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Yellow Eyes

How Chinese medicine differentiates yellow eyes — the ocular presentation of jaundice, distinct from the systemic Jaundice page already covered — the six patterns you'll actually meet in practice, and the points for each. Acupuncture only — no herbs.

This page is educational, for practitioners and students — it is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace a proper in-person assessment. Yellowing of the eyes always needs medical evaluation (liver, gallbladder, and blood causes must be ruled out) before assuming a simple pattern — this is never a self-treat-first symptom.
General Acupuncture Points

Acupuncture points traditionally used for yellow eyes — 9 key points, used across the patterns below rather than tied to just one.

PointKey action
LR-3Subdues Liver-Yang. Promotes the smooth flow of Liver-Qi.
G.B.-34Promotes the smooth flow of Liver-Qi. Resolves Damp-Heat in Liver and Gall Bladder.
SP-9Regulates the Spleen. Resolves Dampness.
BL-19Resolves Damp-Heat in Liver and Gall Bladder. Regulates the Lesser Yang.
ST-36Benefits Stomach and Spleen. Tonifies Qi and Blood.
BL-20Tonifies Spleen and Stomach. Resolves Dampness.
SP-10Cools Blood. Invigorates Blood and eliminates stasis.
BL-17Invigorates Blood. Cools Blood. Opens the chest and diaphragm.
DU-14Clears Heat. Releases the Exterior and expels exterior Wind.
The Six Patterns

↑ reinforcing   ↓ reducing   ⊥ even method.

1. Liver and Gallbladder Damp-Heat View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Bright yellow eyes, bitter taste, right rib distension, nausea, heavy body sensation.
Tongue: Red body with thick yellow greasy coating. Pulse: Wiry, slippery, rapid.
Treatment principle: Drain excess Fire from the Liver and Gall Bladder, clear Damp-Heat from the Lower Burner.
Note: no moxa. Direct match with this site's own Damp-Heat-in-the-Gall-Bladder-and-Liver slide.

2. Gallbladder Heat

Clinical manifestations: Bright yellow eyes, right rib pain/fullness, bitter taste, dry throat, alternating chills/fever, irritability.
Tongue: Red body with yellow dry coating. Pulse: Wiry and rapid.
Treatment principle: Clear Liver and Gallbladder Heat to relieve jaundice, rib pain, and bitter taste.
Note: no moxa. This site's Gall Bladder deck has no plain Gallbladder-Heat-without-Dampness slide, and this pattern's own \"alternating chills and fever\" marker points toward the Shao-Yang/Lesser-Yang stage — a Six-Stages concept already confirmed structurally absent from every Zang-Fu deck (Alternating Fever and Chills, batch 30). Linked here to this site's plain Damp-Heat-in-the-Gall-Bladder slide instead, on the shared core rib-pain/bitter-taste presentation, since that is the closest genuine organ-level match available.

3. Obstruction of the Spleen by Dampness With Liver-Qi Stagnation View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Dull muddy-yellow eyes, bloating after eating, body heaviness, sticky stools, low mood/frustration.
Tongue: Pale swollen body with teeth marks, white greasy coating. Pulse: Slippery and wiry.
Treatment principle: Dry Dampness, strengthen the Spleen, move Qi.
Note: moxa applicable on ST-36 only. Direct exact-name match with this site's own Obstruction-of-Spleen-by-Dampness-with-stagnation-of-Liver-Qi slide — a rare full-title match, also used for Apathy and Loss of Taste.

4. Cold-Damp Invading the Spleen View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Dull dark yellow eyes, heavy bloated abdomen, loose/watery stools, cold aversion, fatigue, heavy limbs.
Tongue: Pale swollen with teeth marks, thick white greasy coating. Pulse: Soggy/slippery and slow.
Treatment principle: Warm and transform Dampness, strengthen Spleen function to restore bile flow.
Note: moxa applicable on ST-36 and BL-20. Matched to this site's own Cold-Dampness-invading-the-Spleen slide via the explicit Cold aversion and watery stools markers.

5. Liver-Blood Stagnation View full pattern →

Clinical manifestations: Dark murky yellow eyes, stabbing fixed rib pain, dark menstrual clots, rough skin.
Tongue: Dark purple body with stasis spots. Pulse: Wiry and choppy.
Treatment principle: Invigorate Blood and dispel stasis, move Qi and alleviate pain.
Note: no moxa. Direct match with this site's own Liver-Blood-stasis slide via the well-established dark/purple stasis-spot-tongue marker.

6. Toxic-Heat

Clinical manifestations: Sudden bright yellow eyes, high fever, mental confusion/delirium, bleeding gums/nosebleeds, dark scanty urine.
Tongue: Red with prickly thorns and dry yellow coating. Pulse: Rapid and forceful.
Treatment principle: Clear intense Heat-toxin and cool the Blood.
Note: no moxa, medical emergency. The by-now very well-established standalone-Toxic-Heat absence, confirmed again here — no pattern link is given here; points still link fine individually.
Related conditions

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