-
Judy, I hope your daughter is doing well and recovering from her injury! This is a late response as I am just seeing this now, but I think it’s worth mentioning.
The acupuncture points at the fingers and toes are the end or beginning of each of the 12 meridians and, like others have said, the Large Intestine or yang Metal meridian begins at the index finger. But most of those points (called jing-well points), with the exception of the Pericardium which ends at the tip of the middle finger, are located at the corner of the nail (picture below).
Traditionally this point category is bled with a lancet and indicated for clearing manifestations of extreme heat trapped in the channel, like strokes, seizures and manic episodes. Obviously as acupuncturists now we are rarely treating those conditions and I personally don’t needle the jing wells very often, but do occasionally and use moxa there as well–needling is strong and typically hurts, as our edges are most sensitive and have the greatest concentration of nerve endings.
I’m thinking that if her injury was at the tip of the finger, it’s actually “before” or beyond the meridian itself…perhaps why the body can regenerate the area “like a lizard’s tail” (amazing!!!). Thank you for sharing, this was interesting for me to think about, and I’m curious to know how she is doing!