character: Dai means girdle, suggesting its horizontal direction, as well as the nature of the support it gives the other channels. As it wraps the middle of the body, the Dai Mai's main symptoms express a failure of the proper flow of Qi between the two halves it connects.
Master point: GB-41
Couple point: TW-5
paired channel: Yang Wei Mai (Yang Linking Vessel)
function: binds channels running through the trunk, thus all channels connect with the Dai Mai; regulates balance of Qi between the upper and lower body
general symptoms: menstrual headache; abdominal distension; leukorrhea; dysmenorrhea; uterine prolapse; ovarian cyst; weakness of the lower back; hip arthritis; paralysis of legs
Shi (Excess) symptoms: Shi (Excess) of the Yang channels; lumbar or loin pain; weakness of upper extremities; unilateral weakness in eye, breast or ovary
Xu (Deficiency) symptoms: weak loins or lumbar; "feels like [patient is] sitting in water; pain in opposite shoulder, eye, breast or ovary; abdomen distention
pathway: starts below the tenth rib, encircling the trunk, descending anteriorly into the lower abdomen, passing near or through GV-4 as it crosses the lumbar area
key points:
GB-26
GB-27
GB-28
(GV-4, Lv-13)
footnotes