Chimai

What is TE18?

TE18, or Chimai, is a point on the Triple Energizer channel on the bony bump behind the ear. Its name is usually translated as "spasm vessel" or "feeding vessel".

In classical texts TE18 belongs to a short run of points that curve around the back of the ear, from TE17 at the earlobe up to TE20 above it. Tradition linked this stretch to the ears, the head and the eyes, and TE18 in particular to startle, fright and convulsions in small children.

It is a point most practitioners learn but few use often. Compared with workhorse points like LI4 or PC6, TE18 sits in the background of the tradition rather than at its centre.

The honest verdict on evidence is short: there is essentially no human research on TE18 as a point in its own right. Nothing here is a treatment for ear disease, hearing loss or seizures, and pressing it should never replace medical care.

Two things worth saying once, clearly. Traditional standing is not evidence that a point does anything, and it is not evidence that a point is safe. Both have to be checked separately, and for TE18 the first check comes back empty while the second depends mostly on what is going on in the skin and bone under your fingers.

What finger pressure here can reasonably offer is what gentle pressure anywhere offers: a few minutes of calm attention, some relief of muscle tension around the jaw and skull base, and a sense of doing something while you wait for proper advice. That is modest, and it is the truthful ceiling.

The area also carries a specific, practical risk. Redness, heat, swelling or deep tenderness over the bone behind the ear can mean a mastoid infection (an infection of the skull bone behind the ear), which needs same-day medical attention rather than massage.

Where is TE18 and how do you find it?

TE18 sits on the bony bump behind your ear, about a third of the way up the curve that runs from the earlobe hollow to the top of the ear.

• Find the bone first. Run a fingertip behind your ear and you will feel a firm bump of skull, the mastoid process. TE18 lies on or just in front of that bone, not in soft tissue.
• Mark the bottom of the curve. Press gently into the hollow right behind the earlobe, where the lobe meets the jaw. That dip is TE17 (Yifeng), the starting point of the curve.
• Mark the top of the curve. Fold your ear forward; the spot just above the tip of the folded ear, at the hairline, is TE20 (Jiaosun), the end of the curve.
• Trace the arc. Imagine a line that follows the back edge of your ear from the lower hollow up to that top spot, curving with the ear rather than cutting straight across.
• Take the lower third. TE18 is agreed to sit at about the junction of the lower third and middle third of that arc, roughly one to two centimetres above the hollow behind the earlobe.
• Check the feel. Most people find a slightly tender, firm spot there against bone. If your finger sinks into a soft gap, you have slipped down towards TE17; if you are up at the hairline, you have gone past towards TE19 and TE20.

Traditional sources describe the whole arc as about three cun long, which is roughly the width of four of your own fingers held together. TE18 is one finger-width or so up from the bottom of that span.

It is easier to find in a mirror the first time, and easier on someone else than on yourself. Work with the pad of a finger, and keep everything you do on the surface of the skin.

How do you apply pressure to TE18?

1. Check the skin first. Look and feel behind the ear. If the area is red, hot, swollen, weeping or sharply painful, stop and see a doctor rather than pressing.
2. Sit down and settle. Sit upright with your shoulders loose. This area is close to the balance organs of the inner ear, so being seated avoids a stumble if you feel light-headed.
3. Use the pad of one finger. The index or middle fingertip works best. Keep nails off the skin entirely; a short nail can still break skin over bone.
4. Press lightly into bone. Aim for steady pressure straight in towards the skull, firm enough to feel a dull ache and no more. Bone has little padding, so this needs much less force than a shoulder or calf.
5. Hold or circle. Either hold still for 20 to 30 seconds, or make small slow circles that move the skin over the bone rather than dragging across it.
6. Do both sides. Work one side, then the other, or use both index fingers at once. One to three minutes per side is plenty.
7. Repeat sparingly. Once or twice a day is reasonable. There is no benefit in grinding away at the same spot for longer.
8. Finish gently. Ease off slowly, then rest for a minute before standing, especially if you are prone to dizziness.

Stop immediately if you get sharp pain, new dizziness, a spinning feeling, ringing that gets louder, nausea, or any numbness or tingling. Stop too if the skin stays red or sore for more than an hour afterwards.

Keep it to finger pressure. Do not use hard tools, pointed massagers or anything that breaks the skin, and do not apply heat to an area you cannot see.

If you are pressing on behalf of a child or an older person, use noticeably lighter pressure and ask them to tell you the moment it stops feeling comfortable.

What is TE18 traditionally used for?

• Ringing in the ears. Classical sources list TE18 for tinnitus (noise in the ears with no outside source) and for ear pain or discharge, because the point sits on the channel arc around the ear. Human trials of acupuncture for tinnitus exist but are small, mixed and mostly involve needling other points; none of them isolate TE18, so there is no evidence it helps.
• Headache around the ear and temple. Tradition used points along this arc for one-sided head pain and heaviness. The only honest support is general: gentle pressure on tight muscle and fascia around the skull base can feel soothing, which is not the same as treating a headache disorder.
• Fright and convulsions in young children. The name Chimai is tied to the old indication of infantile fright and spasm. This is historical description, not a treatment. A child who is convulsing needs emergency help immediately, and TE18 has no role in that situation.
• Vomiting and diarrhoea in children. Some classical lists include these for TE18. There is no human research supporting this use, and dehydration in a small child is a medical matter, not a pressure-point matter.
• Blurred or unclear vision. Older texts mention eye symptoms for points on this part of the channel. No modern study tests TE18 for vision, and any new or sudden change in sight needs a professional eye check the same day.
• General calming. Many people simply find slow pressure behind the ears relaxing. That effect is real and is also non-specific, meaning it is about the touch and the pause rather than about this particular point.

Put plainly: TE18 has a reasonable traditional pedigree and almost no modern evidence base of its own. Use it, if you use it, as a small comfort measure alongside proper care, with no expectation of changing a diagnosis.

Are there tips for using TE18 effectively?

• Less force than you think. TE18 lies on bone with thin skin over it. Light, steady pressure is more comfortable and no less useful than digging in, and it avoids bruising the periosteum (the sensitive lining of bone).
• Warm your hands. Cold fingertips behind the ear make most people tense up. Rub your palms together for a few seconds first so the contact feels pleasant rather than startling.
• Mind the hair and earrings. Tie hair back and take out heavy earrings so you are pressing skin, not dragging strands or metal across it.
• Pair it with jaw release. Let your teeth part and your tongue drop from the roof of your mouth while you press. Much of the tension people feel behind the ear comes from a clenched jaw.
• Breathe out into the pressure. Press as you exhale slowly and ease off as you inhale. This keeps the force light and stops you bracing your neck.
• Give it a fixed trial. If you are trying TE18 for a recurring symptom, run it for two weeks and write down what happens. An honest record beats a vague impression, and it tells you when to stop bothering.
• Do both sides evenly. Ear and head symptoms often feel one-sided, but there is no reason to pound the painful side. Equal, gentle attention both sides is more comfortable.
• Use it as a pause, not a fix. The main realistic benefit is a couple of quiet minutes. Treat it as a cue to sit down and slow your breathing, and the time is well spent regardless.
• Keep it clean. Wash your hands first. Skin behind the ear is folded and warm, and it picks up irritation easily.

If pressing here reliably makes you dizzy, queasy or more aware of ringing, that is useful information. Drop the point and mention the symptom to your doctor.

What do people get wrong with TE18?

• Expecting a cure. The commonest mistake is hoping TE18 will clear tinnitus or restore hearing. No acupressure point does that, and the evidence for this point specifically is effectively absent.
• Landing on TE17 instead. People press the soft hollow right behind the earlobe, which is TE17 (Yifeng), not TE18. TE18 is about a finger-width higher, up on the firm bone.
• Pressing an infected mastoid. Massaging a behind-the-ear area that is red, hot, swollen or throbbing can make things worse and delays care. Those signs can mean mastoiditis, a bone infection that needs same-day treatment.
• Using too much force on bone. Hard, grinding pressure here causes a lingering bruised ache rather than better results. Light contact is the point.
• Using nails or tools. Fingernails, pens and hard massage picks break thin skin over the mastoid easily. Only the soft pad of a finger belongs here.
• Treating a seizing child. Because of the old "fright and spasm" indication, some people try this point during a child's convulsion. Call emergency services, protect the child's head, and do not press anything.
• Ignoring sudden hearing loss. Hearing that drops suddenly in one ear is time-critical and treatable if seen quickly. Spending a week on acupressure first can cost the outcome.
• Working over surgery or implants. Pressing behind an ear that has had mastoid surgery, a cochlear implant or recent stitches risks real harm. Wait until a surgeon clears the area.
• Doing it too long. Twenty minutes on one spot does not multiply any effect. A minute or two per side is the sensible dose.

A simple rule covers most of these: if the area looks or feels wrong, or the symptom is new and severe, that is a reason to see someone, not a reason to press harder.

What does the research on TE18 actually say?

No useful human research on TE18 on its own was found. There are no controlled trials, and no published studies that isolate this point for tinnitus, headache, ear pain, childhood convulsions or anything else.

What exists nearby is research on acupuncture for tinnitus and for ear symptoms generally. Those reviews consistently describe the trials as small, poorly blinded and of low certainty, with results that do not hold up well against sham comparisons. They also involve needling multi-point prescriptions, not self-applied finger pressure, and TE18 is not usually among the main points chosen.

That matters more than it sounds. Evidence from a needled combination of six or eight points cannot be transferred to one point pressed with a fingertip. The treatment is different, the dose is different, and the person giving it is different.

The wider acupressure literature is a little better but still thin. It is dominated by PC6 for nausea and vomiting, which has genuine controlled human trials behind it, and by a handful of points studied for pain, sleep and anxiety with small, short-term, unblinded designs. TE18 appears in none of this work in any meaningful way.

So the honest reading is: traditional texts describe TE18 clearly and consistently, and modern science has simply not tested it. Absence of evidence is not proof that the point does nothing, but it does mean nobody can tell you it works, and nobody should sell it to you as though they could.

For a reader, the practical consequence is to keep expectations low and keep medical care in place. If you have persistent ringing, hearing change, ear discharge, dizziness or headaches that are new or worsening, those need assessment. Finger pressure behind the ear is at best a pleasant few minutes alongside that assessment, and at worst a reason someone waited too long to get seen.