Yongquan (KI1): The Sole Point for Hot Feet and Restless Nights

Where Yongquan Sits

This point sits on the sole, in the deepest hollow that forms below the ball of the foot when you curl your toes, one third of the way from the base of the second and third toes to the back of the heel.

This line is the deepest of the three that run up the inner leg. It is also the only line on the traditional map that starts on the sole of the foot. From this hollow it curves under the arch, comes up behind the inner ankle bone, and climbs the inside of the calf and thigh and the front of the trunk to the collarbone. Vietnamese and Chinese texts call it the Kidney channel. This hollow is its very first point, where the line is said to rise up out of the ground into the body.

The old texts place it in the hollow of the sole that deepens when the toes are curled. A Vietnamese reference text gives a measurement as well. Take the line from the tip of the second toe to the back of the heel, and the point sits where the front two fifths meet the back three fifths. The modern international standard measures differently, from the web at the base of the second and third toes to the heel, and puts it one third of the way along. The two methods start from different places but land in the same hollow, which is a good sign that the hollow is real.

Under the skin, the sole is built in layers. Beneath the thick skin lies a pad of fat, then a tough sheet of fibrous tissue that runs from the heel to the toes and holds up the arch. Under that are the short muscles that curl the toes. The hollow you feel when you curl your toes is the gap that opens between the ball of the foot and the arch as those muscles shorten.

The nerve supply explains what you feel. The skin and muscles of the sole are served by the two plantar nerves, branches of the tibial nerve that divide behind the inner ankle. They carry fibres from the lower lumbar and upper sacral roots of the spine. The skin here is thicker than almost anywhere else on the body, and in some people its feeling is reduced. That is why this point needs a little more care than most, and why the safety section asks you to check your soles first.

Why This Spot

The sole is one of the most heavily used surfaces of the body and one of the least attended to. It takes your full weight with every step. A point here is easy to reach sitting down, with the foot across the opposite knee, and the landmark is easy: curl the toes and the hollow shows itself.

The thick skin works in your favour too. You can probe firmly with a rounded tip without breaking or bruising healthy skin. Most people find the sting a little deeper than on the ankle, but it is there, and once found it is easy to come back to the next evening.

In this tradition the point carries a particular role. As the first point of its channel, it is the place where the channel is said to surface, like a spring breaking out of the ground. Classical writers linked this channel with rest, night, the lower body and the body's deep reserves. They also used the sole to draw things downward. When the head felt hot, heavy or crowded and the feet cold, the tradition reached for the lowest point on the body to settle what had risen. That is why the point is so often worked at the end of the day, before sleep.

What the Old Texts Say About Yongquan

The name means the bubbling spring. It pictures water rising out of the ground at the bottom of the body, the first welling-up of a stream that will run all the way up the leg. Names on the channel map were teaching aids. This one tells students that the point is a source, low and quiet, the place everything else on the line flows from.

A Vietnamese reference text on the channels, by Ngô Trung Triều, lists the point for pain in the sole, feet that feel abnormally hot or cold, sleeplessness, pain at the top of the head, a sore throat and vomiting, among others. Read through the tradition's map, that list has a shape. It runs from the soles at the bottom to the crown of the head at the top, and most of its items are things that rise. The tradition used this lowest point to bring them back down.

The same text describes the point as the hollow of the sole that stands out when the foot and toes are curled, and gives the two-fifths measurement described above. Generations of teachers have kept the curling instruction because it lets the body show you the spot. You do not need a ruler. You need to curl your toes and look.

In 2008 the World Health Organization published a single standard for point locations across the Western Pacific region, to settle disagreements between countries and schools. Its entry places this point on the sole of the foot, in the deepest depression of the sole when the toes are curled. Its note adds the measurement from the web between the second and third toes to the heel, with the point about one third of the way along.

Points That Work With Yongquan

The natural partner is in the middle of the palm. Make a loose fist and see where the tip of your middle finger touches the palm. The point sits there, between the bones of the middle and ring fingers. In this tradition the centre of the palm and the centre of the sole are a matching pair, and pressing both is an easy way to end the day. You can reach the palm point lying down.

The second partner is behind the inner ankle bone. From the top of the bone, slide back toward the thick heel tendon and sink into the soft dip halfway between them. It is the main point of the same channel, the place where the spring in the sole has become a stream. Work the sole first, then the ankle.

The third is on the inner side of the lower leg. Lay four fingers above the inner ankle bone and press into the groove right behind the shinbone at the level of the top finger. In this tradition three lines cross there, including this one. Together, sole, ankle and lower leg make a short routine that covers the whole lower part of the channel.

How to Find and Press Yongquan

Getting Into Position

Sit on the edge of the bed or a firm chair. Rest the outer side of one ankle on the opposite knee and turn the sole toward you. If your hips will not allow that, rest the heel on a low stool and lean forward, or sit sideways on the bed with the knee bent and the sole flat against your hand. Always sit. Never press the sole while standing on it.

How to Find It

Curl your toes tightly and look at the sole. A hollow appears below the ball of the foot, in line with the second and third toes. Check the level: it sits about one third of the way from the base of those toes to the back of the heel. Put a fingertip in the deepest part of the hollow, then let the toes relax.

That gives you the area, not yet the point. Now probe. Take a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short, and press small spots around the hollow, a little toward the toes, a little toward the heel, a little to either side. The sole is thick, so go slowly and press a little deeper than you would on the ankle. Most of it feels like ordinary firm pressure. One spot will sting: a sharp, pinpoint tenderness. That is the point. Probe fresh each session, because the sore spot can shift a few millimetres from day to day.

How to Press It

Keep the tip on the spot that stings and rub it in small, slow circles, no wider than a grain of rice, without lifting off. Aim straight into the hollow, slightly toward the toes.

If you use your thumb, hold the top of the foot with your fingers and let the thumb tip circle. Thumbs tire quickly on the sole, so a rounded-tip tool, held like a pen close to the tip, is often easier. Keep the circles slow, about one a second.

How Much Pressure

Sharp under the tip is right. That pinpoint sting tells you that you are on the point, and it should fade within moments of lifting off. Pain that stays after you lift off is not right, nor is pain that spreads across the sole, or skin that turns swollen, hot or red. Stop if any of those happen. Stop too for any electric, tingling or numb feeling running into the toes. If you feel almost nothing at all anywhere on the sole, do not keep pressing harder to find a sting; reduced feeling in the feet needs a doctor's view first.

How Long

One to three minutes on each foot. For the first few sessions keep to about a minute a side. Over the following days, as you learn where the sting sits, work up toward two and then three minutes. Do both feet. Once a day before bed is enough for most people, with a daytime session if the soles ache after a long walk.

When to Do It

This is a before-bed point. Many people in their fifties, sixties and seventies fall asleep well enough but are woken in the small hours by pain, a cramp, hot feet or a bladder that needs emptying. The useful window is before you lie down. Pass urine, sit on the edge of the bed, work the soles, then the ankles, finish with the palms, and lie down. Some people like to wash and dry their feet first, which also gives you a chance to check the skin. What this method does not do is press in the middle of the night. If you wake, leave the point alone, keep the light low and let yourself settle.

What This Won't Do

It will not give you a full night's sleep, and it will not stop the waking that comes with age, pain or a bladder that fills sooner. A point on the sole reaches none of those causes directly. What it offers is a short, calm routine at the end of the day, a few minutes of care for feet that have carried you for decades, and a reason to look at your soles every evening. Take it as a comfort measure, and a worthwhile one.

It will not replace a doctor either. Burning, tingling or numb feet need a doctor's view, especially if the feeling is spreading or you have started to stumble. Getting up to pass urine more than twice a night is worth raising with a doctor, particularly if it is new or comes with burning, blood or a weak stream. A sore on the sole that is not clearing up within a few days, a foot that turns red, hot and swollen, or a toe that changes colour needs to be seen promptly. Time spent pressing is time not spent getting those looked at.

Safety First

Do not press on cracks, blisters, sores, corns, a verruca or any sign of infection on the sole. Never stand on a tool or a ball to press this point; sit down. If you have diabetes or poor feeling in your feet, check the skin of your soles carefully first and ask your doctor before you start, because you may not feel when pressure is too much. Leave the foot alone after a recent fracture or surgery. If you have varicose veins or have ever had a clot in the leg, ask your doctor before pressing anywhere on that leg, and never press on a bulging vein. With blood thinners or easy bruising, use the lightest pressure that still finds the sting.

Stop at once if the pain stays after you lift off, spreads, or the area turns swollen, hot or red, and stop for any electric or numb feeling. 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 Yongquan (KI1) pressure point? Yongquan (KI1), the Bubbling Spring (Dũng Tuyền in Vietnamese), is on the sole of the foot. Curl your toes and a hollow appears below the ball of the foot, in line with the second and third toes. It sits about one third of the way from the base of those toes to the back of the heel. Relax the toes and probe there until one spot stings.

Can I roll a ball under my foot instead? A ball warms the sole and is pleasant, but it presses a wide area and rarely finds the one spot that stings. This method uses a rounded tip or the tip of your thumb, so you can probe and stay on the point. If you use a ball at all, do it sitting down, never standing with your weight on it.

Can Yongquan (KI1) stop me waking at night? No one can honestly promise that. In this tradition the point is commonly used for restless nights, and many people find a few minutes on the soles before bed settling. Night waking after fifty has many causes, so if it is new, getting worse, or comes with frequent trips to pass urine, talk to a doctor.

My feet burn at night. Should I press here? In this tradition the point is commonly used for feet that feel abnormally hot or cold. You can work it before bed as part of a routine. But burning feet can also be a sign that the nerves of the feet need checking, so mention it to your doctor, especially if it comes with numbness or tingling.

The skin on my sole is thick. I cannot feel anything. What should I do? Use a rounded-tip tool rather than your thumb, and probe slowly in small steps around the hollow. The sting is usually there, a little deeper than on the ankle. If you still feel very little anywhere on the sole, mention it to your doctor before pressing harder, because reduced feeling in the feet needs checking.

What is Yongquan (KI1) used for? Yongquan (KI1), the Bubbling Spring, is called Dũng Tuyền in Vietnamese. In this tradition it is commonly used for feet that burn or feel cold at night, restless nights and a heavy, full feeling in the head. Work it for one to three minutes on each foot, before bed or in the daytime. If your feet are numb, ask your doctor first, because you cannot judge how hard you are pressing.

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: KI1 · Yongquan · The Bubbling Spring · Dũng Tuyền.)