Pinyin: Cao Wu / Wu Tou  Chinese: 草烏 / 烏頭
Pharmaceutical: Radix Aconiti Kusnezoffii seu Agrestis
Taxonomy: Aconitum Kusnezoffii seu Agrestis
English: Wild Aconite Root / Kusnezoff Monkshood Root / Monkshood Daughter Root

Tastes: Pungent, bitter, hot, toxic
Meridians Entered: Heart, Liver, Kidney and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Disperses Cold, scours out Wind, overcomes Dampness and stops pain
   Almost exclusively used topically
   Gu Parasites / chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
2. Reduces swellings and treats abscesses and lesions
   Yin sores
   Stubborn sores that do not ulcerate
   Ulcerated sores that do not heal

Standard Dosage: 1.5-3g in decoction, or applied externally.
Cautions: The raw products should be used cautiously and decocted for a long time to detoxify prior to adding the other ingredients. It is antagonistic to Ban Xia, Gua Lou, Bei Mu, Bai Lian and Bai Ji.

This herb is prohibited from use in the UK under the banned and restricted herbal ingredients list issued by the MHRA. It is generally substituted with various Yang tonics depending on the presentation although none can imitate its powerful cardiovascular effects making them ineffective substitutes for rescuing devastated Yang. External use is permitted at 1.3% or below.

Pinyin: Chuan Wu  Chinese: 川乌
Pharmaceutical: Radix Aconiti Preparata
Taxonomy: Aconitum carmichaeli
English: Sichuan Aconite Root / Monkshood Mother Root

Tastes: Pungent, bitter, hot, strongly toxic
Meridians Entered: Heart, Liver, Kidney and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Expels Wind-Dampness, disperses Cold, warms and activates the channels and stops pain
   Wind-Damp Painful Obstruction (Bi) with
   Severe sub-cardiac and abdominal pain from Wind-Cold-Dampness
   Headache
   Trauma
   Anesthesia
   (Can be applied topically)
2. Reduces swellings, induces ulceration and dispels putrefication
   Topically for Yin flat abscesses
   Used when hard abscesses do not soften and ulcerate or do not heal
3. Treats unconsciousness caused by Phlegm Stagnation
   Unprocessed can treat unconsciousness, deviation of the mouth and eyes and a roaring sound of Phlegm in the throat (very rare usage)

Standard Dosage: 1.5-3g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated to pregnancy, and antagonistic to Ban Xia, Gua Lou, Bei Mu, Bai Lian and Bai Ji. It should be processed for oral administration by decocting until no numbing taste is left before adding the other herbs. Caution should be paid when the crude products are taken orally or it is used in wine soak and decocted in wine which will easily lead to toxic reactions.

This herb is prohibited from use in the UK under the banned and restricted herbal ingredients list issued by the MHRA. It is generally substituted with various Yang tonics depending on the presentation although none can imitate its powerful cardiovascular effects making them ineffective substitutes for rescuing devastated Yang. External use is permitted at 1.3% or below.

Pinyin: Tian Nan Xing  Chinese: 天南星
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Arisaematis
Taxonomy: Arisaema consanguineum
English: Jack-in-the-Pulpit Rhizome

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, warm, toxic
Meridians Entered: Lung, Liver and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Dries Dampness and expels Phlegm
   Stubborn (extremely sticky) Phlegm in the Lungs with cough and a distended sensation in the chest
2. Disperses Wind-Phlegm in the channels and stops spasms
   Wind-Phlegm Obstructing the Channels with dizziness, vertigo, numbness in the limbs, facial paralysis, spasms in the hands and feet, opisthotonis, stroke, seizures or lockjaw
3. Reduces swelling and alleviates pain
   Topically for Chuang Yung (deep rooted sores, ulcers and carbuncles. Swelling due to traumatic injury and joint pain secondary to Phlegm Topically for cervical cancer

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: Prohibited for yin deficiency with dry phlegm and the pregnant women.

Pinyin: Mo Yao  Chinese: 沒藥
Pharmaceutical: Resina Commiphorae
Taxonomy: Commiphora mukul
English: Myrrh

Tastes: Pungent, Bitter, Neutral
Meridians Entered: Heart, Liver and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Invigorates the Blood, dispels Blood Stasis, alleviates pain and reduces swelling
   Blood Stasis with pain from trauma, sores, carbuncles, swellings, fixed abdominal masses, painful obstruction, chest pain, abdominal pain and amenorrhea
2. Generates flesh and promotes healing
   Chronic non-healing sores

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decocotion.
Cautions: Like Ru Xiang this herb is drastically pungent with strong stimulation to stomach and easily causes nausea and vomiting. It should not be taken by large dose or for a long time. Use with cautions for patients with weak stomach; prohibited for pregnant women.

Pinyin: Ru Xiang  Chinese: 乳香
Pharmaceutical: Olibanum
Taxonomy: Boswellia serrata
English: Frankincense

Tastes: Pungent, bitter, warm
Meridians Entered: Liver, Heart and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Invigorates the Blood and promotes the movement of Qi
   Pain due to Blood Stasis from traumatic injury
   Early stage toxic sores, carbuncles, swellings and pain
   Blood Stasis with chest, epigastric or abdominal pain
2. Relaxes the sinews, activates the channels and alleviates pain
   Wind-Damp Bi with rigidity and spasms
3. Reduces swelling and generates flesh
   Topically as an ointment or powder to reduce swelling, generate flesh, alleviate pain and promote healing of sores, carbuncles, and traumatic injury
   Pain, redness and swelling of the gums, mouth and throat

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: This herb is drasticly pungent with strong stimulation to stomach and easily causes nausea and vomiting. So it should not be taken by large dose or for a long time. Use with cautions for patients with weak stomach; prohibited for pregnant women.

Pinyin: Di Long  Chinese: 地龙
Pharmaceutical: Pheretima seu Lumbricus
Taxonomy: Pheretima seu Lumbricus
English: Earthworm

Tastes: Salty, cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Spleen and Bladder

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Heat, settles convulsions, extinguishes Wind and stops spasms
   Extreme Heat generating Wind with loss of consciousness, incoherent speech, convulsions and seizures It can be used alone It has recently been used to treat schizophrenia of the hot-manic type
2. Clears Heat and unblocks and promotes movement in the channels and collaterals
   Hot or Cold Bi (with appropriate herbs) with swollen, painful joints with a reduced range of motion Hemiplegia due to lack of flow in the channels such as the sequelae of Wind-Stroke
3. Clears Heat and calms wheezing
   Wheezing due to Lung Heat (can be taken alone as a powder, in capsules or decocted with sugar as a syrup)
4. Clears Heat and promotes urination
   Hot, painful urinary dysfunction, oedema (severe cases), ascites and jaundice Especially useful for Heat clumping in the Bladder with urinary difficulty or inability to urinate (can be used alone)
5. Anchors Liver Yang and lowers Blood pressure
   Hypertension due to Liver Yang Rising
6. Promotes healing topically
   Acute parotitis, chronic ulcers of the lower limbs, burns, boils or carbuncles (powder, mix with sugar and apply topically)
7. Removes the Three Worms and Hidden Corpses, Ghost Possession and Gu Toxins
   White necked earthworms (白頸蚯蚓 Bai Jing Qiu Yin) are said in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing to remove the Three Worms (三蟲) and Hidden Corpses (伏尸), Ghost Possession (鬼注) and Gu Toxins (蠱毒) and kills Long Worms (殺長蟲), suggesting their use to treat a number of invisible, supernatural diseases, presumably because of their own worm-like nature and non-toxic nature.

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: Animal products are prohibited from use in the UK under the Medicines Act 1968 ch. 67 which restricts herbalists to the use of plant products only. It is generally substituted with Xi Xian Cao and Gou Teng, although vines like Ji Xue Teng or Ye Jiao Teng could be appropriate too if the principle of worms and vines entering the channels and collaterals wants to be preserved.