Xinhui

What is GV22?

GV22 (Xinhui) is a Governing Vessel point on the midline of the top of the head, about two thumb-widths behind the front hairline.

Its Chinese name, Xinhui, means fontanelle meeting. That is a direct reference to the soft spot on a baby's skull, which sits in roughly this place before it closes. Classical texts warn practitioners away from this area in young children for exactly that reason.

In traditional Chinese medicine the Governing Vessel runs up the spine and over the head. GV22 sits on that line between the forehead and the crown. Texts group it with points said to clear the head, settle dizziness and open the nose.

Two honest points before you read further. Long use in tradition is not evidence that a point works, and it is not evidence that it is safe either. Old texts did not run trials, and some of their advice has not aged well.

The evidence verdict for GV22 is short. No useful human research tests this point on its own. Acupressure research as a whole is mostly small, unblinded and short-term, which means expectation and attention can explain a lot of what people feel. A few points do better than that; PC6 for nausea has real controlled trials behind it. GV22 does not.

What is left is a mild, low-cost self-care habit. Steady finger pressure on the scalp feels calming to many people, and that is a reasonable thing to want. Treat it as comfort, not treatment.

Everything on this page is self-applied finger pressure. We do not give needling instructions, and nothing here should break the skin. If a trial we mention used needles, that is what the researchers did, not what you should do.

This page covers where GV22 sits, how people press it, what tradition claims, who should leave it alone, and when a headache means you should see a doctor instead.

Where is GV22 and how do you find it?

GV22 sits on the midline of the scalp, about two thumb-widths behind the middle of your front hairline.

• Start at the hairline. Find the middle of your natural front hairline, directly above the bridge of your nose. If your hairline has receded, use the point about three finger-widths above your eyebrows as a stand-in.
• Trace the midline back. Run a fingertip straight back over the top of your head, keeping it exactly in the centre. This centre line is the path of the Governing Vessel.
• Measure two cun. In classical terms GV22 is 2 cun behind the front hairline. For most adults that is about two thumb-widths, or roughly 4 to 5 cm. Use your own thumb, not someone else's.
• Cross-check from the crown. GV20 (Baihui) sits at the very top of the head, on the line joining the tips of both ears. GV22 lies about three thumb-widths in front of GV20, still on the midline.
• Feel the surface. You will feel firm bone with thin skin and hair over it. There is no deep hollow here in an adult, so do not go hunting for one.

In a baby, this area may be a soft, slightly springy patch that moves with the pulse. That is the open fontanelle. It usually closes between 12 and 18 months. Never press there.

Many people find the spot feels slightly tender or tingly when touched, and that is normal. Tenderness is not proof you are in the right place, because the whole scalp is sensitive.

If you are unsure, stay conservative. What is agreed across sources is the midline position behind the hairline and in front of the crown. Pressing a centimetre off target on the scalp is harmless; pressing hard anywhere on the head is not.

How do you apply pressure to GV22?

1. Sit down first. Choose a chair with back support. Some people feel light-headed when working on head points, and sitting removes the risk of a fall.
2. Place one fingertip. Use the pad of your middle or index finger on the midline spot described above. One finger is enough; the area is small.
3. Press lightly. The scalp is thin and sits straight on bone. Aim for gentle, steady pressure that feels like firm contact, not a dig. If it hurts, you are pressing too hard.
4. Hold or circle. Either hold still for 30 to 60 seconds, or make small slow circles that move the scalp over the bone rather than dragging the skin.
5. Breathe slowly. Take easy breaths through the nose while you hold. Slow breathing is probably doing as much work as the finger.
6. Repeat sparingly. One to three short rounds, up to two or three times a day, is plenty. More is not better here.
7. Finish gently. Release slowly and rest for a moment before standing up.

Stop straight away if you feel dizzy, nauseated, or if a headache gets worse rather than easier. Stop if the skin becomes sore, red or tender to the touch afterwards.

Keep your nails short and your hands clean. A long nail on the scalp can scratch skin you cannot see.

Do not use hard tools, massage guns or pointed gadgets on this spot. The skull is close to the surface and there is nothing to gain from force.

If you are helping someone else, ask them to tell you how it feels and believe them. Never press the head of a person who cannot tell you to stop, including a sleeping child or anyone confused or drowsy.

What is GV22 traditionally used for?

• Headache and heaviness in the head. Classical texts list GV22 for frontal headache and a heavy, foggy feeling at the front of the skull. Human evidence for this point alone is absent. Some trials of acupuncture for tension headache use scalp points in a combination, but they cannot tell you what any one point contributed, and they used needles rather than fingers.
• Dizziness. Tradition describes GV22 as settling the head when things feel swimmy. No controlled study tests acupressure here for dizziness. If dizziness is new, repeated or comes with hearing changes, that is a reason to get checked, not to press harder.
• Blocked nose and sinus pressure. Because the Governing Vessel runs down to the nose, older sources link GV22 to nasal congestion, runny nose and nasal polyps. The research base for acupressure in rhinitis is small, unblinded and inconsistent, and none of it isolates GV22.
• Nosebleed. Several classical lists include GV22 for nosebleed. There is no modern evidence supporting this, and a nosebleed is managed by pinching the soft part of the nose and leaning forward, not by scalp pressure.
• Calming and winding down. Many people use slow scalp pressure as part of a bedtime routine. The plausible mechanism is simple relaxation from touch and slow breathing, which is real but not specific to GV22.
• Facial puffiness. Some texts mention swelling of the face. This claim has no modern support, and facial swelling that appears quickly needs medical assessment.

Across all of these, the honest summary is the same. Tradition is consistent, modern testing of this specific point is effectively missing, and what little acupressure research exists is short-term and easily influenced by expectation.

GV22 is reasonable to use as a gentle comfort habit alongside proper care. It is not a substitute for treating the cause of a symptom.

Are there tips for using GV22 effectively?

• Use your own thumb as the ruler. Cun measurements scale to the body they belong to. Measuring two of your own thumb-widths back from your hairline gets you closer than any fixed number of centimetres.
• Part the hair first. Finding skin rather than hair gives you better contact and stops you dragging strands, which is what usually makes scalp work uncomfortable.
• Go lighter than you expect. There is no muscle bulk here to work through. Light, steady contact on the scalp is the right dose; heavy pressure just presses skin into bone.
• Pair it with slow breathing. Four counts in, six counts out, for the length of the hold. The breathing is the part with the most support behind it for feeling calmer.
• Pick a consistent time. Evening, or after screen-heavy work, suits most people. A habit you repeat is easier to judge than a random press now and then.
• Keep a two-week note. Write down headache days, sleep quality or congestion before and after. Honest tracking tells you more than how you feel in the moment.
• Sit when you do it. It takes a minute, and it removes any risk of stumbling if you feel briefly light-headed.
• Mind your nails. Short, clean nails prevent scratches on scalp skin you cannot easily see or check.
• Stop at the first sign of soreness. Tender scalp the next day means you overdid the pressure, not that it is working.
• Keep it as an add-on. Use it alongside hydration, sleep, and any medication your doctor has prescribed, not instead of them.

If two weeks of consistent use changes nothing in your notes, that is useful information. Drop it and spend the effort on something with better evidence behind it.

What do people get wrong with GV22?

• Expecting a cure. Videos sometimes present scalp points as a fix for migraine or sinus disease. No acupressure point cures anything, and GV22 has no trial evidence of its own at all.
• Pressing a baby's soft spot. The name Xinhui refers to the fontanelle, and in infants this area may still be open. Firm pressure on an unfused skull is genuinely unsafe.
• Confusing it with GV20. GV20 (Baihui) sits at the crown, on the line between the ear tips. GV22 is about three thumb-widths further forward. Many online guides show one and name the other.
• Measuring from the eyebrows. The landmark is the front hairline, not the brow. Using the eyebrow as the starting point lands you well forward of GV22.
• Drifting off the midline. GV22 is on the centre line of the skull. Wandering sideways puts you on a different channel entirely.
• Using too much force. People press hard because the scalp feels thin. Hard pressure on bone causes tenderness and bruising of the skin without any added benefit.
• Using tools or gadgets. Pointed massage tools, hard rollers and percussion devices do not belong on the skull midline.
• Pressing through a headache that is getting worse. A headache that keeps building while you work on it is telling you to stop and have it looked at.
• Treating a nosebleed with it. First aid for a nosebleed is pinching the soft part of the nose and leaning forward. Scalp pressure does nothing for it.
• Delaying real care. The biggest risk with any self-care point is the appointment it postpones. New, severe or changing head symptoms need a doctor.

What does the research on GV22 actually say?

There is no useful human research on GV22 on its own. We found no controlled trial, and no reliable observational study, that tests finger pressure at this point for headache, dizziness, nasal congestion or anything else.

What exists nearby is weaker than it first looks. Trials of acupuncture for tension-type headache and migraine often include head and scalp points as part of a fixed combination. Those studies used needles inserted by practitioners, not finger pressure, and a combination design cannot tell you what any single point added. GV20 at the crown turns up far more often in that literature than GV22 does.

Acupressure research in general shares the same weaknesses. Studies tend to be small, run for a few weeks, and compare real pressure against no treatment or a waiting list. Participants almost always know which group they are in. That makes expectation, attention and the simple comfort of being touched very hard to separate from any effect of the point itself.

It is worth saying what good evidence looks like, so you can judge claims yourself. PC6 on the inner wrist has repeated controlled trials for nausea and vomiting, including after surgery and in pregnancy. That is the strongest case in the whole acupressure literature, and even there the effects are modest. Nothing of that quality exists for GV22.

None of this means pressing GV22 is harmful. Gentle scalp pressure is low-risk for most adults. It means that if it helps you, the likely reasons are relaxation, slow breathing and the natural waxing and waning of symptoms, rather than something specific to this spot.

Be cautious with any site that cites a trial proving GV22 works for sinus problems or dizziness. We could not find one, and we would rather tell you that than invent a reference.

If better research appears, this page will be updated. Until then, treat GV22 as tradition with no modern test behind it.