ACUPRESSURE FOR PELVIC RELAXATION AND BLOOD CIRCULATION

Apr 1

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The SP6 (Spleen 6) acupressure point has been scientifically proven to improve the blood flow to your uterus and ovaries, which is fabulous for supporting fertility treatments, building a great lining, preparing for implantation, and more.

It also offers loads of other pelvic benefits including calming an overactive bladder, decreasing all sorts of pelvic pain, and decreasing the length of labor to name a few. You’ll definitely benefit from having this heavy-hitting pressure point in your toolbox.

In this video you’ll learn.

How to find the Spleen 6 acupressure point
What it’s good for and why
The best ways to stimulate it

Good luck!

Nicole

Nicole Lange

LICENSED ACUPUNCTURIST
HOLISTIC FERTILITY EDUCATOR

Hi there! Nicole Lange, acupuncturist and creator of The Baby You Want online fertility program. And today I want to cover a pressure point that is great for so many fertility and other pelvic concerns. This is the Acupressure For Pelvic Relaxation and Blood Circulation video.
The point we're going to cover today is called Spleen 6. It's abbreviated as SP6 and here's what you're about to learn.
You'll learn how to find it, what it's good for and why, and the best ways to stimulate it.
Before we get started here I do want to say that this is a point that some argue you should avoid or use with caution in early pregnancy. If you really want to understand this topic better and get much more nuanced about the topic of acupuncture and pressure in pregnancy, I cover it all in the Acupressure For Fertility Basics video. So when in doubt, check that out.
Spleen 6 is on what we acupuncturists call the spleen channel. This is a channel that starts on the outside of the big toe and goes up the inside of the leg through the pelvis and abdomen, up to the chest, and out through the side of the ribcage.
Spleen 6 is arguably the most used point on the entire spleen channel and it's Chinese language name is San Yin Jiao which translates to Unite Three Yin. Now this name comes from the idea that this particular point is the intersection of three different acupuncture channels that run from the foot up to the torso that are all believed to be very yin. And yin means all things cool, heavy, dense, fluid, and feminine.
So think blood, estrogen, follicular fluid, tendons. Also things like uterine lining, eggs, and even urine. You'll see this as a great point for bladder issues too.
If you've watched other videos in this playlist you may already know that in acupuncture we have a way of making customized measurements on different sized bodies. And the unit of measure that we use is called cun spelled C-U-N. Now one cun is the width of one of the person you're doing the treatment on's thumb. Three cun is the width of the person's four fingers squeezed together like this. Now remember three cun on a tiny body is different than three cun on a bigger body.
To find Spleen 6 we start by finding the highest point on the inside, that's the big toe side, ankle bone. We then put our pinky finger edge of those four squeezed together fingers right on the tip of the ankle bone, and lie it down flat against the leg, and we look for where the index finger side falls along the back edge of the shin bone. Aka the tibia.
Once we find that level we dig in right in back of, and kind of under, the backside of the shinbone. We usually will find that it's a pretty tender point on most bodies. And that is Spleen 6.
Spleen 6 is an amazing point for basically anything that has to do with pelvic relaxation and pelvic or reproductive blood circulation. Now some fertility clinics do a specific kind of Doppler ultrasound study to read the pelvic blood flow. This test uses something called the uterine pulsatility index, or PI. And when this number is high it means that the blood flow is more herky jerky and less smooth and consistent than is ideal. A lower PI is a better number.
Studies have shown and I quote, "Spleen six can immediately improve uterine arterial blood flow and significant reductions were observed five minutes after treatment in menstrual pain scores and in values of PI." That's pulsatility index. Again, a lower score here means more smooth and consistent blood flow.
So if you've had a high PI reading, this is a great point to try. But even without a Doppler ultrasound study, if you're thinking about things like building up a uterine lining, or consistently getting blood to the ovaries and uterus to deliver medications or even just regular hormones where they need to be during cycles, or if you're recovering from any sort of surgery or trauma to the pelvis or reproductive organs this point certainly won't hurt.
Other common reasons that we do this point in acupuncture include bad period cramps, pelvic pain of any sort, and this point is very often used in late pregnancy for birth preparation and in labor. Studies show it decreases both labor duration and pain scores.
I mentioned this point is good for bladder stuff too. Medtronic, which was ranked as the world's largest medical device company by revenue in 2017, introduced a device that basically only stimulates this one acupressure point to do a treatment called percutaneous tibial neural modulation. Or PTNM for short. Which has been researched to restore bladder function in many overactive bladder patients without any medications or side effects.
I of course love knowing this kind of treatment is finding its way into Western clinics and care. And I even more love that acupuncturists have already been doing it for thousands of years and do these sorts of treatments all the time too.
So why does this point work? Well, classic TCM says it's because it's where those three big yin channels all meet. So the energy or the qi is concentrated and the body responds in remarkable ways when we awaken and stimulate and invigorate this qi, and that it travels especially into the areas where the acupuncture channel runs- like through the pelvis in this case.
More modern neurological understanding shows that this point is exactly where some afferent fibers of the tibial nerve run and that they extend up the leg to the sacral nerve plexus, which is a network of nerves that influence the function of the skin, the muscles, and the tissues of the pelvis.
Now however you want to look at it there's lots of great studies that show Spleen 6 can get a lot of great results.
Much like I covered in the Body Boost Brain Calm video, these big deep achy leg acupressure points respond super well to just some steady deep manual pressure. You can definitely just use your thumb or your fingers and some nice firm pressure. It should ache a little bit.
Now I like to experiment and see how it feels to press straight down behind the back of the shinbone and then compare it to how it feels to kind of dig down and under that bone. See if one feels more right for you and your body or just do some of both. You can do slow circles on this point. You can press and hold and release. You can do one side for a couple of minutes and then switch to the other.
You can also totally get a knobby massage tool like this to use or simply substitute something like the fairly fat handle of a larger makeup brush. If you want to know how to use mobile, multiple acupressure points together to do a treatment, or again if you're worried about when it's safe to do these points, that's all on the acupressure basics video so be sure to check that out if you're wanting to — wait for it — go "deeper" with your acupressure knowledge and skills.
You know I can't say no to a cheesy pun.
So that's it. Spleen 6. Good for pelvic relaxation and blood circulation which translates to it being great for loads of things from period cramps, to urinary frequency, to better blood flow to get those meds where you want them.
Now you know how to find it, what it's good for and why, and the best ways to stimulate it.
Now please know that your word of mouth and shout outs on social media are so appreciated and so important to this channel gaining some steam. So please spread the word if you like what you're learning here. If you don't want to miss out on future videos I would love for you to hit that subscribe button. If you've got a question or a topic you'd like to hear me cover definitely leave it in a comment.
Of course I would love to invite you to check out thebabyyouwant.com. TBYW TV is just one layer of The Baby You Want world. There's great guest articles, blog posts, quizzes, the IVF Insider Guide, and of course the full 90-day mind body evidence-based fertility program, all there waiting for you. Check it out.
As always I'm out in the world cheering you on. And I want to say thanks for hitting play and spending.