“Acupressure: Simple Steps to Health” by Jacqueline Young

I’m often asked if I can recommend books, and until I came across this one I didn’t really know of any really good books specifically on acupressure and the acupoints… but now jacqueline Young’s book is the one I recommend

This is a great book if you’re looking for an ‘atlas’ of acupoints, with good descriptions and photos, making it easy to find the points on yourself, or others. The actions of the points are also well described, so you know how and when to use them. Some points have contra-indications (for instance there are some that shouldn’t be used during pregnancy) and these are well marked.

This book doesn’t cover all the points – no surprise as there are over 360 of them – but it does show you over 100 of the most useful.

The layout is by body part/system, which makes it easy to find points that might be useful. For instance, chapter 6, Digestion, has sub-sections on constipation, appetite, heartburn and more. These are sensible, well thought out, and easy to follow.

This book doesn’t go much into the theories of Chinese medicine – there are much better books if that’s what you’re after – but as an accessible guide to acupressure, or even just as a good guide to the locations and uses of the acupoints, it is excellent.

This isn’t a new book, and sadly it seems to be out of print at the moment. However, there are plenty of cheap second-hand copies available on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com