Well, maybe...
It turns out that this is a little bit controversial, and it may differ between east and west.
One-Sided Points
While there are many reasons that you might choose to needle a point on only one side, pretty much all of the acupuncture points exist bilaterally.
(Of course, the obvious exception here are points that lie on the midline, like the Ren and Du points.)
But it turns out that there are a few points that are only one-sided.
The Appendix and Gallbladder Points
There are two points that I know of that are one sided. They're both extra points on the right leg, corresponding to specific organs, and both can be used diagnostically as well as in treatment.
Lan Wei Xue – The Appendix Point
This point is located approximately 2 cun distal to ST-36 (Zusanli) on the right leg.
It's used for both acute and chronic appendicitis and it often becomes tender when the appendix is inflamed. That means the point can play a role in both diagnosis and treatment of appendicitis.
Dan Nang Xue – The Gallbladder Point
Also one-sided, Dan Nang Xue is located 1–2 cun distal to GB-34 (Yanglingquan) on the right leg.
This point is used for both acute and chronic cholecystitis and cholelithiasis and, similar to Lan Wei Xue, it becomes tender when the gallbladder is inflamed. So it can also be used both diagnostically and in treatment.
Why the right side?
So why are these points one-sided? Well it probably has to do with the fact that their corresponding organ is right-sided as well.
These are not classical points. They probably came about in the 1950s when Mao Zedong was promoting the integration of TCM with Western medicine. During this time, the Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine described hundreds of "new points," many of which were organ-specific reactive points discovered through clinical observation.
Lan Wei Xue, for instance, probably emerged from studies exploring acupuncture as anesthesia during this time.
While there are other extra points corresponding to one-sided organs–such as Pi Gen for the spleen or Wei Wan Xia Shu for the pancreas–these organs don't usually suffer from acute inflammation, so they're usually used bilaterally.
Controversy: East vs. West
Looking further into this, it turns out that the one-sided nature of these points is actually disputed.
In A Manual of Acupuncture by Deadman and Al-Khafaji — the major acupuncture textbook used in the West — these points are described as being on the right side only. They say in their commentary, "Dannangxue (M-LE-23) is one of the few acupuncture points that only exists on one side of the body."
But when we look at the Chinese book, Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion, there's no reference to these points being one-sided.
We can even find studies in China where these points are specifically used bilaterally. For example, for appendicitis they specifically say "阑尾穴双侧均取" ("Lanweixue, both sides taken").
Other one-sided points?
Are there any other one-sided points? Not really...
I suppose you could say that Jinjin and Yuye are each one-sided — one is on the left side of the tongue and the other is on the right — but this is really a pair of points. They're just named differently on the right and the left.
(There's actually a similar thing with ST-28 (Shuidao): Sun Si-miao referred to left ST-28 as Baomen [Uterus Gate] and right ST-28 as Zihu [Child's Door].)
Other one-sided points are specific to style. For example, in Master Tung's acupuncture, Wood Anger is needled on the left hand only and Spleen Edema is needled on the right hand only.
Also, in auricular and scalp acupuncture, certain points and zones are one-sided.
Treating Gallbladder Issues
So why were one-sided acupuncture points on my mind?
Well, it's something that came up during my research on gallbladder issues and liver disease.
My friend Patrick and I have been putting together a continuing education course about herbal formulas for Gallbladder Sludge and Liver Fibrosis, and that's where the point Dannangxue came up.
This course is now live. It's been approved by the NCBH AM and the California Acupuncture Board for 10 CEUs.
👉 Learn more about Gallbladder Sludge and Liver Fibrosis here.
