01/13/2026
The points called Ba Xie translate as the 8 Pathogens and are considered to be extra points; meaning that they are not on a specific meridian. (There are 6 meridians going to each hand). They are called 8 because, if you use them all on both sides, it totals up to be 8 points. Making a fist, the eight points are on the backside of the hand, near the hand webs. I don’t know where they got the name “pathogens.” Sometimes pathogen is translated as evil or ghost which makes me think of a special episode of Scooby Doo involving 8 ghosts that would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids. I often call this group of spots the Wolverine points since, if you were that action hero, 6 of the 8 points would be where your adamantium claws come out from between your knuckles
One of the many indications for this point is for snake bite. Please don’t go to the acupuncturist if you get bitten by a snake (or read a blog). Call 9-1-1 immediately! One of the ancient texts mentions using these for malaria which, if you read about it, is a nasty disease. In WW2, U.S. soldiers stationed in the South Pacific got tons of malaria. Personally, I would take herbs and drugs (or both) over doing acupuncture if, somehow, I got malaria. Qing Hao is the Chinese herb used for malaria treatment. There is a compound in that herb called artemisinin which is antimalarial.
Mostly, I use these points for local hand issues, of which there are many. We use our hands to do all kinds of stuff: cooking, cleaning, writing, texting, playing guitar, building, gardening, driving, just to name a few. We are even using our hands to do actual acupuncture when we needle Ba Xie. Sometimes our hands get sore and painful from all this use (or overuse). Or, things go wrong and we get injured or develop arthritis and inflammation in our hands. The hands are also a common place for neuropathy to show up. Whatever the hand ailment though, I often use some or all 8 of these points to deal with pain near the affected area.
