Author: Various
Source: Chinese Medicinal Wines and Elixirs (2008)
Category: Formulas that Regulate Blood
Pattern: Injuries of the Sinews and broken bones
Key Symptoms: Pain from trauma including broken bones.
Ingredients
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Gu Sui Bu
| 70g | |
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Pinyin: Gu Sui Bu
Chinese: 骨碎补
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Drynariae
English: Boneknit Rhizome / Fortune's Drynaria Rhizome |
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Tastes: Bitter, warm
Meridians Entered: Liver and Kidney |
Actions & Indications:
- Tonifies Kidney Yang, strengthens the sinews and bones and benefits the ears (also helps regain strength after injuries)
Weak low back and knees, diarrhoea, tinnitus, diminished hearing, loose, painful teeth and bleeding gums associated with Kidney Deficiency
- Promotes mending of sinews and bones
Traumatic injuries such as falls, fractures, contusions and sprains
Especially useful for ligament injuries and simple fractures
- Stimulates hair growth (topical)
Topically as a tincture for alopecia
- Invigorates the Blood
Blood Stagnation especially due to trauma
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Standard Dosage: 3 - 9g dried in decoction, or 6 - 15g if fresh, or applied topically to site.
Cautions: This herb is warm that can invigorate yang. Use with cautions for the yin deficiency and internal heat. |
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Bai Jiu
| 650ml | | |
Pinyin: Jiu
Chinese: 酒
Pharmaceutical: Alcohol
English: Rice Wine |
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Tastes: Hot, pungent, sweet, bitter, toxic
Meridians Entered: Stomach, Heart, Lung and Liver, but reaches every part of the body |
Actions & Indications:
- Nourishes and moves Blood and Qi, opens the Meridians
Taken internally or applied topically as the medium for liniments in Blood stasis, especially from trauma or Bi syndromes in the elderly
- Warms Yang and Expels Cold
All Cold syndromes including Cold Bi, Interior Cold and Yang deficiency
Often serves as the basis for longevity "elixirs" by soaking Yang tonifying herbs
- Strengthens the Shen, dispels sorrow and promotes happiness
Temporary low mood, celebration
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Standard Dosage: 10-60ml, two to three times per day. Often combined with other herbs to bring out their Blood moving or warming aspects by washing them, or adding to a decoction, or soaking herbs in alcohol to make medicinal wines.
Cautions: Caution with Damp-Heat syndromes or long term consumption in the young and middle aged.
The Materia Dietetica (Shiwu Bencao 食物本草) by Lu He 卢和 from the Ming Dynasty says that excess drinking can hurt the spirit and consume blood, damage the stomach and deplete the body fluid, produce phlegm and induce fire. |
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Subsitutions:
Bai Jiu (white alcohol) traditionally means distilled rice wine but can be substituted with any clear 40% spirit.
Preparation: Soak the herb in 650ml of alcohol for 7 days. Take 30ml twice daily.
Actions: Connects the bones and mends the sinews.
Contraindications: Pregnancy, Damp-Heat conditions and long term use due to the harmful effects on continuous alcohol consumption.
Notes:
Flaws' original recipe calls for 720g of herb in 650ml of alcohol which seems as if it will not be enough to rehydrate the dried herb, much less get any infusion so I have reduced it to what seems like a sensible amount by reducing it to one tenth of the stated amount.
Research Links:
Reference Notes: (click to display)
Most formulas are found in Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet (2009): Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies and Chen & Chen (2015) Chinese Herbal Formulas and Applications. Others are from translations of primary sources. It is recommended that the original material is cross-referenced for mistakes and additional information.
Substitutions have been taken from Ken Lloyd & Prof. Leung (2004): Mayway UK Substitution List or the above publications and are intended as suggestions to help navigate the tight restrictions in the UK quickly. More applicable substitutions may be appropriate in specific situations.
Individual herb information has initially been sourced from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted.
