Suliao

What is GV25?

GV25, or Suliao, is the Governing Vessel point sitting dead centre on the tip of the nose.

The Governing Vessel is one of the midline channels of Chinese medicine. It is described as running up the spine, over the head and down the face. GV25 is one of its last points before the channel reaches the upper lip and gum.

Classical texts group Suliao with the nose and with sudden collapse. It appears in old lists for a blocked or runny nose, nosebleed, a red swollen nose, and for rousing someone who has fainted. In those same texts it is a revival point, used alongside GV26 below the nose.

Two things are worth saying plainly, and we will only say them once. First, a long tradition behind a point is not evidence that pressing it does anything. Second, tradition is not evidence that it is safe for you; safety depends on your skin, your nose and your health, not on the age of the idea.

The honest verdict on evidence: there is essentially none for GV25 as a self-applied acupressure point. The point sits in most standard textbooks, so it is well established in teaching. But we could not find controlled human trials testing finger pressure on Suliao for congestion, nosebleed, fainting or anything else. Most of the modern nose research uses other points, such as LI20 beside the nostril or Yintang between the brows.

Acupressure evidence in general is thin. Studies tend to be small, short and unblinded, which makes expectation and attention hard to separate from any real effect. A few uses have decent support, such as PC6 for nausea. GV25 is not one of them.

Treat it as a gentle, low-cost comfort habit, not a treatment. It is on the face, in a region where skin infections are taken seriously, so the care section below matters more than usual.

Where is GV25 and how do you find it?

GV25 sits exactly on the midline at the tip of your nose, on the soft rounded front of it.

• Start at the bridge. Put a fingertip on the hard bony ridge between your eyes, then slide down the middle of your nose.
• Feel the change. Partway down, the hard bone gives way to springy cartilage. Keep going along that midline.
• Stop at the tip. The last point before the nose turns under toward your nostrils is the nose tip. That rounded highest spot is GV25.
• Check the midline. Look in a mirror. The point should line up with the middle of your upper lip and the gap between your front teeth.
• Confirm by feel. Press lightly. It should feel soft and slightly springy, not hard, and the whole nose tip should move a little.

There is no cun measurement to convert here, which is unusual. Every standard text simply places Suliao on the tip of the nose, so you do not need to count thumb-widths from anywhere.

Two nearby points are easy to confuse with GV25. LI20 (Yingxiang) is not on the tip at all; it sits in the crease beside each nostril, roughly where a smile line starts. GV26 (Shuigou) is lower again, in the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip. If your finger is in a groove or a crease, you are not on GV25.

One practical note: everything on this page is finger pressure only. Nothing here involves needles, heat, suction or breaking the skin, and the nose tip is a poor place to improvise.

How do you apply pressure to GV25?

1. Wash your hands. This point is on the face, inside the area doctors treat cautiously for infection. Clean hands and clean skin first, every time.
2. Use one fingertip. The pad of an index finger or thumb is enough. Keep nails short so no edge digs into the skin.
3. Press straight back. Aim gently toward the middle of your head, not sideways into a nostril. The nose tip will flatten slightly.
4. Keep it light. Use about the force you would use to test a ripe peach. The nose tip is cartilage and thin skin, and it bruises and reddens easily.
5. Hold, then release. Hold steady for 20 to 30 seconds, release for the same, and repeat two or three times.
6. Add small circles if you prefer. Slow, light circles for 30 seconds are a reasonable alternative to steady holding.
7. Limit how often. Once or twice a day is plenty. Repeated rubbing of nose-tip skin causes soreness and flaking.
8. Breathe normally. Do not hold your breath or pinch both nostrils shut while you press.

Stop straight away if you feel sharp pain, if the skin stings or burns, if the nose tip goes bright red and stays red, or if any bleeding starts. Stop also if you feel faint or light-headed while pressing on your own face.

Do not press GV25 on someone who has collapsed instead of calling for emergency help. Old texts describe the point as a revival point, but a collapsed person needs an ambulance and basic first aid, not a fingertip on the nose.

What is GV25 traditionally used for?

• Blocked or runny nose. The oldest and most common claim for GV25 is clearing the nose in colds and hay fever. No controlled human trial of finger pressure on this point for congestion was found, so this remains tradition plus personal experience.
• Nosebleed. Classical lists include Suliao for nosebleed. Modern first aid is clear and different: sit forward, pinch the soft part of the nose for ten minutes. Pressing the tip is not a tested treatment and should never replace that.
• Red or swollen nose. Texts mention a red, puffy or pimpled nose, which overlaps with what we now call rosacea. There is no human evidence that pressure changes this, and rubbing inflamed skin can make it worse.
• Loss of consciousness and shock. Suliao appears in revival protocols with GV26. Any modern research in this area studies needling in hospital settings, not self-applied pressure, and it is not strong. This is an emergency situation, not a self-care one.
• Low blood pressure and slow breathing. Some modern Chinese texts list these. The evidence behind the claim is weak and largely animal or uncontrolled work, and nothing supports finger pressure for them.
• Feeling foggy or sleepy. Many people use the nose tip as a quick alerting spot. Any effect here is plausibly just a small, brief jolt of sensation, which is not the same as a treatment.

Across the board, the realistic expectation is a short, mild sensory effect and perhaps some relaxation. If a nose symptom is persistent, severe or one-sided, it needs a proper look rather than more pressing.

Are there tips for using GV25 effectively?

• Use a mirror the first few times. The nose tip looks obvious but fingers drift sideways. A mirror teaches you where the true midline is.
• Go lighter than you think. Cartilage and thin skin do not reward hard pressing. If the skin blanches white and stays white, you are pressing too hard.
• Pair it with steam, not instead of it. For a blocked nose, a warm shower or a bowl of steam does more. Use GV25 as something you add, not something you substitute.
• Keep sessions short. Thirty seconds at a time, two or three rounds. Long sessions mainly produce a sore, shiny nose tip.
• Watch your skin type. If you have acne, rosacea or very dry skin on the nose, press through clean fingers only and skip it on days the skin is broken or flaring.
• Do not pick up a tool. No pen caps, massage sticks or pointed gadgets on the nose tip. A fingertip spreads the force; a hard point concentrates it.
• Track honestly. If you want to know whether it helps you, note your congestion before and twenty minutes after, for a week or two. Colds improve on their own, so a short note keeps you honest.
• Mind the moment. Pressing your own nose hard while driving or walking downstairs is a distraction. Sit down for it.
• Stop at the first sign of irritation. Redness that lingers, stinging or flaking means take several days off rather than pressing more gently.

None of these tips will make the point work better than the evidence allows. They mostly keep your skin intact and your expectations sensible.

What do people get wrong with GV25?

• Expecting a cure. The biggest mistake. GV25 will not cure hay fever, sinus disease, rosacea or low blood pressure, and no honest source will promise that.
• Confusing it with LI20. Many videos point at the crease beside the nostril and call it Suliao. That is LI20. GV25 is on the tip, on the midline.
• Confusing it with GV26. GV26 lies in the groove between nose and upper lip. It is the point most often shown in revival demonstrations, and it is not this one.
• Pressing during a nosebleed. People press the tip and let blood run back. Pinch the soft part below the bony bridge, lean forward, and hold for ten minutes instead.
• Using it as first aid for collapse. Treating a fainted or unresponsive person with a nose-tip press wastes the minutes that matter. Call emergency services first.
• Pressing far too hard. The nose tip is cartilage. Heavy pressure gives soreness, redness and sometimes a bruise, and does not add benefit.
• Pressing over spots or broken skin. Squeezing an inflamed nose with unwashed fingers risks spreading infection in a facial area where infection is taken seriously.
• Doing it too often. Several times an hour during a cold leaves the skin raw. Once or twice a day is enough.
• Dropping real treatment. Skipping an inhaler, antihistamine or antibiotic in favour of acupressure is the mistake that actually causes harm.
• Reading tradition as proof. Appearing in every textbook means the point is well taught, not that pressing it has been tested and worked.

What does the research on GV25 actually say?

There is essentially no useful human research on GV25 itself. We could not identify controlled trials testing acupressure or acupuncture at Suliao as the main intervention for nasal congestion, nosebleed, rosacea, low blood pressure or fainting.

That absence matters, and it is worth being clear about what it means. It does not prove the point does nothing. It means nobody has run the study that would tell us either way, so any confident claim about what GV25 does is going beyond the facts.

What research does exist nearby is about other points. Trials and systematic reviews of acupuncture for allergic rhinitis generally use combinations such as LI20 beside the nostril, Yintang between the brows and LI4 on the hand. Those reviews report modest symptom improvement at best, with frequent concerns about small samples, short follow-up and poor blinding. They do not tell you anything reliable about pressing your nose tip.

Similarly, the resuscitation literature that people cite for revival points centres on GV26, not GV25, and it is mostly animal work or small, uncontrolled hospital reports. It involves needling by practitioners, not fingertip pressure, and it does not support home use.

Where this leaves a reader: GV25 is a well-documented traditional point with an undocumented effect. Self-applied pressure on the nose tip is cheap, gentle and low-risk for most people with intact skin. Judged as a treatment, it is unproven, and it should sit alongside ordinary care rather than replace it.

If evidence specific to GV25 appears, this page will say so. We will not borrow results from neighbouring points to make the record look stronger than it is.