Liangqiu (ST34): The Point Above the Kneecap for an Aching, Stiff Knee

Where Liangqiu Sits

This point sits on the front of the thigh, a short way above the knee. Measure about two thumb-widths up from the outer top corner of the kneecap and you are in the area.

The line this point belongs to is one of the longest on the body. It starts under the eye, runs down the face and neck, crosses the chest and belly, and comes down the front of the thigh. At the knee it passes the outer dip below the kneecap, then runs down the front of the shin to the second toe. Vietnamese and Chinese texts call it the Stomach channel. This is its thirty-fourth stop, and the last one on the thigh before the line reaches the knee.

The old texts place it two body-inches above the outer upper edge of the kneecap. A body-inch is measured on your own body, and for this spot the width of your thumb at the knuckle is close enough. Two thumb-widths, or the width of three fingers laid flat, brings you to the right height. The Vietnamese handbook adds a second step: from that height, move a little toward the outside of the leg, and when the leg is straightened you will feel a small hollow.

Underneath, the point lies in a groove between two muscles. The big muscle down the middle of the front of the thigh narrows into a tendon as it nears the kneecap (the rectus femoris). The muscle that bulges on the outer front of the thigh (the vastus lateralis) sits beside it. Both belong to the group that straightens the knee, and both work every time you rise from a chair or take a step up. Where they meet, a few fingers above the kneecap, there is a soft line you can sink a fingertip into.

The skin over the point is served by nerves that come from the front of the thigh, carried by a branch of the femoral nerve, the main nerve of the front thigh. The femoral nerve also supplies the muscles under the point. Its fibres come from the second, third and fourth lumbar roots, low in the back. That shared wiring is one reason the area above the knee can feel sore when the front thigh is tired.

Why This Spot

On the anatomical side, the area above the outer corner of the kneecap is where the thigh muscles gather their pull before it passes over the knee. When the knee is stiff, people often stop straightening it fully. The muscles above it tighten and tire, and the groove between them turns tender to the touch. The point is easy to reach from a chair, the bony corner of the kneecap gives a firm starting mark, and the groove is soft enough to press into without strain.

In this tradition the point is described as the cleft point of its channel. Cleft points are said to sit where the flow gathers deep, like water collecting in a narrow gorge. Teachers turn to them when a complaint is sudden or sharp, and when an area along the line is swollen or sore. This one is the cleft point of the line that runs down the front of the leg, so it is commonly used when the front of the knee aches.

The name describes the landscape. The thigh muscles rise like a ridge above the knee, and the point sits on the slope of that mound. The Vietnamese name, Lương Khâu, carries the same picture of a raised bank of earth.

What the Old Texts Say About Liangqiu

The point appears in the Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, the Jiayi Jing, compiled by Huangfu Mi in the third century. There it is placed two body-inches above the knee and named as the cleft point of the Stomach channel. That role has been repeated in nearly every handbook since. The World Health Organization's 2008 standard keeps the same picture in modern words: on the front of the thigh, between the outer thigh muscle and the outer edge of the central thigh tendon, two body-inches above the base of the kneecap.

The Vietnamese handbook of points and channels by Ngo Trung Trieu, published by Hong Duc, lists it first for pain in the knee joint. It also lists stomach pain, a swollen and sore breast, and a rumbling belly. Notice the pattern. The knee entry comes from where the point sits. The belly entries come from the channel it belongs to, which in this tradition runs through the stomach. This page is about the knee, and that is where the point is most often used today.

The handbook's way of finding it is plain. Sit upright with the knee bent to a right angle. Measure two body-inches up from the middle of the top edge of the kneecap, then one body-inch out toward the side. When you straighten the leg, a hollow shows there. The method on this page follows the same idea, starting from the outer corner of the kneecap so there is less to measure.

In the wider tradition, this point and the outer dip below the kneecap are used as a pair that frames the knee from above and below. Teachers reach for it when climbing stairs makes the front of the knee complain, or when the knee feels stiff after sitting. That reputation comes from long use rather than trials. It tells you the point was trusted by many hands for the kind of knee trouble people in their sixties know well.

Points That Work With Liangqiu

The first partner sits right below the kneecap. Bend the knee and feel the two soft dips on either side of the thick band under the kneecap. The point is in the outer dip. In this tradition it is commonly paired with this one, one above the knee and one below, when the whole front of the knee aches.

The second sits on the opposite side of the thigh, on the inner side. Find the inner top corner of the kneecap and measure about three fingers above it, onto the soft bulge of the inner thigh muscle. It is used with this one when the knee aches on both sides, and the two can be pressed at the same time, one with each hand.

The third is lower on the same line, on the front of the shin. From the outer dip below the kneecap, measure four fingers down and move one finger out from the sharp edge of the shinbone. It is used with this one when the legs feel heavy and tired as well as the knee being stiff.

How to Find and Press Liangqiu

Getting Into Position

Sit on a firm chair or the edge of a bed. Stretch the leg out in front of you with the heel resting on the floor or a low stool, so the thigh muscles go soft. Do not tighten the thigh. If the knee will not straighten fully, rest a rolled towel under it and let it settle.

How to Find It

Find your kneecap and walk your fingertips to its top edge, then to the outer top corner, the one nearest the outside of the leg. Lay three fingers flat on the thigh above that corner, side by side. The area is right above your top finger. Now feel slightly toward the outside of the leg. Between the firm tendon in the middle of the thigh and the softer muscle on the outer side, there is a groove your fingertip can sink into. That groove is the area.

Now probe it with a rounded-tip pressing tool, or the tip of your thumb with the nail cut short. Move slowly in small steps up and down the groove. Most of it will feel like ordinary muscle. One spot will sting: a small, sharp, pinpoint tenderness. That spot is the point. It may sit a little higher or lower than the measurement, and that is fine. The sting is the guide.

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 thigh, toward the thighbone. Rest your other hand on the knee to keep the leg still. Keep the tip on the same spot; do not let it slide along the groove.

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. 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 leg for one to three minutes. In the first sessions keep to about one minute, because the point is often most tender at the start. As the days go on, add a little time, up to three minutes. Do both legs, even when only one knee 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 knee that is stiff on waking, before you go down the stairs. Late afternoon suits a knee that has stiffened after sitting, walking or gardening. Before bed is a good time too, as part of winding down. Do not press in the middle of the night. If an aching knee 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 knee aches. With knees, the reason is often wear in the joint, weak thigh muscles, extra weight, old injuries or shoes that do not support you. A point above the kneecap cannot change the shape of a worn joint. Pressing works best alongside the plain things that help knees: gentle strengthening of the thigh, regular walking on level ground, sitting less in one position, and footwear that steadies you.

It will not replace a diagnosis either. A knee that is suddenly hot, swollen and red needs to be seen, especially with a fever. So does a knee that gives way, locks, or will not take your weight after a fall or a twist. A lump behind the knee that grows, or one calf that is suddenly swollen, warm and painful, needs prompt assessment, because it can mean a clot in a deep vein. Pain that wakes you every night, or that worsens week on week, belongs with a doctor.

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 or muscle tear, unexplained swelling, or a plate, pin or implant under the skin. Skip this point if the knee is hot and swollen, or if you had surgery on that knee 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 legs, 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. 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 Liangqiu (ST34) pressure point? Liangqiu (ST34) sits on the front of the thigh, about two thumb-widths above the outer top corner of the kneecap. Straighten the leg and you will feel a soft groove there between the big muscle on the front of the thigh and the one on the outer side. Probe that groove until one spot stings. In English it is called the Ridge Mound; in Vietnamese, Lương Khâu.

How long should I press Liangqiu? One to three minutes on each leg. 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 legs, even if only one knee aches.

Is Liangqiu (ST34) the same as the point in the dip below the kneecap? No. Liangqiu (ST34) sits above the kneecap, on the thigh. The point in the outer dip below the kneecap is Dubi (ST35), the Calf Nose. They are on the same line and are often pressed in the same sitting, one above the knee and one below it.

What is the upper dot in the photo? The upper dot marks Futu (ST32), a point further up the front of the thigh on the same line. It is there only to show the direction the line runs. The point of this page, Liangqiu (ST34), is the lower dot, the one closer to the knee.

Can I press Liangqiu if my knee is swollen? Not if the knee is hot and swollen, or if you had surgery on that knee recently. A knee that has puffed up and turned warm needs a doctor first. Once it has settled and been checked, you can come back to the point with light pressure.

Why does the point feel so sore when I first press it? The groove above the knee takes a lot of load every time you stand up, sit down or climb a step, so it is often tender in people with stiff knees. A small, sharp sting under the tip is what you are looking for. It should fade within moments of lifting off. If it lingers or spreads, press more lightly 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: ST34 · Liangqiu · Ridge Mound · Lương Khâu.)