Yingxiang (LI20): The 'Welcoming Fragrance' Point for a Blocked Nose

The Point Named After Its Own Result

Most acupoint names describe anatomy or metaphor. Yingxiang (迎香) does something better: it names the outcome. Ying means “to welcome,” xiang means “fragrance.” The point beside the nostril is called “Welcoming Fragrance” because that is precisely what it restores — the ability to smell your food, your tea, the morning air.

The point was recorded in Huangfu Mi’s Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (《针灸甲乙经》, 282 CE), the oldest surviving systematic acupuncture text ¹. It sits on the Large Intestine meridian — and if that sounds odd for a nose point, remember the classical pairing: Lung and Large Intestine are interior-exterior partners, and the Lung “opens into the nose.” The Large Intestine meridian travels from the index finger up the arm, across the shoulder, and across the face, ending directly beside the opposite nostril.

Location and Quick Facts

Attribute	Detail
Meridian	Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming (手阳明大肠经)
Point number	LI20
Chinese name	迎香 (Yíngxiāng) — “Welcoming Fragrance”
Location	In the nasolabial groove, level with the midpoint of the lateral border of the ala nasi
Crossing	Meeting point of the Large Intestine and Stomach meridians
Typical stimulation	Needled obliquely or transversely; press/massage for self-care

Finding it takes five seconds: run a finger down the side of your nose to the crease that runs from nostril to mouth corner, and press at nostril height. Tender? That is the point. Both sides.

What It Does

• Opens the nose, restores smell (通鼻窍) — the signature action: congestion, loss of smell, sinus pressure
• Disperses wind (散风) — the TCM framing of allergic and acute nasal disease
• Clears heat from the Yangming face — for red, swollen, heat-type sinus pain, nosebleeds
• Local facial use — facial paralysis and facial spasm prescriptions borrow it as a local point

The old needling verse tradition made it unforgettable: “For the loss of scent and smell, what should one treat? The two Yingxiang points can take on the task” — a line from the Yu Long Ge (《玉龙歌》), the Yuan dynasty “Jade Dragon Song” of rhymed acupoint prescriptions ². Medieval verse, and still the first thing acupuncturists reach for.

In the Clinic

Allergic rhinitis is Yingxiang’s modern stronghold. Standard acupuncture prescriptions for allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis almost always include Yingxiang alongside points like Yintang (the spot between the brows), Hegu (LI4), and Zusanli (ST36) ³. Randomized trials of acupuncture for seasonal allergic rhinitis — several of them decent-sized — have shown benefit over sham controls, with Yingxiang in nearly every tested prescription; how much of that effect comes from this specific point versus the whole protocol is honestly unknowable, but its presence is constant ⁴.

Acute sinusitis and congestion get it as a local relief point. Facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy) prescriptions use it to re-recruit the muscles around the nose and mouth.

And in every case, it is the point practitioners teach patients to press between visits — because patients can find it without a map, and because it is very hard to hurt yourself pressing beside your own nose.

Self-Massage: The One-Minute Method

1. Warm your hands; put the pads of both index fingers on the points beside your nostrils.
2. Press firmly — a strong, pleasant ache — and make small circles, ten in each direction.
3. Then “scrape” gently up and down the nasolabial groove with your middle fingers, from nostril to mouth corner and back, about ten passes.
4. Finish by pinching the bridge and sides of the nose lightly, three times.

Repeat up to four or five times a day during allergy season or a head cold. If congestion is one-sided, spend extra time on the blocked side — the effect is largely local.

Cautions (Small Ones)

This is among the safest points for self-care. Notes: needling here is superficial (the face is vascular — small bruises happen); direct moxibustion on the face is traditionally avoided; and a chronically blocked nose with yellow-green discharge, facial pain and fever is a medical problem first and an acupoint second.

Finally

Some points are deep theory; Yingxiang is not. It is anatomy’s honest gift — a named, two-thousand-year-old spot one centimeter from the problem it treats, whose name doubles as the treatment goal. Blocked nose, tea going tasteless, spring pollen: press, circle, breathe in.

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References:

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. Consult a licensed TCM practitioner or physician for persistent nasal symptoms.

Related Articles

• Yintang: The Hall of Seal Point
• Hegu (LI4): The Master Point
• TCM Nose Diagnosis
• TCM Allergy Guide

Footnotes

1. Huangfu Mi. Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing (《针灸甲乙经》). 282 CE. Yingxiang entry, face and head points. ↩

2. Yu Long Ge (《玉龙歌》), Yuan dynasty rhymed verse on point prescriptions, preserved in Wang Guorui’s Bian Que Shen Ying Zhen Jiu Yu Long Jing (《扁鹊神应针灸玉龙经》, 1329). ↩

3. Standard acupuncture prescription literature for bi yuan (鼻渊) and allergic rhinitis, e.g., Zhong Guo Zhen Jiu clinical reports; Yingxiang/LI20 is a constant prescription element. ↩

4. See randomized trials of acupuncture for seasonal allergic rhinitis (e.g., Brinkhaus B, et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2013; and subsequent trials), whose protocols include Yingxiang among core points. ↩