DU-25 (Su Liao) White Bone Hole

What does DU-25 Su Liao do?

DU-25 benefits the nose — a single, focused recorded action, on the very tip of the nose.

• Benefits the nose — the whole of the recorded action; the point sits on the nose tip, and every nasal indication follows from it

The nose-tip point. DU-25 is located on the tip of the nose — one of the most unmistakable points in the whole system — and its action is simply the nose. The Governing vessel runs down the midline of the face to the nose and lip; DU-25 is its nose-tip point, above DU-26 Ren Zhong in the philtrum. Its use for loss of consciousness places it with the resuscitation points of the region (DU-26 is the famous one), the nose tip being densely innervated and strongly stimulating.

A note on the rosacea indication. Among its indications is rosacea — the chronic redness and, in some, the bulbous swelling of the nose (rhinophyma) — a skin condition of the nose the point sits upon. There is modern interest in the nose tip and the autonomic nervous system, but the classical use here is straightforwardly local: a nose point for a condition of the nose.

On the name. “Su Liao” means White Bone Hole or Plain Bone Hole — su white, plain or unadorned, liao a bone hole. The reading ties “white/plain” to the Lung (whose colour is white and which opens to the nose), or simply to the plain tip of the nose.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the DU-26 record queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is DU-25 Su Liao used for?

DU-25 is used for loss of consciousness, blocked nose, nosebleed, runny nose, and rosacea. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Loss of consciousness
• Nasal obstruction (blocked nose)
• Epistaxis (nosebleed)
• Rhinorrhoea (runny nose)
• Rosacea (chronic redness of the nose)

The nose, and a resuscitation use. Blocked nose, nosebleed, runny nose and rosacea are all conditions of the nose the point sits on; loss of consciousness is the resuscitation use, the strongly-felt nose tip used (classically, often pricked to bleed) to rouse.

An honest and necessary note. Loss of consciousness is a medical emergency — a collapsed or unresponsive person needs immediate medical help (call emergency services, check breathing), not acupuncture; this is a historical resuscitation indication, not a substitute for emergency care. A nosebleed that will not stop, is heavy, or follows a head injury needs care. Rosacea is a medical skin condition best assessed and treated by a clinician. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With DU-26 Ren Zhong for the resuscitation use, and with LI-20 Ying Xiang and LU-07 Lie Que for the nose. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the DU-26, LI-20 and LU-07 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is DU-25 Su Liao located?

DU-25 is on the very tip of the nose.

• On the tip (apex) of the nose, in the midline
• The most distal point of the Governing vessel’s facial course, above DU-26 Ren Zhong in the philtrum

No landmark could be plainer. DU-25 sits on the tip of the nose — there is nothing to measure and nothing to mistake. It is one of a small handful of points defined purely by an obvious surface feature.

On the name. “Su Liao” — White Bone Hole, the plain tip of the nose, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the DU-26 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 558): On the midline at the tip of the nose.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 234): On the tip of the nose.

How is DU-25 Su Liao needled?

Our own record states perpendicular insertion of 0.2–0.3 inch, or pricking to cause bleeding — and it lists no moxibustion. What follows is a neutral record of what the reference literature documents. It is not instruction, and this page does not teach technique.

• Angle and depth as recorded: perpendicular, 0.2–0.3 inch — shallow, the nose tip having little tissue over its cartilage.
• Bleeding technique: our record offers pricking to bleed, the classical method for the resuscitation and heat/redness uses.
• Moxibustion: not listed — moxa is not used on the nose tip.
• Regional anatomy: the point overlies the cartilage of the nose tip; branches of the facial artery and the external nasal nerve run in the nose; cartilage lies immediately beneath.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point at its shallow depth: no cavity, no organ, cartilage beneath. The nose tip is extremely sensitive, so needling here is sharply felt — tolerability rather than danger — and the nose is vascular, so a prick bleeds readily. Our record carries no arterial caution at DU-25, and it is not among the nine points that do.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at DU-25 could be located, and none is needed at a fraction of an inch. No case report naming DU-25 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged; the nine arterial cautions queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources; regional anatomy from standard anatomical description.

Is there research on DU-25, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates DU-25. Where the point appears it is one component of a protocol, and a study that includes a point in a protocol is not evidence about that point.

What this page can state with confidence. DU-25 Su Liao (“White Bone Hole”) is the Governing vessel’s nose-tip point — its single action is to benefit the nose, and its indications are all of the nose (blocked, bleeding, running, rosacea), plus a classical resuscitation use for loss of consciousness. It is located on the tip of the nose, needled shallowly or pricked to bleed, with no moxa.

A safety note. Loss of consciousness is a medical emergency; this page records a historical resuscitation indication and says so.

A note on searching for it. “DU 25”, “GV 25” and “Suliao” searches return protocol trials and unrelated material. Any claim attached to this point should be checked against what a study actually used.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (action, indication and location records; the DU-26 record queried, against our own data).