full ROUTINE STRUCTURE
A guided sequence using GB20, SI3, slow shoulder movement, and gentle neck rotation.
Guided self-care with safety and location checks before the timer.
The exact PointWell sequence, timing, and single-session format have not been directly tested as a complete clinical protocol.
Exact protocol: not validated. 300 seconds; learning, safety and check-in are outside the timer.
Sit or stand comfortably with your head facing forward. Let your jaw and shoulders relax without forcing your posture.
Use comfortable surface pressure or a gentle rub at left GB20. Stay in the soft hollow below the skull and do not press deeply.
Release and change sides.
Repeat the same gentle surface pressure on the right. Stop if you feel pain, dizziness, or anything unusual.
Let your neck rest and bring your hands into a comfortable position.
Find SI3 on the little-finger side of your left hand. Use comfortable pressure or a gentle rub for 30 seconds.
Release and change hands.
Repeat the same comfortable pressure on right SI3.
Roll your shoulders slowly back and down at an easy pace. Keep the movement small and comfortable.
Keeping your shoulders relaxed, gently turn your head to the left until you feel a mild stretch — never pain. Hold comfortably and breathe normally.
Return slowly to center, then turn gently to the right. Stop before pain, dizziness, tingling, numbness, weakness, or radiating symptoms.
Bring your head back to center, rest your hands, and let your shoulders soften. Keep your breathing natural and notice how the area feels now.
PointWell offers general self-care and educational guidance and is not a substitute for diagnosis, treatment, or emergency medical care.
Mild, familiar tension after sitting, screen use, or everyday muscle tightness.
Choose medical evaluation for severe neck pain, recent accident or injury, pain traveling into an arm or leg, new numbness or tingling, weakness, balance or coordination problems, fever with marked neck stiffness, or other new neurological symptoms.
Skip numb skin, wounds, severe swelling, active infection, or recent blood-clot areas.
Stay at the surface of the soft hollow below the skull. Do not dig deeply under the skull or probe into the neck.
Stop for pain, radiating symptoms, numbness, tingling, dizziness, or weakness.
not_used
GB20 (Fengchi) and SI3 (Houxi) have long-standing traditional associations with head, neck, and upper-body stiffness. Traditional use does not prove that the PointWell sequence treats neck pain.
GB20 and SI3 appear in VA acupressure self-care guidance for neck discomfort. Direct GB20-alone RCT evidence is not established, and SI3 manual independent efficacy is not established. SI3 acupuncture evidence cannot be transferred to manual self-acupressure. Gentle neck rotation has standard patient exercise guidance.
Supportive self-care guidance
Guidance present / limited
Not established
Prohibited
General stretching guidance; 15–30 sec per side
Not validated
The exact PointWell sequence, timing, and single-session format have not been directly tested as a complete clinical protocol.
GB20 and SI3 appear in VA neck self-care guidance, but neither the independent SI3 manual effect nor this exact combination is established. SI3 needle-based acupuncture evidence is not transferred to manual self-acupressure. Neck rotation guidance remains a separate movement component.
This routine is designed around familiar mild tightness after sitting or screen-heavy work. Pain after an injury, persistent pain, radiating symptoms, weakness, numbness, or balance changes deserve medical evaluation rather than repeated self-care.
How does your neck and shoulder area feel?
Immediate self-report only; not a clinical outcome, treatment response, or efficacy measure.
Return your head to neutral and move back into your day gradually. Regular movement and workstation habits matter more than repeatedly forcing a tight area.
