DU-27 (Dui Duan) Extremity of the Mouth

What does DU-27 Dui Duan do?

DU-27 clears heat, generates fluid and benefits the mouth, and calms the spirit — a point at the edge of the upper lip.

• Clears heat, generates fluid and benefits the mouth — for heat and dryness of the mouth, gums and lips; “generating fluid” addresses dryness
• Calms the spirit — the spirit-settling action, behind its use for mental disorders

A mouth point, near the end of the Governing vessel. DU-27 sits on the upper lip, just below the nose-tip point DU-25 and the philtrum point DU-26, near where the Governing vessel ends at the gum (DU-28). Its mouth-and-heat action is local, and its spirit-calming action is shared with the other terminal Governing points around the nose and mouth, which reach the brain in classical thought.

On the name. “Dui Duan” means Extremity of the Mouth or Mouth Tip — dui (in one reading) the mouth, duan the end, tip or extremity. It marks the point at the top edge of the mouth, where the upper lip meets the philtrum.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the DU-26 and DU-28 records queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is DU-27 Dui Duan used for?

DU-27 is used for mental disorders, twitching and stiffness of the lips, and pain and swelling of the gums. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Mental disorders
• Twitching of the lips
• Stiffness of the lips
• Pain and swelling of the gums

Mouth and spirit. Lip twitching and stiffness and gum pain-and-swelling are the local mouth action (heat and wind at the lips and gums); mental disorders are the calm-the-spirit action. It is a coherent mouth-and-spirit list for a point on the lip.

An honest note. A mental-health disorder is a matter for proper assessment and care. New twitching or stiffness of the lips or face — especially one-sided — requires assessment, as facial-nerve and neurological causes need diagnosis. Gum pain and swelling, especially with fever or a dental abscess, need dental or medical care. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With DU-26 Ren Zhong above and DU-28 Yin Jiao at the gum, and with LI-04 He Gu distally for the mouth and face. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the DU-26, DU-28 and LI-04 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is DU-27 Dui Duan located?

DU-27 is on the upper lip, at the top of the lip where it meets the philtrum, in the midline.

• On the labial tubercle of the upper lip (the small central prominence of the upper lip)
• On the vermilion border — the edge where the red of the lip meets the skin — between the philtrum and the upper lip
• In the midline, below DU-26 Ren Zhong (in the philtrum groove) and just outside DU-28 Yin Jiao (inside the lip on the gum)

Where the philtrum meets the lip. The philtrum is the vertical groove from nose to lip; DU-26 sits in it, and DU-27 sits just below, right at the top edge of the red upper lip in the midline. The vermilion border and the central labial tubercle fix it.

On the name. “Dui Duan” — Extremity of the Mouth, the top edge of the mouth, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the DU-26 and DU-28 records queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 560): On the midline, at the junction of the margin of the upper lip and the philtrum.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 235): On the labial tubercle of the upper lip, on the vermilion border between the philtrum and upper lip.

How is DU-27 Dui Duan needled?

Our own record states oblique-upward insertion of 0.2–0.3 inch, and 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: oblique, aimed upward, 0.2–0.3 inch — a shallow, angled insertion into the lip.
• Moxibustion: not listed — moxa is not used on the lip.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies in the upper lip (orbicularis oris muscle); the superior labial artery (a branch of the facial artery) runs in the lip, and the infraorbital nerve supplies the area; the maxilla and teeth lie deep.

Hazard, stated proportionately. This is a low-hazard point at its shallow depth: no cavity, no organ. The lip is vascular and bleeds readily, and it is sensitive, so needling is sharply felt. Our record carries no arterial caution at DU-27, and it is not among the nine points that do.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at DU-27 could be located, and none is needed at a fraction of an inch. No case report naming DU-27 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-27, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates DU-27. 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-27 Dui Duan (“Extremity of the Mouth”) is a Governing-vessel upper-lip point that clears heat, generates fluid, benefits the mouth and calms the spirit — its indications being lip twitching and stiffness, gum pain-and-swelling, and mental disorders. It sits at the top edge of the upper lip near the end of the Governing vessel, needled shallowly and obliquely upward, with no moxa.

A note on searching for it. “DU 27”, “GV 27” and “Duiduan” 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 and DU-28 records queried, against our own data).