帶脈 : Daimai : Girdling Vessel

Location Guides:

Classifications:

Homeostatic point 14 (Ma, Ma & Cho, 2005, Biomedical Acupuncture for Pain Management)
Trigger point (Travell & Simons, 1998, Trigger Point Manual)

Meetings:

Meeting of Gall Bladder with Dai Mai and Kidney Divergent

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Location:

Directly below Zhangmen Liv-13 (anterior and inferior to the 11th rib), level with the umbilicus. The Systematic Classic describes it as 1 cun 8 fen below the region of the free rib.

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Needling:

Perpendicular insertion 0.5 - 1 cun

Warnings:

In thin subjects deep needling may penetrate the peritoneal cavity.

Classical Needling:

"The Shaoyang usually has little Blood and much Qi" (Su Wen 素問 ch. 24) implying this channel should normally be needled.
"The foot Shaoyang is to be pierced 4 fen deep and remain inserted for five exhalations" (Ling Shu 靈樞 ch. 12).
"It is needled to a depth of six fen and moxaed with five cones" (Huangfu Mi 皇甫謐, 3rd Century, Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing 針灸甲乙經).

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TCM Actions:

Regulates the Dai Mai and drains Dampness
Regulates mentruation and stops leucorrhoea
Activates the channel and alleviates pain

TCM Indications:

• Red an white leucorrhoea, disorders of menstruation, irregular menstruation, amenorrhoea, infertility, uterine prolapse, hardness and pain of the hypogastrium in women, lower abdominal pain in women.
  
• Unendurable pain of the lateral costal region which radiates to the back, pain of the lateral costal region, lumbar pain, Shan (疝) Disorder, tenesmus, clonic spasm.

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Neuroanatomy:

Superficial Innervation: Subcostal nerve from T12

Dermatome Segment: T12

Deeper Structures: Superior cluneal from lateral branches of L1 - L3

Trigger Point Associations:

Muscle:
Lateral abdominals

Myotome Innervation:
Thoraco - abdominal nerves (T6 - T11), subcostal nerve (T12); iliohypogastric and ilioinguinal nerves (L1)

Pain Referral Pattern:
From point and inferiorly to groin with spillover across abdomen

Indications:
Abdominal pain and digestive discomfort

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Martial Applications & Effects of Injury:

See Montaigue, Dim Mak Locations, Taijiworld.com for explanation of effects.

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Major Combinations:

• Red and white leucorrhoea:
    Daimai GB-26 with Guanyuan Ren-4, Qihai Ren-6, Sanyinjiao Sp-6, Baihuanshu Bl-30 and Jianshi Pc-5
    (Great Compilation).
  
  
• Amenorrhoea:
    Daimai GB-26 with Xuehai Sp-10
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).
  
  
• Irregular menstruation:
    Daimai GB-26 with Qihai Ren-6, Zhongji Ren-3, Shenshu Bl-23 and Sanyinjiao Sp-6
    (Wang Zhizhong, 王執中, 1220: Zhen Jiu Zi Sheng Jing, 針灸資生經, Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion).

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Notes:

This point is also on the 3rd trajectory of the Chong mai connecting the Chong with the Du (Yuen, 2005, The Eight Extraoridinary Vessels).

It would also be on the trajectory of the Dai mai as described in the classical texts such as the Nei Jing and Ling Shu where considered the Dai mai as simple a circle around the waist level to Shenque Ren-8 and Mingmen Du-4 instead of the traditional points (ibid.).

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Avicenna describes cupping at this point in his treatise On Cupping:

"Cupping on the loins helps in cases of boils, scabies, and pustules of the thigh; gout, haemorrhoids, elephantiasis, gas of the bladder and uterus; and itching of the back. The cupping would have the same effect whether the cupping was with heat or without, or with slitting (scarification) or without. The cupping with slitting is more effective in non-gaseous situations, and the one with slitting is better in disintegrating the cold gas and removing it form the loins and from any other location." (Aspects of Treatment According to General Diseases, 22nd section in Abu-Asab, Amri & Micozzi, 2013, Avicenna's Medicine)

There are several ambiguities in this paragraph such as the exact location of the "loins", technically described as the region between the lowest rib and the hips, at this point, but also often in literature indicating the groin. Second, both examples suggest "with slitting" when one ought to be without, but without the original text (and a crash course in classical Arabic) then I cannot determine which is with and which is without.

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In Tibetan medicine:
Moxa point (AMNH, Tibetan Medical Paintings)

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Reference Notes:

Basic information on location, needle depth, TCM actions, indications and combinations is taken from Deadman et al (2001): A Manual of Acupuncture with additional anatomical information researched by reference to Gray's Anatomy (38th Ed., 1995) unless otherwise referenced. Images were found on acupunctureschoolonline.com and can be traced back to Claudia Focks (2008) Atlas of Acupuncture originally. I cannot claim any credit or rights over them. Other sources should be quoted in the text.

For some of the more unusual terms I have created a glossary here

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