Class 10 : Herbs and Formulas That Release The Exterior

1. Class 10: Herbs and Formulas That Release The Exterior Fayi Wu

2. Radix Angelicae Dahuricae (Bai zhi) • Taste and Property: acrid, warm • Meridian Tropism: lung, stomach, and spleen • Actions: expels wind, drys dampness, unblocks the nasal passages, and alleviates pain; reduces swelling and expels pus; drys dampness and alleviates discharges • Indications: • For wind-cold, especially those with headache, also for supraorbital pain, nasal congestion, and toothache, it can be used for any problem due to wind invading the yang ming channels of the head. used with gao ben, ge gen for headache. • For early stages of superficial sores and carbuncles. • Used for vaginal discharge due to dampness in the lower burner • Dosage: 3-9g • Contraindications: yin deficiency and heat in the blood

3. Herba Asari (Xi xin) • Taste and Property: acrid, warm • Meridian Tropism: LU, KI • Actions: disperses cold and releases the exterior, disperse wind, relieves pain, warms lungs and transforms thin mucus, unblocks and facilitates the orifices • Indications: • For any exterior cold pattern, especially with the addition of dampness or underlying yang deficiency. • For pain due to wind and/or cold anywhere in the body, particularly headache, painful obstruction, abdominal pain or toothache. • For cough, with copious, watery sputum, fullness in the chest. • For various types of nasal congestion, oral pathology, and some types of loss of consciousness, all of which impair the clear orifices of the head, as a powder blown into the nose for acute loss of consciousness • Dosage: 1-3g • Contraindications: profuse sweating from qi deficiency, or headaches or cough due to yin deficiency

4. Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens (Sheng jiang) • Taste and Property: acrid, slightly warm • Meridian Tropism: LU, SP, and ST • Actions: disperses cold and releases the exterior; warm the middle burner and alleviates vomiting; warms the lungs and stops cough; resolves toxicity • Indications: • For exterior cold pattern. • For cold in the stomach, especially when there is vomiting. • For cough due to both acute wind-cold cough patterns and chronic lung disorders with phlegm • For resolving toxicity or treating the effects of overdose of other herbs • Dosage: 3-9g • Contraindications: profuse sweating from exterior deficiency, or heat due to yin deficiency or any pattern

5. Herba Elsholtziae (Xiang ru) • Taste and Nature: Acrid, aromatic and slightly warm • Channel tropism: Lung and stomach • Actions: induces sweating and releases the exterior; drains dampness and harmonizes middle jiao; promotes urination and reduces swelling • Indications: • For exterior syndrome of wind cold in summer which is marked by affection of wind cold externally and obstruction of dampness in the interior, with such symptoms as chills and fever, headache, absence of sweating body aches, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. • For edema and urinary difficulty, especially caused by obstruction of lung qi due to invasion of exogenous pathogens, not used for other types of edema. • Dosage: 3-9g. • Contraindications: profuse sweating from exterior deficiency

6. Flos Magnoliae (Xin yi hua) • Taste and Nature: Acrid, warm • Channel tropism: Lung and stomach • Actions: disperses wind cold, clears the nasal passages, relieves sinus headache • Indications: • For exterior syndrome of wind cold such symptoms as nasal obstruction or congestion, nasal discharge, lack of smell, sinus problems, or related headache. • Dosage: 3-9g. • Contraindications: fire from yin deficiency

7. Release wind heatHerba Menthae (Bo he) • Taste and Nature: Acrid, aromatic, cooling • Channel tropism: Lung and liver • Actions: disperses wind-heat, clears and benefits the head, eyes and throat; vents rash; soothes liver • Indications: • For patterns of wind-heat with fever, cough, headache, red eyes, and sore throat. • Used in the early stages of rashes to induce the rash to come to the surface. • For constrained liver qi with such symptoms as pressure in the chest or flanks, emotional instability, and gynecological problems. • Dosage: 3-6g. Added near end. • Contraindications: profuse sweating from exterior deficiency

8. Fructus Arctii (Niu bang zi) • Taste and Nature: Acrid, bitter, cold • Channel tropism: LU, ST • Actions: disperses wind-heat, benefits the throat; resolves toxicity and vents rashes; moistens the intestines • Indications: • For patterns of wind-heat with fever, cough, and sore, red, swollen throat. • For red swellings, carbuncles and rashes including the early stages of measles • For internal heat causing constipation • Dosage: 6-12g. • Contraindications: used with caution in case of qi deficiency, diarrhea, or in the absence of excessive heat

9. Periost Cicadae (Chan tui) • Taste and Nature: Sweet, salty, slight cold • Channel tropism: LU, LV • Actions: disperses wind-heat; vents rash; clears the eyes and removes superficial visual obstruction, stops spasms and extinguishes wind • Indications: • For patterns of wind-heat, especially with loss of voice and swollen, sore throat. • For early stage of measles with incomplete expression of the rashes. • For wind heat eye problems such as red, painful and swollen eyes or blurry vision. • For childhood febrile diseases in which wind causes convulsions, spasms, delirium or night terrors • Dosage: 3-9g. • Contraindications: used with caution in patients who might be pregnant

10. Folium Mori (Sang ye) • Taste and Property: Sweet, bitter, slightly cold • Meridian Tropism: Lung and liver • Actions: Expel wind-heat from the lung; clear lung heat and moisten dryness; clear liver heat to treat eye disorders; Cool blood and stop bleeding, • Indications: • Wind heat exterior pattern, used together with Bo He, Sang Ye, Jie Geng for wind heat exterior pattern marked by cough. • Cough and dry throat due to dry heat impairing the lung. • For eye problems due to liver heat from excess, wind-heat, or yin deficiency, also for vertigo due to liver yang rising. • For mild cases of hematemesis due to blood heat • Dosage: 4.5-9g. Used after prepared with honey for lung dryness.

11. Flos chrysanthemi (Ju hua) • Taste and Property: Sweet, bitter, slightly cold • Meridian Tropism: Lung and liver • Actions: disperses wind and clears heat; calms liver and clears eyes, extinguishes wind; resolves toxicity • Indications: • Wind heat exterior pattern, used together with Bo He, Sang Ye, Jie Geng for wind heat exterior pattern marked by cough. • Red, swollen and painful eyes due to wind heat in the eyes or upward attack of liver fire. • Vertigo of eyes due to deficiency of both liver and kidney yin. • For dizziness, headache, deafness, convulsions due to ascendant liver yang and liver wind. • Dosage: 4.5-15g • Contraindications: Headache or dizziness caused by blood deficiency with fire.

12. Fructus Viticis (Man jing zi) • Taste and Property: Bitter, acrid and cool • Meridian Tropism: Liver, stomach and bladder • Actions: Disperse wind heat; Clear and benefit the eyes and head; Drain dampness and expels wind • Indications: • For wind heat exterior pattern with headache or eye pain. • For wind heat in the liver channels manifesting as excessive tearing, red, painful, or swollen eyes, or spots in front of the eyes • As a auxiliary herb for wind dampness in the limbs causing stiffness, numbness, cramping, or heaviness. • Dosage: 6-12g.

13. Semen Sojae Preparatum (Dan dou chi) • Taste and Property: Sweet, acrid, slightly bitter and cold or warm • Meridian Tropism: lung and stomach • Actions: Relieves exterior, eliminates irritability • Indications: • For either cold or heat exterior disorders or with yin deficiency. Used with cong bai. • For restlessness, irritability and insomnia due to heat invading into the chest and diaphragm. • Dosage: 6-12g.

14. Radix Puerariae (Ge gen) • Taste and Property: Sweet, acrid and cool • Meridian Tropism: spleen and stomach • Actions: discharges exterior and releases the muscles and clears heat, vents measles, raises yang to relieve diarrhea; clears heat and generates fluids • Indications: • For exterior conditions lodged in the muscles manifesting with fever, headache and stiff or tight upper back or neck. • For incomplete expression of rashes • For irritability and thirst from externally-contracted heat or wasting and thirsting diseases with internal heat • Used to treat diarrhea of either heat or deficiency cold. • For hypertension • Dosage: 6-24g. use the roasted one for diarrhea due to spleen deficiency.

15. Radix Bupleuri (Chai hu) • Taste and Property: Bitter, acrid and slightly cold • Meridian Tropism: PC, LV, SJ, GB • Actions: Reduces fever by harmonizing and relieving shaoyang; relieves stagnation of liver qi; lifts yang Qi • Indications: • Used as the most important herb for shaoyang pattern marked by alternate attack of fever and chills, fullness in the hypochondrium, bitter taste in the mouth, dry mouth and vertigo. • For liver qi stagnation such as distending pain in the hypochondrium, headache, irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, etc. • Prolapse of rectum or uterus or shortness of breath or lassitude due to sinking of deficient qi. • Dosage: 3-9g • Contraindications: Not used for true yin deficiency with hyperactivity of liver yang

16. Rhizoma Cimicifugae (Sheng ma) • Taste and Property: sweet, acrid and slightly cold • Meridian Tropism: LI, LU, SP, ST • Actions: relieves exterior and vents measles; clears heat and resolves toxicity; lifts yang Qi • Indications: • For headache due to exterior wind-heat or the early stages of measles, used with ge gen. • For fire toxin in the upper or superficial aspects of the body, such as sore teeth, swollen or painful gums, ulcerated lips or gums, canker sores painful and swollen throat, sores. • Prolapse of rectum or uterus or shortness of breath or lassitude due to sinking of deficient qi. • Dosage: 3-9g • Contraindications: Not used for true yin deficiency with hyperactivity of liver yang

17. Cyperus and Perilla Leaf Powder (xiang su san) Ingredients: zi su ye, xiang fu, chen pi, zhi gan cao

18. Actions and indications of the formula • Actions • Regulates qi and releases the exterior. • Indications • Fever and chills without sweating, headache, focal distention and stifling sensation in the chest and epigastrium, poor appetite, belching, a thin white tongue coating, and a floating pulse.

19. Analysis of Formula • Chief: zi su ye • Releases exterior wind-cold and facilitates the flow of qi in the interior • Deputy: xiang fu • Releases constraint and disperses stagnation • Assistant: chen pi • Helps regulate qi • Envoy: Gan cao • Harmonizes actions of the other herbs and strengthens the stomach, prevents the qi-regulating herbs from depleting the qi

20. Modern application and modifications • Modern application: • Disorder of upper respiratory tract infection and stomach flu. • Modifications: • For severe headache, add man jing zi • For coughing with copious sputum, add su zi, ban xia

21. Elsholtzia Powder (xiang ru san) Ingredients: xiang ru, bai bian dou, hou po

22. Actions and indications of the formula • Actions • Releases the exterior, scatters cold, transforms dampness, and harmonizes the middle burner. • Indications • Aversion to cold with skin that is warm to touch, an absence of sweating, a sensation of heaviness in the head, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, a stifling sensation in the chest, fatigued extremities, a white, greasy tongue coating and a floating pulse.

23. Analysis of Formula • Chief: xiang ru • Releases exterior, harmonizes the ascending and descending functions of the spleen, and disperses stagnant fluids by dispelling cold and dampness from the middle burner • Deputy: bai bian dou • Strengthens spleen and drain dampness • Assistant: hou po • Expels dampness and disperses fullness

24. Modern application and modifications • Modern application: • Disorder of upper respiratory tract infection, gastroenteritis, bacillary dysentery, and cholera. • Modifications: • For stronger exterior presentation, add qing hao • For severe cold with nasal obstruction, take with cong chi tang