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Herbs That Drain Dampness - Functional Grouping Relationships

Herbs That Drain Dampness - General Concepts

  • There are two main types of dampness:
    1. Accumulation of fluids in the body - edema, congested fluids (respiratory and digestive system).
      • These herbs are good for edema below the waist in the lower extremities.
      • Acute edema should be combined with herbs that release the exterior.
      • Chronic edema should be combined with herbs that tonify qi and yang of spleen and kidneys.
    2. Dampness complicated with heat - combine with clearing damp-heat herbs.
      • Heat signs of fever, burning sensation, yellow discharges with stagnation symptoms of distention and fullness.
      • Lin syndrome (painful urination), Shi Wen (warm febrile disease), damp sores and jaundice all fit under this category.
  • The main method of treatment is to increase the production of urine.
  • Use with caution in cases of yin deficiency and/or depleted fluids.

Herbs That Drain Dampness - Section Summary

The Herbs That Drain Dampness Grouping Has 23 Herbs In Our Database

Ban Bian Lian

  • Lobelia
    • Promotes urination and reduces edema - ascites.
    • Cools the blood and reduces toxicity - good for snake bites and wasp stings.

Bei Xie

  • Dioscorea Root
    • Separates the pure from the turbid - cloudy urine and leukorrhea, either from damp-heat or deficiency.
    • Expels wind damp (cold and hot bi syndromes), relaxes the sinews.
    • Damp-heat - skin disorders (eczema, pustular sores).

Bian Xu

  • Knotweed, Polygonoum
    • Clears damp-heat in the bladder - promotes urination, damp-heat lin.
    • Expels parasites - intestinal parasites.
    • Damp skin lesions - itching.

Che Qian Zi

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  • Plantago Seeds
    • Promotes urination, clears heat - edema, lin syndromes due to damp-heat, generally in the lower warmer.
    • Solidifies the stool - diarrhea with damp-heat or damp-summerheat.
    • Clears the eyes - liver and kidney deficiency (dry eyes or cataracts) or heat in the liver channel (red, painful, swollen eyes and sensitive to light).
    • Lung heat - expels phlegm, stops cough.
  • Cautions
    • Avoid during Pregnancy.

Chi Xiao Dou

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  • Aduki Bean
    • Clears heat, promotes urination - abdominal fullness and swelling due to edema, urinary difficulty, leg qi edema; the nature of this herb is to move downward and relieve edema by water or dampness drained from the body.
    • Disperses blood stasis - reduces swelling and fire toxicity, sores, carbuncles.
    • Clears damp heat - jaundice.

Deng Xin Cao

  • Rush Pith
    • Promotes urination and leaches out dampness - heat disorders with lin syndrome.
    • Clears heat from the heart channel into the small intestine (expelled through the urine) - pediatric sleep disorders with heat signs at night accompanied by irritability and scanty urination; adult insomnia (heart fire with kidney yin deficiency).

Di Fu Zi

Dong Gua Ren

  • Winter Melon Seed
    • Clears lung and intestinal heat, expels phlegm, discharges pus - thick, sticky, yellow phlegm, damp-heat with phlegm obstruction in the upper/lower jiao (lung/intestinal abscess).
    • Clears heat, drains dampness - leukorrhea due to damp-heat.

Dong Kui Zi

  • Musk Mallow Seeds
    • Promotes urination - lin syndromes (hot, xue, stone), edema without lin issues, constipation.
    • Benefits the breasts - insufficient lactation, painful swollen breasts, breast abscess.
    • Moisten and unblocks the bowels.

Fu Ling

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  • Poria, China Root
    • Promotes urination, drains dampness, transforms phlegm - urinary difficulty, diarrhea, edema, headache, dizziness, greasy tongue coat.
    • Strengthens the spleen, harmonizes the middle jiao - diarrhea, loss of appetite.
    • Quiets the heart and calms the spirit - palpitations, insomnia, forgetfulness.
  • Cautions
    • Avoid Vinegar While Using This Herb.

Guang Fang Zi

  • Aristolochia Root, Stephania
    • Expels wind-damp-heat - diffuse aches and pains, thirst, yellow, greasy tongue coat.
    • Promotes urination and reduces edema (facial or systemic) with wheezing or leg qi.
  • Cautions
    • Toxic - can lead to renal failure.

Han Fang Zi

  • Stephania Root
    • Promotes urination, reduces edema - lower extremity edema, borborygmus, abdominal distention, ascites from lower jiao damp accumulation.
    • Expels wind-damp-heat, alleviates pain - fever, red, swollen, hot, painful joints.

Hua Shi

  • Talcum Powder
    • Promotes urination, drains heat from the bladder - important herb for hot lin syndromes, also for damp heat generated diarrhea.
    • Clears heat, summer heat (w/urinary difficult) and damp-heat through urine.
    • Absorbs dampness (oozing eczema) - used topically for damp skin lesions.

Jin Qian Cao

  • Lysimachia, Whole Plant
    • Promotes urination, important herb for stone lin syndromes (also helps for other lin types).
    • Clears damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder - jaundice, red, swollen eyes.
    • Reduces toxicity and swelling - snakebit, abscess, traumatic injury.

Mu Tong

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  • Akebia Caulis
    • Promotes urination, drains heat from the heart through the small intestine - irritability with sores of the mouth or tongue, scanty urination, lin syndrome, edema.
    • Promotes lactation, unblocks the blood vessels - insufficient lactation, less commonly for amenorrhea and bi-syndrome.
  • Cautions
    • Avoid during Pregnancy.
    • Toxic - can lead to renal failure (aristolochic acid).

Qu Mai

  • Dianthus
    • Clears damp heat, promotes urination, unblocks lin syndrome - for any lin, especially xue lin.
    • Breaks up blood stasis - amenorrhea due to blood stasis.
    • Unblocks the bowels - constipation.
  • Cautions
    • Avoid during Pregnancy.

Shi Wei

  • Pyrrosia Leaves
    • Promotes urination, drains damp-heat from the bladder - hot, stone, xue lin.
    • Clears heat and stops bleeding - vomiting, uterine bleeding.
    • Clears the lungs, expels phlegm, relieves cough - lung heat, wheezing.

Tong Cao

  • Rice Paper Pith
    • Promotes urination and clears heat - for damp warm febrile disease or damp-heat lin.
    • Promotes lactation.

Yi Yi Ren

  • Seeds of Job's Tears
    • Promotes urination, drains dampness - edema, difficult urination, damp leg qi.
    • Strengthens the spleen, stops diarrhea.
    • Clears heat and expels pus - carbuncles, lung or intestinal abscesses.
    • Expels wind-damp, relieves joint and muscle pain.
    • Clears damp-heat - any damp-heat disorder at any level with greasy tongue coating and digestive problems.

Yin Chen Hao

  • Yin Chen Hao Shoots and Leaves
    • Main herb for Jaundice.
    • Clears damp heat from the liver and gallbladder - relieves jaundice (either damp heat or cold).
    • Clears heat, shao yang syndrome (intermittent fever and chills, bitter taste, stifling sensation in the chest, flank pain, dizziness, nausea).
  • Cautions
    • Not for Deficiency Jaundice (pale yellow skin, normal urine, soggy pulse (middle jiao qi deficiency, not from dampness).

Yu Mi Xu

  • Cornsilk
    • Promotes urination - hot lin, stone lin, edema.
    • Regulates the gallbladder - yin or yang jaundice.
    • Wasting and thirsting disorder.

Ze Xie

Zhu Ling

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