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Channel: BL, foot greater yáng (tài yáng) bladder channel

Modern location: An acupoint located on the buttocks, level with the second sacral foramen, 3 cùn lateral to the midline.

Classical location: In the depression three cùn either side of the spine, below the nineteenth vertebra. The point is located in prostrate posture. From The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (针灸大成 zhēn jiǔ dà chéng)

Local anatomy: The superior gluteal artery and vein. Superior cluneal nerves; deeper, the superior gluteal nerve.

Action: Strengthens the lumbar vertebrae; frees bowel qì; disinhibits the lower burner.

Modern indications: Rumbling intestines; abdominal distension; constipation; dribbling urinary block; back pain.

Classical indications: Urinary stoppage; abdominal pain.

Needle stimulus: Needling: 0.7‒1.3 cùn perpendicular insertion. Moxa: 7‒15 cones; pole 10‒30 min.

Point name meaning:

• 胞 bāo: bladder; womb, uterus; afterbirth
• 肓 huāng: huāng, the membrane located above the diaphragm

The character 胞 (bāo) is composed of a flesh radical (月) and 包 (bāo), meaning to wrap. It is used in older texts to refer to bladders in general or the uterus in particular. Since Sù Wèn states that the huāng originates below the navel, the name is probably a reference to the uterus or the urinary bladder. BL-53 is closely related to the urinary bladder because it is a bladder channel point, it is located lateral to Bladder Transport (páng guāng shù, BL-28), and it is used to treat urinary system disorders such as strangury and urinary block. In theory, BL-53 is also related to the uterus because the bladder and kidney are a yin-yang pair, and the uterus is dependent on kidney qì. However, Bladder Huāng was chosen because the point is not used to treat female reproductive disorders. See acupoint names: origins, meanings, and translations.

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