Source: Extensive Essentials of Miscellaneous Diseases (1856)
Category: Formulas that Dispel Phlegm
Pattern: Phlegm-Cold in the Lungs with Food Stagnation
Key Symptoms: Coughing and wheezing, copious sputum, focal distention in the chest, loss of appetite
Secondary Symptoms: Indigestion, belching with taste of previously eaten food, bloating, lack of appetite
Tongue: White, greasy coating
Pulse: Slippery
Ingredients
|
Bai Jie Zi
| 6-9g | |
|
Pinyin: Bai Jie Zi
Chinese: 白芥子
Pharmaceutical: Semen Brassicae Albae
Taxonomy: Brassica syn. Sinapis alba
English: Mustard Seed |
|
Tastes: Pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Lung and Stomach |
Actions & Indications:
- Warms the Lungs, regulates Qi and expels Phlegm
Accumulation of Cold-Phlegm with cough with copious thin sputum, chest distention and pain, especially in chronic disorders
Main ingredient of San Fu Moxibustion (三伏灸) where it is ground, mixed with ginger juice and other herbs, and applied topically for the irritant properties to replace the heat of lighted herbs. It is done to treat respiratory disorders that get worse in winter and performed on the three Fu (Yang Metal) days over the 3 months of summer.
- Promotes Qi movement, dissipates nodules, unblocks the collaterals and alleviates pain
Phlegm-Dampness Accumulating in the Channels
Yin flat abscess
Spreading sores Phlegm nodules (scrofula)
|
Standard Dosage: 3-6g in decoction.
Cautions: This herb has strong stimulation to the skin mucosa and will easily cause redness swelling and blisters. Therefore, it is prohibited for those with digestive tract ulcer and bleeding and skin allergies. Do not use in high doses. |
|
|
Zi Su Zi
| 6-9g | |
|
Pinyin: Zi Su Zi
Chinese: 紫蘇子
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Perillae
English: Perilla Seed |
|
Tastes: Pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Lung and Large Intestine |
Actions & Indications:
- Stops coughing, calms wheezing, descends Qi and dissolves Phlegm
Coughing and wheezing with copious Phlegm due to Phlegm accumulation
Especially useful when exhalation is more labored than inhalation with a stifling sensation in the chest
- Moistens the Intestines and unblocks the stool
Constipation due to dry Intestines
|
Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for cough and dyspnea due to yin deficiency or loose stool due to spleen deficiency. |
|
|
Lai Fu Zi
| 6-9g | | |
Pinyin: Lai Fu Zi
Chinese: 莱菔子
Pharmaceutical: Semen Raphani
Taxonomy: Raphanus sativus
English: Radish Seed |
|
Tastes: Pungent, sweet and bland
Meridians Entered: Lung, Spleen and Stomach |
Actions & Indications:
- Reduces Food Stagnation, transforms accumulation, promotes digestion and eliminates distention
Food Stagnation in the Middle Jiao with fullness and distention, belching with rotten smell, acid regurgitation or abdominal pain with diarrhoea
- Descends Qi and reduces Phlegm
Chronic productive coughing or wheezing (most effective for Excess conditions)
- Lowers blood pressure
Hypertension
|
Standard Dosage: 6-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated with Ren Shen. It should be used with cautions for qi deficiency without food stagnation and /or phlegm accumulation. |
|
Preparation: Decoction.
Actions: Directs the Qi downwards, transforms Phlegm, reduces harboured food
Contraindications: Deficiency Cold
Notes:
The seeds are washed, lightly fried and crushed, then placed in a cheesecloth bag before decocting.
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.
