GB22

Yuanye

Star

淵腋 (Yuānyè) — Armpit Abyss

Gallbladder channel · point 22

Not yet clinically reviewed

Cautions & contraindications

No deep needling

Location

On the lateral chest, on the mid-axillary line, in the fourth intercostal space, 3 cun below the axilla.

How to locate: With the arm slightly raised, follow the midaxillary line down about 3 cun from the apex of the axilla to the fourth intercostal space; counting ribs from the sternal angle (second rib) is more reliable than the nipple, especially in women, and the space rises slightly as it runs laterally.

Distances are in cun, a proportional unit — how to measure.

Body map, front: GB22 · Chest — Fig. — GB22 · Chest After Albinus, 1747

The thorax, from in front — Gray's Anatomy plate — The thorax, from in front Gray's Anatomy, 1918

3D view

3D view not available for this point: its position on the 3D model couldn't be checked against its location text, so it is not shown. The 2D maps above show it.

The lung is not drawn: the anatomical model used here does not include it as a surface. This is a limit of the model, not of the anatomy. The pneumothorax risk above still applies.

Needling

Cited needling

⚠ Pneumothorax

Transverse-oblique insertion — along the intercostal space

Depth 0.5–1 cun

skindeeper

Reported mean safe needling depth, mm — Taiwanese adults (CT)

	Underweight	Normal	Overweight
Men	22.0	30.7	45.2
Women	23.9	37.2	40.6

CT-measured mean safe needling depths from Taiwanese adults, by sex and body size (Lin et al. 2013); population-specific and a guide only — adjust to the patient in front of you.

Depths describe average adult habitus in the cited population, never a single safe number for the patient in front of you. Palpate and adjust.

Sources (3)

Lin JG, Chou PC, Chu HY. An exploration of the needling depth in acupuncture: the safe needling depth and the needling depth of clinical efficacy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:740508 — Tables 7 (male) and 8 (female), chest acupoints Supports: safe depth (measured)
World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.2 (Lung and pleura), p. 25 Supports: pneumothorax (names this region)
Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 440 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

No deep needling

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun

Angle: Oblique or transverse

⚠ Cautions: Pneumothorax risk on deep perpendicular insertion.

Functions

Regulates qi in the upper burner and relieves fullness of the chest and flanks
Activates the luo-connecting vessels of the axilla

Indications

Chest and hypochondriac pain and fullnessswelling of the axillapain of the arm

Sources

World Health Organization. WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2008. (Location.)
Focks C, ed. Atlas of Acupuncture. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2008. (Locating method and actions.)

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