add a little time, up to three minutes. Do both arms, even when only one elbow complains. Once or twice a day is plenty. Pressing longer does not add benefit; it mostly adds soreness.

When to Do It

Morning suits an elbow that is stiff on waking. Late afternoon suits an ache that builds after gripping, carrying or housework. Before bed is a good time too, as part of winding down, especially if your arms feel tired and buzzing at the end of the day. Do not press in the middle of the night. If an aching arm or a tingling hand wakes you, pressing then tends to wake you further. Keep the pressing for the day and the evening.

What This Won't Do

It will not remove the reason your elbow aches. With the inner elbow, the reason is usually strain in the gripping muscles where they meet the bone, sometimes wear in the joint, and sometimes a nerve that is pinched or stretched. A point at the elbow will not change the way you grip, the weight you carry or the tool you use. Pressing works best alongside the plain things: lighter loads, a thicker handle on tools and pens, short breaks during repetitive work, and gentle stretches for the forearm.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. Numbness or tingling in the hand that does not go away, a weak grip, dropping things, or wasting of the small muscles in the hand needs to be checked, because it can mean a trapped nerve at the elbow, wrist or neck. An elbow that is suddenly hot, swollen and red needs to be seen, especially with a fever. So does an elbow that will not bend or straighten after a fall. Pain or tingling in the arm that comes with chest discomfort, shortness of breath or sweating is an emergency; call for help and do not press anything.

Safety First

Do not press over skin that is broken, burned, infected, badly bruised or rashy. Leave the area alone with a recent fracture, a fresh sprain, unexplained swelling, or a plate, pin or implant under the skin. Skip this point if the elbow is hot and swollen, or if you had surgery on that elbow recently, and ask your surgeon when you may start. If you take blood thinners, bruise easily, have a bleeding disorder, or have reduced feeling in your hands, use lighter pressure, keep sessions short, and talk to your doctor first.

Stop at once if the pain stays after you lift off, spreads, or if the area becomes swollen, hot or red. Stop too for any electric zing or numbness into the fingers. Nothing here requires you to push through pain. For the full list of cautions and the situations where pressing on yourself is not appropriate, read the full safety guide before you begin.

Questions People Ask

Where is the Shaohai (HT3) pressure point? Shaohai (HT3) sits on the inner side of the elbow, the side nearest your body. Bend the elbow fully and look for the end of the crease. The point is in the small dip between that end and the bony bump on the inside of the elbow. In English it is called the Lesser Sea; in Vietnamese, Thiếu Hải.

How long should I press Shaohai? One to three minutes on each arm. Keep the first sessions to about a minute, then add a little as the days go on, up to three. Once or twice a day is enough. Work both arms, even if only one elbow aches.

I hit my funny bone. Did I press the wrong spot? Yes, a little too far back. The nerve that gives the funny-bone jolt runs in a groove behind the bony bump on the inner elbow. Shaohai (HT3) is in front of that bump, toward the crease. Lift off, move forward toward the crease, and press more gently. You want a small sting under the tip, not a zing into the little finger.

Can it help with tingling in my hand? In this tradition Shaohai (HT3) is commonly used for numbness and tingling along the inner arm toward the little finger. Tingling in the hand has many causes, from a trapped nerve at the wrist or elbow to problems in the neck, so ask your doctor about tingling that lasts or keeps coming back. Pressing can sit alongside that, not in place of it.

Is this the same as the point in the middle of the elbow crease? No, but it is a close neighbour. Quze (PC3) sits in the middle of the crease, beside the thick tendon you feel there when you bend the arm. Shaohai (HT3) sits at the inner end of the same crease. Many people work the two one after the other.

Should I press it if my elbow is swollen? Not if the elbow is hot, swollen or red, or if you had surgery on it recently. A puffy, warm elbow, especially a soft swelling over the point of the elbow, needs to be seen by a doctor first.

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: HT3 · Shaohai · Lesser Sea · Thiếu Hải.)