Acupuncture points of the cervical plexus.

Abstract

Acupuncture points in the neck region are basically distributed along the terminal branches of the cervical plexus. There are two components of the plexus, cutaneous and muscular. The cutaneous component of the cervical plexus consists of four major branches which are the lesser occipital, great auricular, transverse cervical, and supraclavicular nerves. Practically all of the acupuncture points in the neck are found along the routes of these cutaneous nerves. It is suggested that acupuncture points in this region be names according to the anatomical designation of these nerves.