GB-22 (Yuan Ye) Armpit Abyss

What does GB-22 Yuan Ye do?

GB-22 regulates qi and unbinds the chest, and benefits the axilla — a point on the side of the chest, directly below the armpit.

• Regulates qi and unbinds the chest — opening a tight, oppressed chest and side
• Benefits the axilla — the local action, the point sitting on the mid-axillary line below the armpit

A lateral-chest point, on the side of the ribs. Unlike the front-of-chest points, GB-22 sits out on the mid-axillary line — the vertical line down from the centre of the armpit — over the ribs on the side of the body. Its chest-and-side action and its axillary action both belong there. Its near neighbour GB-23 Zhe Jin lies just one cun forward in the same rib space, and shares the chest-unbinding role.

On the name. “Yuan Ye” means Armpit Abyss or Armpit Fluid — yuan an abyss or deep pool, ye the armpit (or, in another reading, body fluid). The reading usually offered ties the name to the deep hollow of the armpit above the point.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (channel, action, location and translation records; the GB-23 record queried against our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

What is GB-22 Yuan Ye used for?

GB-22 is used for fullness of the chest, swelling of the armpit region, pain in the side, and pain or impaired movement of the arm. Our own indication record is reproduced here in full.

• Fullness of the chest
• Swelling of the axillary (armpit) region
• Pain in the hypochondriac (side) region
• Pain and motor impairment of the arm

All around the armpit and side. Chest fullness and side pain are the chest-unbinding action; armpit swelling and arm pain are local, the point below the armpit at the top of the side of the chest. It is a regionally coherent list.

An honest note. A lump or swelling in the armpit requires medical assessment — enlarged lymph nodes there can reflect infection or, importantly, breast or other cancer, and a persistent armpit lump should be investigated. Chest pain or fullness requires assessment to exclude cardiac and other serious causes. This record documents classical use only.

How it is combined. With GB-23 Zhe Jin alongside and SP-21 Da Bao (the great Luo of the Spleen, also on the side of the chest) for the flank, and with GB-34 Yang Ling Quan distally for the side and the sinews. All held here.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (indication and action records; the GB-23, GB-34 and SP-21 records queried from our own data), cross-referenced against multiple online sources.

Where is GB-22 Yuan Ye located?

GB-22 is on the side of the chest, below the armpit, three cun down from the armpit on the mid-armpit line, in the fourth rib space.

• On the mid-axillary line — the vertical line down from the centre of the armpit — with the arm raised
• 3 cun below the apex of the axilla (the top of the armpit)
• In the 4th intercostal space (nipple level at the front)

Found with the arm raised. Lifting the arm exposes the side of the chest and the mid-axillary line; GB-22 sits on that line, three cun below the armpit, in the 4th rib space. Its neighbour GB-23 Zhe Jin is one cun forward of it in the same space. The raised arm and the rib count are the landmarks.

On the name. “Yuan Ye” — Armpit Abyss, the deep hollow of the armpit, as noted above.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (location and translation records, retained unchanged; the GB-23 record queried from our own data).

• A Manual of Acupuncture (p. 440): On the mid-axillary line, in the fifth intercostal space, approximately 3 cun inferior to the apex of the axilla, at the level of the nipple.
• Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (p. 214): On the mid-axillary line when the arm is raised, 3 cun below the axilla, in the 4th intercostal space.

How is GB-22 Yuan Ye needled, and why only shallowly and obliquely?

Our own record states OBLIQUE insertion of 0.3–0.5 inch — deliberately shallow and angled — 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, 0.3–0.5 inch, skimming along the chest wall.
• Moxibustion: not listed in our record for this point.
• Regional anatomy: the point lies in the 4th intercostal space on the side of the chest; the intercostal nerve and vessels run under the rib above; immediately deep to the chest wall lie the pleura and the lung.

Hazard, stated plainly — the reason for the oblique needling. The serious risk at any point over the ribs is pneumothorax — puncturing the lung. A perpendicular or deep needle here can reach the pleura; the recorded oblique, shallow technique exists to prevent it. Our record carries no arterial caution at GB-22, and it is not among the nine points that do — the governing hazard is the lung. A practitioner’s point, not one for self-treatment.

What is not claimed. No study measuring a safe depth at GB-22 could be located, and none is borrowed; the oblique-and-shallow rule stands in its place. No case report naming GB-22 was located.

Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (needling record, retained unchanged including the oblique angle; 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 GB-22, and what should a reader know?

No trial isolates GB-22. 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. GB-22 Yuan Ye (“Armpit Abyss”) is a lateral-chest point on the mid-axillary line, three cun below the armpit in the 4th rib space. It regulates qi, unbinds the chest and benefits the axilla — its indications spanning the chest, side, armpit and arm. Because it lies over the ribs with the pleura beneath, it is needled obliquely and shallowly to avoid pneumothorax.

A safety note. A persistent armpit lump is a symptom to have investigated; this page records classical use and says so.

A note on searching for it. “GB 22”, “G 22” and “Yuanye” 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, location and needling records; the GB-23 record and the nine arterial cautions queried, against our own data).