Riyue

What is GB24?

GB24, or Riyue, is a point on the lower front ribcage, in the rib gap below the nipple line on each side.

Its name is usually translated as Sun and Moon. In Chinese medicine GB24 is the Front-Mu point of the Gall Bladder, meaning the spot on the front of the body where that organ's qi was believed to gather. Classical texts list it for fullness and tightness under the ribs, sighing, nausea, sour reflux, hiccups and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).

It is taught in every standard point curriculum, so its traditional standing is high. That standing is not evidence that pressing it does anything, and it is not evidence that pressing it is safe for you. Those are three separate questions, and this page keeps them separate.

Everything described here is self-applied finger pressure on the surface of the skin. Nothing on this page involves needles, heat or anything that breaks the skin.

The honest verdict on evidence: there is essentially no controlled human research testing finger pressure at GB24 for any condition. GB24 does appear inside point combinations used in some low-quality acupuncture reports on biliary (gallbladder) pain, but those studies used needles and bundled several points, so nothing can be pinned on GB24 by itself. Acupressure research in general is mostly small, short and unblinded, which makes placebo and expectation hard to rule out.

GB24 sits over the lower ribs, and on the right side the liver and gallbladder lie beneath them. That matters more than usual here. The symptoms tradition links to this point, especially severe upper-right abdominal pain, are also the symptoms of conditions that need a doctor rather than a fingertip. Treat GB24 as a gentle comfort habit, not as a treatment for anything.

Where is GB24 and how do you find it?

GB24 sits on the front of the lower ribcage, in the seventh intercostal space (the soft gap below the seventh rib), roughly straight down from the middle of the collarbone.

• Set your vertical line. Find the middle of your collarbone and drop an imaginary line straight down the front of your chest. Standard texts put GB24 about 4 cun from the midline, which is roughly four of your own thumb-widths, or about 8 to 10 cm, out from the centre of the breastbone.
• Find the rib margin. Slide your fingers down that line until you feel the lower edge of your ribcage, where the ribs curve away. GB24 is in the rib gap a little above that edge, not below it on the soft belly.
• Walk the gaps. Press gently along the bony ribs and feel for the softer grooves between them. GB24 lies in the groove one rib space lower than LR14, the point in the sixth intercostal space.
• Check the feel. Your fingertip should settle into a shallow hollow between two firm ribs. If you feel hard bone directly under the pad, you are on a rib, not in the space.

In men the nipple usually sits in the fourth intercostal space, so some books count down from there. That landmark is unreliable for women and for anyone with a larger or softer chest, so the collarbone line and the rib margin are the safer guides.

Sources agree on the side of the chest, the rib space and the distance from the midline. They differ on how people reach it in practice. If you are not certain you have the exact gap, stay conservative: keep your contact light, keep it on the ribcage, and do not dig in under the rib edge toward the organs.

How do you apply pressure to GB24?

1. Sit or half-recline. Lean back a little so your ribcage is relaxed and your abdomen is soft. Standing tall tightens the chest wall and makes the rib gaps harder to feel.
2. Warm your hands. Rub your palms together first. Cold fingertips on the ribs make people tense and brace.
3. Find the gap, not the rib. Rest the flat pad of your index or middle finger in the rib space you located. Use the pad, never a nail or a knuckle.
4. Press gently inward. Aim for light to moderate pressure, about 3 or 4 out of 10, where you feel a dull presence but nothing sharp. The chest wall is thin here, so firm pressure is not better pressure.
5. Hold and breathe. Keep the contact for 30 to 60 seconds while you breathe out slowly. You can add small, slow circles instead of a static hold if that feels easier.
6. Do the other side. Repeat on the matching gap on the opposite side so the two sides feel even.
7. Keep it short. Two or three rounds per side is plenty, up to a couple of times a day.

Stop straight away if you feel sharp pain, a stabbing or electric feeling, breathlessness, or pain that gets worse as you press. Stop also if the skin is reddening more than lightly, or if you bruise easily.

Avoid working this area right after a big meal, when the stomach and liver push up against the lower ribs. Leave at least an hour.

Finger pressure only. Do not use hard tools, pressure pens, elbows or body weight on the ribcage, and never attempt anything that breaks the skin.

What is GB24 traditionally used for?

• Rib-side fullness and tightness. The classical headline use: a feeling of pressure, distension or stuffiness under the ribs, often described alongside frequent sighing. There are no controlled human trials of acupressure at GB24 for this, so any relief you feel is uncontrolled personal experience, not a demonstrated effect.
• Nausea, reflux and belching. Tradition links the Gall Bladder Front-Mu point to sour regurgitation, vomiting and belching. Human evidence for acupressure and nausea does exist, but it is for PC6 on the inner forearm, not for GB24. Do not transfer PC6 findings to this point.
• Hiccups. Old texts list GB24 among points for stubborn hiccups. The research here is a handful of small, poorly controlled reports on acupuncture generally, not on finger pressure at this point.
• Jaundice and biliary complaints. Classical indications include jaundice and gallbladder pain, and GB24 still appears in modern Chinese point prescriptions for biliary colic. Those reports used needles, combined several points, and were mostly small and unblinded. Nothing in them shows that pressing GB24 affects gallstones, bile flow or liver function.
• Tension held across the lower ribs. A common modern use is simple comfort: slow pressure and slow breathing over a tight chest wall. This is plausible as relaxation and self-soothing, and it is honest to call it that rather than a specific organ effect.
• Intercostal soreness. Some people use GB24 for muscular aching between the ribs after coughing or awkward sleeping. Gentle pressure on sore soft tissue may feel good short term; it is not a diagnosis or a fix.

Across every item above, the pattern is the same. The traditional list is long and specific, and the human evidence for GB24 itself is close to empty. Use it as a calm self-care habit with modest expectations.

Are there tips for using GB24 effectively?

• Exhale into the pressure. Press as you breathe out, when the ribcage drops and the gap widens slightly. Pressing on a full inhale tightens everything and makes the rib feel hard and sore.
• Use a flat pad, not a point. A broad fingertip spreads the load across the rib space. A sharp, pinpoint push on a thin chest wall is more likely to bruise than to soothe.
• Work both sides. GB24 is a paired point. Doing one side only often leaves the chest feeling lopsided and tight.
• Less pressure than you think. There is very little muscle covering the lower ribs. If you need to brace your arm or lean your weight in, you are pressing far too hard.
• Pick a calm moment. A quiet few minutes before bed or after work suits this point better than a rushed press in a queue. If relaxation is doing the work, the setting matters.
• Keep a simple log. Note the date, what you felt beforehand and what you felt an hour later. Honest notes over two weeks will tell you more than any claim on a video.
• Pair it with the breath, not with force. Three slow breaths per hold is a better upgrade than another kilo of pressure.
• Stop when it stops feeling good. Soreness that lingers into the next day means you overdid it. Skip a few days and go lighter.
• Get the diagnosis first. If you are pressing GB24 because of recurring upper-right abdominal pain, see a doctor about the cause before building a routine around the point.

None of these tips make GB24 work better in a proven sense. They make the practice safer, more comfortable and easier to judge for yourself.

What do people get wrong with GB24?

• Pressing on the rib. Landing on the hard bone instead of the soft gap between two ribs. It feels blunt and sore and can bruise the bone covering.
• Digging under the rib edge. Hooking fingers up beneath the costal margin toward the liver and gallbladder. GB24 is on the ribcage, not under it, and that deep gouging is both uncomfortable and unnecessary.
• Expecting a cure. Hoping the point will clear gallstones, fix reflux or reverse jaundice. No acupressure point does that, and believing it can delays real care.
• Using it to ride out severe pain. Pressing away at intense upper-right abdominal pain instead of getting it looked at. That pain pattern can mean gallbladder inflammation or blockage, which is a medical problem, not a self-massage problem.
• Counting from the nipple. The nipple is an unreliable landmark for many bodies, so people end up a rib or two off. Use the collarbone line and the lower rib margin instead.
• Pressing on damaged skin. Working over a surgical scar, a burn, a rash, bruising or broken skin because the point chart says so. The chart does not know what is on your skin today.
• Too hard, too long. Minutes of heavy grinding in the belief that more force means more effect. The chest wall is thin, and all you buy is tenderness.
• Confusing it with PC6. Assuming the decent nausea evidence for PC6 on the forearm carries over to GB24. It does not; the research was done on a different point.
• Dropping prescribed treatment. Cutting back on medication for reflux, liver or gallbladder problems because the point seems to be helping. Change nothing without your doctor.

What does the research on GB24 actually say?

There is no controlled human trial of finger pressure at GB24 for any condition that we can point to. That is the plain answer, and it is the same answer for most single acupressure points.

What does exist is indirect. GB24 appears in needle-acupuncture point combinations described in Chinese-language reports and case series on biliary colic, gallstone pain and gallbladder inflammation, usually alongside points such as GB34 on the lower leg. Those reports are mostly small, often uncontrolled, and rarely blinded. They also test several points together, so even a positive result could not be credited to GB24. And they used needling, which is not what this page describes.

Acupressure as a field does have some decent trials, but they cluster around other points and other problems. PC6 on the inner forearm for nausea and vomiting is the clearest case, supported by multiple randomised trials. Nothing of that quality has been done at GB24, and findings from one point cannot be borrowed for another.

Why so little? Points on the ribcage are awkward to study. Sham pressure is hard to disguise, outcomes like rib-side fullness are subjective, and funding for single-point acupressure trials is scarce. Absence of evidence here is mostly absence of research, not proof that nothing happens.

What this means for you is simple. If pressing GB24 feels calming and does no harm, that is a reasonable thing to do. Do not expect a measurable effect on your gallbladder, your bile, your liver or your digestion, and do not treat a response as confirmation of anything. Anyone telling you the research backs GB24 for gallstones or jaundice is going well beyond what has actually been published.