Quze (PC3): The Elbow Crease Point for an Aching Elbow and an Unsettled Stomach

Where Quze Sits

This point sits in the crease on the front of the elbow, the soft fold that forms when you bend your arm. It lies right beside the thick tendon in the middle of that crease, on the side toward your body.

The line it belongs to runs down the middle of the inner arm. It starts beside the nipple on the chest, rises to the armpit, runs down the middle of the inner upper arm, crosses the elbow crease, travels down the centre of the inner forearm between two tendons, crosses the palm and ends at the tip of the middle finger. Vietnamese and Chinese texts call it the Pericardium channel. This point is its third stop, and the only one at the elbow.

The landmark is the tendon. When you bend the elbow and tighten your arm, a firm cord stands up in the middle of the crease. That is the tendon of the biceps, the muscle on the front of the upper arm. The World Health Organization's 2008 standard places the point on the elbow crease, in the hollow right inside that tendon. The Vietnamese handbook by Ngo Trung Trieu adds a practical tip: bend the elbow slightly so the tendon shows clearly, then take the point on the crease beside its inner edge.

Underneath the hollow lies a broad muscle that bends the elbow (the brachialis). Close by run two structures you should respect. One is the main blood vessel of the arm, which you can sometimes feel beating in the crease. The other is the median nerve, which carries feeling to the thumb side of the hand and powers the muscles that bend the fingers. The skin over the point is served by small branches that run down the front of the forearm.

That is why care matters here. The point is a soft hollow, not a bone landmark, and a heavy press in the wrong direction can land on a pulse or a nerve. Light, patient probing finds the right spot.

Why This Spot

On the anatomical side, the crease is one of the softest, most reachable places on the arm. You can work it at a table, on the sofa or in bed, without twisting. The muscles that bend the elbow and steady the forearm all pass close by, so when the arm is tired from lifting, carrying grandchildren or holding a phone, the front of the elbow often feels tight and tender.

In this tradition the point is the sea point of its channel, the place where the flow is described as gathering deep and broad, like a river entering the sea. Points of this kind are commonly used for the length of the channel and for the organs it is linked with. This channel is linked with the chest and the stomach area, which is why this point appears in the old books for an unsettled stomach and a hot, restless feeling, as well as for the arm.

The name describes the place. The crook is the bend of the elbow. The marsh is the soft, low, damp-feeling hollow in it, where the flow pools. The Vietnamese name, Khúc Trạch, means the same: the bend and the marsh.

What the Old Texts Say About Quze

This point has one of the longest written histories on the arm. The Lingshu, the Spiritual Pivot, a Han-dynasty text, has a chapter that lists the five transport points of each channel, from the fingertip to the elbow. In that list, the points given for the heart are the ones we now place on this channel, and the sea point at the elbow is this one. Later writers moved them into a channel of their own, but the elbow point kept its role.

The Vietnamese handbook of points and channels by Ngo Trung Trieu, published by Hong Duc, places it in the hollow on the inner side of the elbow, on the crease, beside the large tendon, at the place where a pulse can be felt. That last detail matters for anyone pressing at home. It tells you the old writers knew a vessel lies close beneath, and it is the reason this page asks you to press gently and to move off a pulse rather than onto it.

The same book lists the point for fever, for a racing, restless feeling and for stomach pain. Notice the pattern. The entries are about heat and unrest, and about the middle of the body, rather than about the elbow alone. In the wider tradition, this point and its partner above the wrist are among the first that teachers reach for when someone feels queasy, overheated and unable to settle.

That reputation comes from long use rather than proof. It tells you the point was trusted across many generations, for the plain discomforts of a churning stomach and a mind that will not quiet down, as well as for a tired, aching arm.

Points That Work With Quze

The first partner is at the inner end of the same crease. Bend the elbow fully and find where the crease stops on the little-finger side, near the bony bump on the inner elbow. The point lies in the dip between the two. In this tradition it is commonly used with this one for an aching elbow and for frayed nerves, and the two sit so close that you can work them one after the other.

The second partner sits on the inner forearm. Turn your palm up and lay three fingers across the arm, the edge of the lowest finger on the wrist crease. The point lies above your top finger, in the middle of the forearm, between the two thin tendons you feel there. It is the classic partner for queasiness and an unsettled stomach.

The third sits at the outer end of the same crease. Bend the elbow and find where the crease stops on 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, or when you feel hot and bothered.

How to Find and Press Quze

Getting Into Position

Sit at a table and rest your forearm on it, palm up, with a folded towel under the elbow. Keep the elbow a little bent, not locked straight. Let the shoulder drop and the hand fall open. The tendon is easier to feel with the arm slightly bent, and the hollow beside it is softer when the arm is relaxed.

How to Find It

Make a loose fist and bend the elbow a little more. With your other hand, feel the middle of the crease: a firm cord stands up there. That is the tendon. Now let the fist open and the arm relax, and slide your fingertip off the cord toward your body, staying on the line of the crease. Your fingertip settles into a soft hollow. That hollow is the area.

Probe it with a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short. Move in small steps. Most of the hollow feels soft and ordinary. One spot will sting: a small, sharp, pinpoint tenderness. That spot is the point. If you feel a strong pulse under the tip, move a fraction toward the tendon. If you feel an electric tingle into the thumb or middle fingers, lift off and press more gently.

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 down into the arm, slightly toward the tendon, never in under it. Let the forearm rest on the table. Keep the tip on the same spot; do not let it slide along the crease.

How Much Pressure

Use less force here than on a bony landmark. Sharp under the tool is right; that small sting tells you that you are on the point. 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 tingling into the fingers, or if you are pressing onto a strong pulse. If 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 the crease can be tender at the start. As the days go on, add a little time, up to three minutes. Do both arms, even when only one side complains. Once or twice a day is plenty. Pressing longer does not add benefit; it mostly adds soreness.

When to Do It

Morning suits a stiff, heavy arm on waking. Late afternoon suits an ache that builds after lifting and carrying. A queasy, unsettled stomach after a meal is another good moment, sitting upright rather than lying down. Before bed is a good time too, as part of winding down when you feel hot and restless. Do not press in the middle of the night. If you wake up uncomfortable, 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 or your stomach churns. With the elbow, the reason is often strain in the muscles that bend the arm, wear in the joint, or a nerve that is irritated somewhere between the neck and the hand. With the stomach, it can be what you ate, a medicine, worry, or a problem in the gut itself. A point in the elbow crease will not settle any of those on its own. Pressing works best alongside the plain things: lighter loads, rest for an overworked arm, smaller meals, and a talk with your doctor about medicines that upset the stomach.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. Numbness, weakness or tingling in the hand that does not go away needs to be checked. A warm, swollen, painful arm, especially after a drip, a blood test or a long journey, needs to be seen quickly. Stomach pain that is severe, that wakes you, or that comes with vomiting blood, black stools, a fever or weight loss you cannot explain belongs with a doctor. So does vomiting that will not stop. Pain spreading into the arm with chest pressure, sweating or breathlessness 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 crease alone for a few days after blood has been taken or a drip has been placed there, and avoid it if you have a fistula or a line in that arm. Skip this point if the elbow is hot and swollen, or if you had elbow surgery recently. 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 tingling into the fingers, and never press hard onto a pulse. 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 Quze (PC3) pressure point? Quze (PC3) sits in the crease on the front of the elbow. Bend the arm a little and feel the thick tendon that stands up in the middle of the crease. The point is in the soft hollow right beside that tendon, on the side toward your body. In English it is called the Marsh at the Crook; in Vietnamese, Khúc Trạch.

How long should I press Quze? 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 side aches.

I can feel a pulse under my tool. Should I keep pressing? Ease off. A large blood vessel runs close to Quze (PC3), and the old texts even describe it as the place where a pulse beats. Do not press hard onto a pulse. Move the tip a fraction toward the tendon, use lighter force, and look for the small sting instead. If you feel tingling into the fingers, lift off; a nerve runs here too.

Can Quze help an upset stomach? In this tradition Quze (PC3) is commonly used for an unsettled stomach, queasiness and a restless, overheated feeling, alongside the point three fingers above the wrist crease. Repeated vomiting, stomach pain that does not settle, black stools or vomiting blood need a doctor, not pressing.

Is this the same as the point at the outer end of the crease? No. Quze (PC3) sits in the middle of the crease, beside the tendon. The outer-end point, Quchi (LI11), sits where the crease stops on the thumb side. The inner-end point, Shaohai (HT3), sits where the crease stops on the little-finger side. The three share one crease and are often worked together.

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. Leave a puffy, warm elbow for a doctor to look at first. Avoid the crease too if you have had blood taken or a drip there in the last few days and the area is bruised.

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: PC3 · Quze · Marsh at the Crook · Khúc Trạch.)