A small but focused point tucked behind the ear. Qimai (SJ-18) works locally — calming the ear, easing headache and settling childhood convulsions — a quiet, precise point on a channel that loves to move and clear.
Name & story
The name 瘛脉 Qimai is usually translated as 'Spasm Vessel' or 'Convulsion Vessel'. 瘛 (chì) refers to convulsions or spasms — the involuntary twitching that can seize a child in a fever. 脉 (mài) means vessel or channel. So the name itself tells you the story: this point, sitting close to the ear and the head, was historically reached for when a child was seized by fever-driven spasms or when the channels of the head were in turmoil. It is a name that carries the memory of urgent, gentle hands pressing behind a sick child's ear.
Point family & character
Qimai (SJ-18) belongs to the San Jiao channel (SJ), the great channel of warmth, movement and transformation that governs the three body cavities. It is a local point on the ear region of the channel's pathway as it curves up and around the ear.
Five-element dynamics
The San Jiao channel belongs to the Fire element. Fire, in Chinese medicine, governs the Heart and the Shen — the mind and its clarity. When Fire rises excessively to the head, the result can be convulsions, headache, tinnitus and agitation. Qimai sits precisely at the ear, one of the body's most sensitive listening posts. By clearing Heat from the San Jiao channel and calming the churning of Wind within the channels of the head, it helps Fire find its proper place — warming and animating rather than overheating and disturbing.
Location
Qimai (SJ-18) is found directly behind the ear. It sits in the centre of the mastoid process, along the curve of the San Jiao channel as it traces its path from SJ-17 (below the ear) up toward SJ-19 (above the ear). A helpful guide: it lies at the junction of the lower one-third and upper two-thirds of the curved line connecting SJ-17 and SJ-20, behind the ear.
Anatomy & fascia
The point lies in the temporal region, on and around the posterior auricular vein and artery, in the area of the posterior auricular muscle.
Needling
The needle is inserted superficially, just under the skin in a horizontal or subcutaneous direction. Alternatively, in classical practice, a three-edged needle may be used to prick the point lightly and cause a small amount of bleeding — especially when clearing Heat or addressing convulsions.
Safe depth
Superficially, 0.1 Cun subcutaneously; or prick to bleed with a three-edged needle.
Moxa, cupping & Tui Na
Gentle massage or acupressure behind the ear at this point can be used at home to ease ear discomfort or headache. Given the point's nature — clearing Heat and calming — warming therapies such as Moxa are generally less appropriate here.
Functions
Clears Heat from the San Jiao channel; Opens the orifices; Calms spasms and convulsions; Removes Pernicious Qi; Benefits the ear; Revives from unconsciousness.
Indications
Tinnitus and ear disorders; headache, especially in the temporal and lateral head region; fever with convulsions (particularly in children); vomiting and diarrhoea in children; childhood fright and spasms. Historically used when Heat rises to the head and disturbs the sensory orifices.
Mind & spirit (Shen)
When Heat surges up through the San Jiao channel into the head, the Shen cannot rest — a child becomes frightened, convulses, loses consciousness. Qimai (SJ-18), by clearing the Heat that agitates the channels around the ear and head, helps restore calm to the orifices and, through them, to the Shen. It is a point that was turned to in moments of distress — a feverish, convulsing child — and its action is precisely that: to clear what is overwhelming, open what is blocked, and allow the child's spirit to find its way back to stillness.
Point combinations
Classically combined with other local points around the ear and temporal region for tinnitus, ear disorders and headache. May be used alongside points that clear Heat and extinguish Wind when addressing febrile convulsions in children.
Clinical spotlight
Qimai (SJ-18) is one of the classical points for childhood convulsions driven by fever — a condition that historically made parents desperate and practitioners reach for points close to the ear and head. The technique of pricking to bleed, recorded in classical sources, reflects the urgency of clearing sudden Heat from the channels. Today it remains a useful local point for ear complaints and lateral headache along the San Jiao channel pathway.
The golden tip
To ease discomfort around the ear or a throbbing headache on the side of the head, you can gently press or massage the area directly behind the ear, along the bony curve of the mastoid, finding the point between SJ-17 below and SJ-20 above. Light, circular pressure for a minute or two on each side can help ease tension and local discomfort.
For education only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified practitioner.