TCM Herbs that influence the Stomach Channel

• Vigorously purges, warmly unblocks - severe cold accumulation in the interior leading to constipation and abdominal fullness and pain.
• Drives out water and reduces edema - ascites.
• Bursts clogged phlegm and improves condition of throat - difficult breathing due to phlegm in the throat, wheezing.
• Promotes healing of abscesses and ulcers - topically, accelerates ulcerating process.

• Antagonist with Qian Niu Zi
• Avoid in Pregnancy
• Toxic - very irritating to the skin and musous membranes

• Clears summerheat - especially with pronounced diarrhea or vomiting.
• Strengthens the spleen - chronic diarrhea, vaginal discharge due to spleen deficiency.

• Transforms dampness - low appetite, greasy tongue coat, stifling sensation in the chest.
• Warms the middle warmer (stomach/spleen) and descends rebellious qi - vomiting due to cold from spleen/stomach qi deficiency or stomach cold.
• Transforms stagnation - fullness in the chest.

• Dries dampness, transforms phlegm, expels wind-cold, stops spasms - wind-phlegm affecting the head including wind stroke, facial paralysis, hemiplegia, migraines.
• Relieves toxicity, dissipates nodules - snake bite, scrofula.

• Toxic - Avoid during Pregnancy.

• Clears heat, strongly relieve fire toxicity, reduces abscess - for intestinal abscess, toxic sores, ulcerations, swellings, snakebite (internal and external application).
• Clears heat and resolves dampness by promoting urination - lin syndrome, jaundice.

• Stops bleeding from the lungs and stomach - vomiting and/or coughing of blood, nosebleed.
• Reduces swelling and generates flesh - topically for sores, chapped skin, skin ulcers, especially for chronic, nonhealing ulcers.

• Incompatible with Wu Tou

• Clears heat, relieves toxicity, and expels pus - intestinal abscess, sores, swellings.
• Dispels blood stasis, stops pain - for heat induced blood stasis, especially in the abdomen and chest; also for post-partum pain, post-operative pain.

• Cools blood and stops bleeding - blood in urine, nosebleed, vomiting blood, coughing blood.
• Clears heat and promotes urination - hot painful urination with edema and difficult urination.
• Clears heat from the stomach and lungs - nausea and thirst due to stomach heat or wheezing due to lung heat.

• Clears heat and relieves fire toxicity - dysentery due to damp-heat in the stomach or intestines.

• Clears heat and Cools Blood. Particularly useful for yin deficient fever, summertime fever in children, post partum fever, and within the recovery stage of a febrile disease
• Cools Blood and Promotes Urine. Xue Lin, especially before or after giving birth.
• Relieves toxicity. Toxic sores, swollen and painful throat, snake bite.

• Clears heat, relieves fire toxicity, expels wind, dries dampness - wind-heat or damp-heat sores, carbuncles, rashes with excessive pus, moist skin; also for damp-heat jaundice (only in combination).

• Expels wind-cold, dampness
• Opens nasal passages, sinus congestion (particularly with green discharge), alleviates pain (especially in the head region)
• Resolve wind-cold symptoms especially with headaches (yangming - ST), supraorbital pain, congestion
• Useful for swollen gums and toothache

• Avoid in Yin/Blood deficiency
• Avoid in Heat in the Blood

• Tonifies the spleen, augments qi, dries dampness - diarrhea, fatigue, lack of appetite, vomiting, edema.
• Stabilizes the exterior and stops sweating - spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency.
• Calms the fetus - arising from spleen deficiency.

• Drains heat, relieves fire toxicity, cools the blood and benefits the throat - warm-febrile disease, mumps, painful swollen throat.
• Damp-heat jaundice.

• Dries dampness, transforms cold-phlegm, descends rebellious qi - cough with copious sputum especially due to dampness of spleen.
• Harmonizes stomach, stops vomiting due to lingering phlegm-dampness in the stomach.
• Dissipates nodules, reduces distension - phlegm in chest or neck or anywhere in the body, focal distention in the chest.

• Incompatible with Wu Tou.

• Clears heat, relieves toxicity, invigorates blood, reduces swelling - furuncles, sores, abscesses.
• Recently used for cancers and chronic hepatitis.

• 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).

• Kills parasites - tapeworms, pinworms, roundworms, blood flukes, helps expel body of worms as well.
• Promote movement of Qi, reduce stagnation - drains down and unblocks the bowels, food accumulation, abdominal distention, constipation, tenesmus.
• Promote urination - damp phlegm and malarial disorders.

• Expels wind-damp - bi syndromes, itchy rashes due to wind-damp.
• Harmonizes the stomach, transforms turbid dampness - vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, abdominal pain, borborygmus.

• Strongly dries dampness, strengthens spleen - low appetite, diarrhea, epigastric distention, fatigue, vomiting, greasy tongue coat.
• Expels wind-damp-cold (bi-syndrome) in extremities.
• Clears damp-heat from lower burner (combine with clear-heat herbs, however, as this has a warm nature (for example, Er Miao San) - vaginal discharge, swollen and sore joints.
• Induces sweating, release the exterior.
• Improves vision.

• Dries dampness, warms middle burner - damp-cold the spleen and stomach with abdominal distention, vomiting, diarrhea.

• Regulates Qi, improves transportive function of the spleen, relieves diaphragm - epigastric/abdominal distention, fullness, bloating, belching, nausea, vomiting (promotes movement of qi in general; specifically directing it downward - good for different types of nausea/vomiting).
• Important herb for drying dampness and the transformation of phlegm - coughs with stifling sensation in the chest/diaphragm, and copious viscous sputum (qi-level herb).
• Prevents stagnation - prevents cloying of tonifying herbs.
• Ju Hong is the red part of the tangerine peel - it is more drying and aromatic.

• Promotes the movement of Qi, alleviates pain - distention and pain in abdominal region due to cold from deficiency or blood stasis.
• Directs rebellious Qi downward - excess/deficiency wheezing, vomiting, belching, hiccups due to cold from deficiency of the middle jiao.
• Helps the kidneys grasp Qi - asthma and wheezing.

• Binds the intestines, stops cold diarrhea - cold diarrhea with mucus and bleeding.
• Contain the blood, stop bleeding - uterine bleeding, excess menses, prolapse.
• Promotes healing of wounds, chronic ulcers, topically for weeping damp sores.

• Antagonizes Rou Gui

• Warms the middle warmer, disperses cold, alleviates abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea - spleen or stomach cold from deficiency patterns.
• Abdominal pain due to roundworms (auxiliary herb).

• Promotes the movement of Qi and stops pain - flank, rib, abdominal pain due to liver qi stagnation or liver-stomach disharmony; hernial disorders, good w/heat signs.
• Clears heat, dries dampness, regulates qi, alleviates pain due to damp-heat stagnant qi - same symptoms as above.
• Kills parasites and stops pain - roundworms and tape worms (primarily for pain).
• Compare with Xia Ku Cao, Long Dan Cao, Zhi Zi for clearing liver heat function.

• Disperses blood stasis, unblocks menses, promotes lactation - amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, insufficient lactation due to blood stasis.
• Reduces swellings and promotes discharge of pus - abscesses and boils (topically).
• Expels wind-damp from the channels.

• Clears heat and relieves fire toxicity - heat in lungs, throat, urinary tract; sores and carbuncles.
• Clear heat and dries dampness - dysentery, lin syndrome, eczema.

• Clears heat, dries dampness, binds up intestines - chronic diarrhea due to damp-heat, with blood in the stool, chronic vaginal discharge due to damp-heat.
• Kills parasites - roundworms.

• Releases exterior, induces sweating (early stages of wind-cold)
• Disperses cold, unblocks yang - abdominal pain, nasal congestion
• Apply topically for dispersing masses - abscesses, sores, etc.

• Avoid in exterior deficiency w/profuse sweating
• No honey in decoction

• Promotes the downward movement of Qi, reduces stagnation - food stagnation and qi obstruction w/epigastric and abdominal distention, belching, acid regurgitation, constipation.
• Expels damp, promotes urination - edema, dampness in the stomach and intestines.

• Drains heat and purges accumulations - high fever, profuse sweating, thirst, constipation, abdominal distention and pain, delirium, yellow tongue coating, full pulse which indicates intestinal heat excess or yang ming stage illness.
• Drains heat from the blood - blood in the stool from bleeding hemorrhoids or heat in the intestine; vomting blood or nosebleed accompanied by constipation; painful eyes or fire toxin sores due to heat in the blood level.
• Drains damp-heat via the stool - jaundice, dysentery, lin syndrome.
• Invigorates the blood and dispels blood stasis - amenorrhea, abdominal masses, fixed pain due to blood stasis (recent and long-term blood stasis).
• Clears heat and reduces fire toxicity - for burns, hot skin.

• Avoid During Pregnancy and During Nursing
• Avoid in exterior disorders and deficiency of qi and/or blood

• Clears heat, relieves toxicity - for any contagious febrile disease outbreak; also for fire toxin anywhere, but especially in the throat and lungs.
• Cools the blood, reduces blotches - skin eruptions due to heat in the blood, intense fever, irritability.

• Tonifies spleen qi - weakness, shortness of breath, reduced appetite, loose stools.
• Nourishes the blood, calms the spirit - irritability, pale complexion, emotional disturbances, restlessness.
• Useful to harmonize the harsh properties of other herbs.

• May cause heat, dampness, and phlegm leading to fullness in the middle jiao, food stagnation.

• Releases both exterior hot or cold (depending on how it is prepared), also good for exterior disorders with underlying yin deficiency (due to its mild nature).
• Eliminates irritability, restlessness, insomnia following febrile disease.

• Avoid with nursing mothers - may inhibit lactation.

• Clears heat - heat patterns with irritability and thirst, mouth sores and swollen, painful gums due to heat in the heart or stomach channels.
• Promotes urination and clears damp-heat - lin syndrome, especially for heat in the small intestine channel with above symptoms and dark red tip on the tongue.

• Avoid during Pregnancy.

• Cools the blood, stops bleeding in lower burner due to damp heat - bloody dysentery, bleeding hemorrhoids, uterine bleeding.
• Clears heat and generates flesh - topically for burns, carbuncles.

• Warms middle warmer, directs rebellious Qi downward - cold in the stomach with vomiting, hiccups, abdominal pain, diarrhea.
• Warms kidney yang - impotence, leukorrhea due to Kidney yang deficiency.

• Antagonist with Yu Jin

• 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.

• Regulates and soothes liver Qi - rib pain and distention, belching.
• Harmonizes the stomach and strengthens the spleen - epigastric pain and distention, lack of appetite, belching, vomiting.
• Dries dampness and transforms phlegm - chronic cough with phlegm and chest pain (weak, not well suited for acute conditions).

• Tonifies the spleen and augments qi - spleen deficiency w/shortness of breath, fatigue, loose stools (si jun zi tong).
• Qi and/or blood deficiency w/irregular pluse or palpitations (Zhi Gan Cao Tang).
• Moistens the lungs and stops cough - heat/cold in the lungs (Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang).
• Clears heat and toxic fire (raw) - carbuncles, sores, sore throat due to fire toxin (internally or topically).
• Alleviates pain and stops spasms - abdomen or legs (Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang).
• Often used to harmonize and/or moderate characteristics of other herbs.
• Antidote for toxic substances (internally and topically).

• Avoid with excess dampness, nausea, vomiting.
• Incompatible with Gan Sui, Da Ji, Yuan Hua, Hai Zao (although used in some formulas with Hai Zao).
• If taken for long periods of time, may cause hypertension and/or edema.

• Warms the middle and expels cold - warms spleen and stomach both in conditions of excess due to externally contacted cold, as well as cold from deficiency due to yang qi deficiency.
• Rescues devastated yang, expels interior cold - very weak pulse and cold limbs.
• Warms the lungs and transforms phlegm - lung cold with thin, watery or white sputum.
• Warms the channels, stops bleeding - hemorrhage of various types, especially for uterine bleeding (must be due to cold - chronic and pale in color, with cold limbs, soggy pulse).

• Warms the middle warmer, alleviates pain - epigastric/abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, hiccup due to cold in the middle warmer.

• Releases muscles, clears heat - exterior disease in subcutaneous region and muscles (governed by spleen and stomach) - fever, headache, stiffness in the back and the neck.
• Nourishes fluids, alleviates thirst - stomach heat, externally-contracted heat.
• Vents measles - accelerates rash at early stages.
• Alleviates diarrhea - diarrhea or dysenterial disorders due to heat; may be used for spleen deficiency diarrhea if combined with other herbs.
• Alleviates symptoms of hypertension - headaches, dizziness, tinnitus.

• Disperse wind-heat, brighten the eyes - wind-heat entering the liver channel causing red, swollen eyes, floaters, pterygium.

• Avoid in cases of blood deficiency.

• Reduces food stagnation, strengthens spleen.
• Stagnation caused by starchy food.

• Clears heat and transforms phlegm-heat - for heat-induced coughs with sputum that is thick and difficult to expectorate.
• Expands the chest and dissipates nodules - constriction, pain, lung abscesses, breast abscesses.
• The peel, Gua Lou Pi, clears and transforms phlegm heat - dissipates nodules, regulates qi - dry cough, throat, cough, difficult to expectorate sputum.

• Incompatible with Wu Tou.

• (See Gua Lou) - clears and transforms phlegm-heat, expands the chest.
• Moistens the intestines - constipation due to dryness along with other heat signs.
• Expels pus and promotes healing of sores (mastitis) - an adjunctive herb.

• Incompatible with Wu Tou (also Gan Jiang, Niu Xi).

• Clears heat, directs lung qi downwards, transforms phlegm - lung-heat cough with thick sputum (difficult to expectorate), chest or rib pain.
• Softens hardness, dissipates nodules - phlegm fire goiter and scrofula.
• Promotes urination, expels dampness - turbid painful urinary dysfunction and vaginal discharge.
• Epigastric pain, acid reflux - calcined powdered form).

• Stops uterine bleeding with vaginal discharge - useful for deficiency patterns.
• Retains essence due to kidney deficiency - nocturnal emission, premature ejaculation, leukorrhea.
• Harmonizes the stomch - epigastric pain, acid reflux.
• Resolves dampness, promotes healing - topically for rashes and ulcers.
• Diarrhea from deficiency patterns - pain CV 8 (navel), diarrhea/dysentery.

• Clears heat, reduces phlegm nodules - goiter, scrofula.
• Promotes urination (adjunctive herb) - reduces edema, particularly in the leg and floating type.

• Incompatible with Gan Cao.

• Drains fire and expels summer-heat - high fever, irritability, thirst, yellow tongue coat associated with summer heat.
• Burns and sores, throat and oral ulcers (topically).

• Avoid in cold cases arising from spleen or stomach deficiency.

• Binds the intestines - hot or cold diarrhea, dysentery.
• Leakage of lung qi - cough, wheezing, loss of voice.

• Promotes movement of Qi, transforms dampness, resolves stagnation - dampness in spleen/stomach, food stagnation, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distention (*important herb for this).
• Warms and transforms phlegm and directs rebellious lung Qi downward - wheezing, phlegm with coughing, stifling sensation in the chest.

• Avoid During Pregnancy

• Drains damp-heat - dysentery, sores.
• Clears deficient heat - yin deficiency heat symptoms.
• Clears heat and reduces childhood nutritional impairment - abdominal distention, afternoon fever, dysentery.

• 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.

• Drains fire, relieves toxicity - high fever, irritability, disorientation, delirium, painful, red eyes, red tongue, sore throat, boils, carbuncles, abscesses.
• Clears heat, drains dampness - for damp-heat in the stomach or intestine, diarrhea or dysenteric disorder, vomiting and/or acid regurgitation due to stomach heat.
• Clears heart fire - irritability, insomnia.
• Clears heat and stops bleeding - nosebleed, blood in the urine, stool, vomiting due to hot blood.
• Topically for red, painful eyes and ulcerations of the tongue and mouth.

• Clears heat, drains fire, especially from the upper warmer - heat patterns with fever, irritability, thirst, cough, thick, yellow sputum, hot sores and swellings.
• Clears heat, dries dampness - damp-heat in the stomach or intestines, diarrhea, dysentery; damp warm-febrile disease with fever, stifling sensation in the chest, thirst with no desire to drink; damp-heat in the lower jiao - lin syndrome; damp-heat jaundice.
• Clears heat, stops bleeding - vomiting and/or coughing of blood, nosebleed, blood in the stool.
• Clears heat, calms the fetus - restless fetus due to heat.
• Sedates liver yang rising - headache, irritability, red eyes, bitter taste, flushed face.

• Moistens and nourishes the intestines - constipation in the elderly, aftermath of a febrile disease, postpartum, and in cases of blood deficiency.
• Mildly nourishes yin - constipation with yin deficiency.
• Clears heat - promotes healing of sores (orally or topically).

• Toxic - overdose may caus nausea, vomiting, and/or coma.

• Aromatically transforms turbid dampness - abdominal distention, nausea, vomiting.
• Harmonizes middle burner, stops vomiting due to dampness.
• Releases the exterior (wind-damp-cold, summer heat), stomach flu.

• Strongly reduces food stagnation, strengthen the transport function of the spleen.
• Malnutrition in children.
• Secures kidney essence, stops enuresis - bed wetting, frequent urination, nocturia.
• Transforms hardness - gall bladder, bladder, and/or kidney stones.

• Invigorate blood, unblock menses - chest and abdominal pain, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, pain and swelling due to trauma.
• Promote the movement of Qi, alleviate pain - epigastric and/or abdominal pain.
• Expel wind, promote movement of blood - wind damp painful obstruction w/blood stasis (particularly in the shoulders).

• Disperses blood stasis, stops bleeding - internal injuries due to trauma, fracture.
• Invigorates blood, promotes qi movement - epigastric and abdominal pain.

• Clear heat, relieve toxic fire - hot, painful swellings in the throat, breast, eyes; intestinal abscesses.
• Expel wind-heat - fever, aversion to wind, sore throat, headache; also for summer-heat.
• Clear damp heat from the lower jiao - dysentery, lin syndrome.
• Stem, Ren Dong Teng, is used for similar functions - abscesses, sores, damp-heat bi syndromes.

• This is the wine fried version of zhi mu.  For general usage information see the Zhi Mu page.  Frying helps to moderate the bitter and cold aspects.

• Opens the Orifices and Transforms Phlegm - Seizures from high fevers, strong psychiatric illnesses, loss of consciousness and/or very muddled thinking, tinnitus, deafness.
• Stagnant energy in the chest, abdominal distention, bloating.
• Wind damp related arthritis.

• Use with caution in patients with yin deficiency or yang rising.

• The red part of the tangerine peel (chen pi) - it is more drying and aromatic.

• Reduces phlegm, softens hardness - nodules in the neck, fullness in the chest due to phlegm.
• Promotes urination, reduces swelling - lower extremity edema (adjunctive herb).

• Reduces food stagnation, transforms accumulations - distention, belching with a rotten smell, acid regurgitation.
• Descends lung qi, reduces phlegm - chronic cough or wheezing due to excess syndromes.

• Avoid in cases of Stomach Fire.
• Avoid during Pregnancy.

• Regulates the Qi and stops pain - abdominal and epigastric pain due to liver qi stagnation, PMS pain, post-partum pain due to qi and blood stagnation.
• Disperses cold and stagnation - hernia and testicular pain due to cold in the liver channel.

• Drains damp-heat from the liver and gallbladder channels - red, swollen, sore throat, eyes, and/or ears, sudden deafness, jaundice, pain, swelling or dampness in the genital region, or foul smelling vaginal discharge and itching.
• Clears ascending liver fire - headache, red eyes; liver wind-heat with fever, spasms, convulsions, flank pain.

• Clears summerheat - thirst (main symptom), fever, irritability; often drunk as a tea in summertime to prevent over heating.
• Antidote to Fu Zi.

• Relieve toxicity, expel wind, alleviate pain - toothache (gargle).
• Topically - skin rash, itching, scabies, ringworm, sores, carbuncles.
• Expel wind, dry damp - painful obstruction, wind rash.

• Brightens the eyes - superficial visual obstruction, red-swollen eyes.
• Drys dampness, generates flesh - chronic draining pus from open sores.

• Clears heat, generates fluids - heat patterns with high fever, irritability, thirst.
• Clears lung heat - cough, thick yellow sputum.
• Clears stomach heat - vomiting, belching.
• Clears heat, diuretic - dark, scanty urine, xue lin, accompanied by thirst and irritability.
• Encourages rashes to the surface - for febrile disease with rashes that are incompletely expressed.

• Avoid in patients with spleen or stomach cold from deficiency.

• Drains fire and guides out accumulation - constipation, dizziness, red eyes, irritability; good for chronic cases.
• Kills parasites, strengthens stomach - roundworms and ringworms.
• Clears heat and cools the liver - epigastric discomfort, dizziness, headache, tinnitus, irritability, constipation, and fever due to heat in the liver channel.

• Avoid During Pregnancy and During Menstruation

• Promotes movement of qi and blood, opens middle burner and unblocks the channels - irregular or scanty menses, abdominal pain or distention, pain and stiffness in the lower back and knees (wind-damp painful obstruction).
• Promotes urination - edema with difficult urination.

• Avoid During Pregnancy

• Moistens the lungs, stops cough - dry cough, coughing blood.
• Augments stomach yin, generates fluids - dry tongue and mouth.
• Clears heat and eliminates irritability due to yin deficiency or a warm-febrile disease in the ying level - particularly when symptoms are worse at night.
• Moistens the intestines - constipation.

• Reduces food stagnation, strengthens stomach (also useful for infants).
• Inhibits lactation - for discontinuing nursing, distended and painful breasts.
• Reduces liver Qi - intercostal or epigastric distention, belching, loss of appetite.

• Disperses wind, clears heat - wind-heat especially with headache or eye pain.
• Wind-heat in the liver channel - excessive tearing, red-painful-swollen eyes, floaters.
• Drains damp, expels wind - supporting herb for stiff, numb, cramping, and/or heavy limbs.

• Avoid in cases of Stomach Qi Deficiency.
• Avoid in headaches or eye problems that arise from yin/blood deficient heat.

• Purges accumulations, guides out stagnation - heat in the stomach and intestines with constipation; moistens dryness and softens hardness.
• Clears heat, reduces swelling - red, swollen, painful eyes, mouth, and/or throat; red, swollen skin lesions including breast problems.

• Avoid during Pregnancy, while nusrsing, during menstruation.
• Avoid in the elderly.
• Avoid in cases of excess heat.

• Relieves toxicity, kills parasites, dry dampness, alleviate itch.
• Topical wash for scabies, ringworm, damp or damp heat rash.
• Swollen painful eyes, throat, and jaundice.
• Stops bleeding, alleviates diarrhea - chronic blood in the stool/urine, hemorrhoidal bleeding, nosebleed, bleeding gums, any external bleeding.
• Clears heat, expels phlegm, wind phlegm - irritability, delirium, convulsions, cough with thick sticky sputum.

• Promotes the movement of Qi, alleviates pain - stagnant qi of the stomach and/or spleen causing lack of appetite, abdominal pain, distention, nausea; liver or gallbladder qi stagnation causing flank pain, distention.
• Regulates stagnated Qi in the intestines - diarrhea, abdominal pain (common herb to treat tenesmus).
• Strengthens the spleen and prevents stagnation, used with tonifying herbs to reduce side effects.

• Expels parasites, alleviates pain - tapeworms, roundworms, schistosomiasis.
• Benefits post partum fluid metabolism - post partum hand and feet swelling, aids in lactation.

• Expels wind-heat (acrid), benefits throat - fever, cough, sore, red, swollen throat.
• Clears heat (bitter, cold), relieves toxicity, vents rashes - red swellings, carbuncles, mumps, acute febrile rashes, early stages of measles with incomplete expression.
• Moistens intestines (rich plant oil - slippery) - constipation due to wind-heat (cold nature of the herb).

• Avoid in qi deficiency, diarrhea, lack of excess heat.
• Avoid when open sores and/or carbuncles are present.

• Stops bleeding, breaks up blood stasis - used for many types of bleeding especially due to lung and stomach heat - vomiting blood, coughing blood.

• Aromatically transforms middle burner dampness - stifling sensation in the chest, nausea.
• As it has a neutral property and doesn't cause dryness it can be used for damp-heat conditions - halitosis, excess saliva.
• Summer heat with nausea.
• Often used with Huo Xiang.

• Transforms phlegm, clears lung heat - lung heat patterns with cough.
• Harmonizes the stomach, clears stomach heat, redirects rebellious stomach qi - nausea, vomiting, hiccups, belching.
• Often fried in honey to strengthen the lung moistening function, or in ginger juice to increase its ability to stop nausea and vomiting.

• Clears heat and relieves fire toxicity - any heat, especially liver heat with red, swollen, painful eyes.
• Dissipates nodules and reduces abscesses - firm, hard sores, especially for breast and intestinal abscesses.
• Promotes lactation - due to heat.
• Clears heat, resolves damp - damp-heat jaundice, lin syndrome.
• Often used for treating breast cancer in TCM

• Dispels wind-damp bi and cramping, especially in the extremities, for acute/chronic, cold/hot conditions.
• Clears deficient heat - fever, steaming bone disorder.
• Jaundice due to acute damp-heat.
• Counteracts drying action of other herbs that dispel wind-damp - moistens intestines for dry constipation.

• Drains damp-heat - dysentery (bloody).
• Drains liver fire - eyes with redness, swelling, pain, or the formation of superficial visual obstruction.
• Clears wind-damp - painful hot obstruction.

• Cools the blood - can be useful for bleeding disorders, nosebleeds, bruising/blotches at the skin level.
• Clears heat/toxic heat - cough, particularly with yellow mucus, sore throat, mouthsores, mumps.
• Drains liver fire/calms liver wind - convulsions, clear summerheat affecting the liver system in particular.

• Use with caution in patients with cold in the stomach and/or very deficient spleen/stomach qi.
• Some patients may have skin allergic reactions to the herb.

• Spreads liver Qi and breaks up stagnation - liver Qi stagnation symptoms such as distention and pain in the chest, breast, and/or hypochondriac regions; hernial pain.
• Reduces food stagnation - pain in the epigastrium.
• Dries dampness and transforms phlegm - malarial disorders w/phlegm, dampness, and breast abscesses.
• Raises blood pressure.

• The stem of the honeysuckle plant (Jin Yin Hua) - similar functions, abscesses, sores, damp-heat bi syndromes.

• Binds the intestines, stops chronic/daybreak diarrhea due to cold from spleen and kidney deficiency.
• Warms the middle burner, moves Qi - alleviates pain in abdomen, vomiting due to cold from deficiency of the spleen and stomach.

• Stops bleeding, transforms blood stasis - internal and external bleeding such as vomiting blood, nosebleed, blood in the urine or stool.
• Can stop bleeding without causing blood stasis.
• Traumatic injuries - alleviate pain, reduce swelling from falls, fracture, sprains.
• Invigorates the blood - chest and abdominal pain, joint pain from blood stasis.

• Avoid During Pregnancy

• Transforms dampness, stops vomiting - nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea.
• Promotes movement of Qi, strengthens stomach.
• Calms the fetus, morning sickness.
• Prevents tonifying herbs from causing stagnation. (See also Bai Dou Kou, Yi Zhi Ren)

• Moistens the lungs, stops cough - dry, non-productive cough due to lung yin deficiency.
• Nourish the stomach, generate fluids, clear heat (after febrile disease or yin deficiency) - dry mouth or throat.
• Moisten the exterior - dry itchy skin aggravated by cold and dry weather.

• Incompatible with Li Lu

• Reduces and moves food stagnation outward - accumulation of meat and/or greasy foods with distention, pain, diarrhea.
• Transforms blood stasis, dissipates clumps - post-partum abdominal pain, hernial disorder.
• Stops diarrhea (when partially charred).
• Hypertension.

• Reduces food stagnation, strengthens stomach - stomach cold with food stagnation or accumulation, with epigastric and abdominal fullness or distention, lack of appetite, borborygmus, and diarrhea.
• Aids in mineral digestion and absorption.

• Release the exterior, wind-cold, regulate ying and wei qi
• Warms the middle jiao - stomach cold/vomiting
• Alleviates coughing, warms lung
• Reduces toxicity of other herbs

• Avoid w/heat in LU or ST
• Use cautiously in patients with hypertension

• Releases the exterior, vents muscles - accelerates the early stages of skin rashes, headache from wind-heat (forehead - stomach channel).
• Clears heat, relieves toxicity - toxins in the upper or superficial areas, swelling, painful, sore gums, lips, and/or throat.
• Raises yang, lifts spleen qi sinking (strong than Ge Gen) - for middle qi deficiency leading to shortness of breath, fatigue, prolapse of stomach, uterus, or rectum.
• Serves to guide other herbs upwards.

• Avoid in cases of yin-deficient heat, upper-excesses and lower deficiencies.
• Avoid with fully erupted measles.
• Avoid in patients with breathing difficulties.

• Opens the orifices, vaporizes phlegm, quiets the spirit - sensory orifice disorders due to phlegm, deafness, dizziness, poor memory, dulled sensation, seizures.
• Harmonize the middle warmer, transform turbid damp, abdominal pain.
• Wind-cold damp - painful obstruction, trauma and sores.

• Directs stomach Qi downward - stops hiccups and belching.

• The most important herb to clear internal heat, especially in the qi and yang ming levels.
• Clears heat, drains fire (heavy, descending) - high fever with no chills, excessive thirst, sweating, flooding and big pulse (the "4 bigs"), irritability, red tongue with yellow coat.
• Clears excess lung heat - cough, wheezing, fever, thick yellow sputum.
• Clears blazing stomach fire - headache, toothache, painful and swollen gums.
• Topically for eczema, burns, ulcerated sores; may also be taken internally.

• Avoid in patients with a weak stomach, weak pulse, and yang deficiency.
• Avoid in cases with heat from yin deficiency.

• Nourish yin, clear heat, generate fluids - severe thirst, parched mouth, intractable fever associated with yin deficiency (occurring from injury to fluids from warm febrile disease).
• Nourish stomach yin - dry heaves, stomach ache, xiao ke, shiny tongue with little coating.
• Brighten vision, strengthen lower back.

• Expels wind, invigorates the channels - damp heat obstructing the channels and muscles causing sore chest and flank areas, sore muscles and sinews, stiff joints, traumatic injury, breast abscess.
• Expels phlegm - cough due to lung heat with high fever, chest pain, sticky sputum.
• Expels summer heat, promotes urination.
• Swollen-painful breasts, insufficient lactation.

• Promotes Qi movement, alleviates pain - chest and abdomen pain.

• Clears and drains lung heat, transforms phlegm, moistens lung dryness.
• Drains heat, generates fluid (fluids injured) - thirst, irritability, wasting and thirsting disorder, cough, thick sputum.
• Relieves toxicity, expels pus - toxic hot carbuncles, breast abscess.

• Avoid during Pregnancy.

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

• Relieves toxicity, eliminates dampness - joint pain, lin syndrome, jaundice.
• Clears damp-heat from the skin - recurrent ulcers or hot skin lesions, syphilis.

• Do not drink black tea with this herb.

• Invigorate blood and channels - upper body - promote lactation, lower body - unblocks menses, amenorrhea due to blood stasis.
• Swelling - breast or testicular swellings with pain.

• Avoid During Pregnancy

• Warms the middle, disperses cold, relieves constraint in the liver channel and alleviates pain - headaches, nausea, cold hernia in the liver channel region.
• Redirects stomach Qi downwards - due to liver and/or stomach disharmony.
• Warms the spleen and expels damp cold, stops diarrhea.
• Leads fire downwards - mouth/tongue canker sores (externally applied to canker sores).

• Clears summerheat and generates fluids - thirst, dry heaves, scanty urine.
• Promotes urination and expels jaundice.

• Clears Heat, Relieves Fire Toxicity, Cools Blood, Arrests Tremors. Erythema, nosebleed, vomiting blood, delirium, convulsions, manic behavior, loss of consciousness.

Pregnancy, Yin Deficiency Fever, Incompatible (antagonist) with Chuan Wu Tou and Cao Wu Tou.

• This is Lu Gen in its fresh form.  See the Lu Gen page for all indications.  
• Xian Lu Gen is stronger in clearing heat, generating body fluids and promoting urination than the dried herb.

• Expels summerheat and transforms dampness
• Promotes urination, reduces swelling - edema

• Avoid in exterior deficiency w/sweating

• Spreads liver Qi, warms the kidneys, expels cold, alleviates pain - cold hernial disorders, lower abdominal pain due to cold.
• Regulates Qi and harmonizes the stomach - stomach cold with abdominal pain, indigestion, reduced appetite, vomiting.

• Unblocks the yang Qi and disperses cold phlegm - damp-cold bi of the chest due to cold turbid phlegm preventing the flow of yang qi - chest, flank, or upper back pain, dyspnea, coughing, wheezing, stifling sensation in the chest.
• Promotes the movement of Qi and Blood, alleviates pain - epigastric fullness, distention, abdominal pain, chest pain due to blood obstructing the heart channel.
• Directs Qi downward, reduces stagnation - damp stagnation in the large intestine (dysenteric disorders).

• Expels wind-cold
• Sinus Headaches
• Unblocks nasal passages

• Avoid in Yin Deficiency Heat

• Relieves toxicity, kills parasites, stops itching, inflammation, abscess.
• Topically - scabies, ringworm, dam rashes.
• Kills parasites - accumulation symptoms with roundworms.
• Dries dampness, expels phlegm - wheezing, seizures, malarial conditions.

• Generally, Avoid Using This Herb.

• Redirects lung qi downward, expels cold-phlegm - wheezing and copious sputum.
• Stops vomiting, rebellious qi - from cold due to deficiency of stomach or spleen.

• Clears Heat, Cools Blood. Bleeding, fever, dry mouth, purplish tongue.
• Nourishes Yin. Particularly for the sequel of warm febrile disease with constipation, irritability.
• Drains Fire, Relieves Toxicity. Swollen, red eyes, sore throat.
• Softens Harness (salty), Dissipates phlegm fire nodules. Swollen, sore throat, neck lumps.

Incompatible with Li Lu.

• Invigorate blood, alleviate pain - pain from blood stasis and trauma, dysmenorrhea.
• Promotes movement of Qi and alleviates pain - chest pain, abdominal pain, menstrual pain, hernial disorders, epigastric pain.

• Avoid during Pregnancy.

• Clears Deficient Heat. Steaming bone disorder, deficient yin fever.
• Clears Heat. Fever, thirst, irritability, childhood nutritional impairment due to heat accumulation.
• Cools Blood, Stops Bleeding. Coughing up blood, nosebleed, xue lin, uterine bleeding.

• 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).

• Not for Deficiency Jaundice (pale yellow skin, normal urine, soggy pulse (middle jiao qi deficiency, not from dampness).

• Nourish yin, moisten dryness - lung and stomach dry heat or yin deficiency patterns with cough, dry throat, thirst, irritability, steaming bone disorder, xiao ke, excess hunger, constipation.
• Clear wind, softens and moistens the sinews - wind generated by insufficient fluids, leading to pain and spasms in the sinews, dizziness from yin deficiency and internal movement of wind.
• Also useful for wind-heat in yin deficient constitution (not cloying herb).

• Reduces swellings, discharges pus, invigorates blood, reduces abscesses - for early stages of swollen sores to encourage suppuration or to burst.
• Expels wind, kills parasites - leprosy and ringworm.

• Avoid during Pregnancy.
• Do not use with ulcers that have already burst.

• This preparation increases the qi tonifying aspects of the heart and spleen along with its general harmonizing function within formulas.  See Gan Cao for complete information.

• Milder actions - move qi and reduce distention (good for weak patients).

• Clears heat, drains fire - high fever, irritability, thirst, and a rapid flooding pulse in patterns of excessive heat in the lungs and/or stomach; cough due to lung heat with thick yellow sputum.
• Nourishes yin, moistens dryness - deficiency of lung and kidney yin, night sweats, steaming bone disorder, irritability, afternoon or low-grade fevers, bleeding gums, five-center heat; also for kidney heat signs - spermatorrhea, nocturnal emission, high sexual desire.
• Generates fluids and clears heat - oral ulcers and inflammation due to yin deficiency, wasting and thirsting disorder.

• Avoid in patients with diarrhea from spleen deficiency.

• Breaks up Qi stagnation, reduces accumulations, transforms phlegm - epigastric or abdominal pain and distention or indigestion w/focal distention or gas.
• Directs qi downward and unblocks bowels - frequently used for abdominal pain and constipation by accumulation and stagnant Qi.
• Transforms phlegm and expels focal.
• Used with Qi tonifying herbs for the prolapse of organs.
• Raises blood pressure.

• Avoid during Pregnancy.

• Clears heat (Heart and Liver), eliminates irritability - heat patterns with fever, restlessness, insomnia, delirium, stifling sensation in the chest.
• Drains damp heat - lin (urinary dysfunction) syndrome due to damp-heat in the lower warmer, damp-heat and constrained liver and gallbladder causing jaundice, damp-heat in the gall bladder and triple heater channels of the face - eyes, nose, sores in the mouth and face.
• Cools the blood, stops bleeding - nosebleed, blood in vomit, stool, urine; (needs to partially charred).
• Topically for blood stasis due to trauma, reduces swelling.

• Avoid in patients with loose stools and/or loss of appetite due to cold from deficiency.

• Clears and transforms phlegm-heat - thick sputum, stifling sensation in the chest, coughing up blood.
• Clears heat from the stomach, stops vomiting (good choice for different types including morning sickness), aversion to heat, bad breath, yellow greasy tongue.
• Cools the blood and stops bleeding - to stop nosebleed and vomiting of blood.