Traditional Chinese medicine has created a lot of classic herbal formulae, which has formed the basis for modern day clinical usage. Many of them are so popular that they even manufactured as patent remedies and are available in health stores. In this section, the formulae are listed according to their general actions on the body. For each category, a brief introduction about the basic concepts, clinical applications and contradictions are provided. Each formula will have it name given in both English and Chinese, the list of herbal ingredients and indications for use.
For centuries of practice, TCM scholars perfected various formulae for some typical disharmony patterns, and today, these classic formulae have become the basis for modern day usage. Many of them are so popular that they have been manufactured as patent remedies and are available in health stores.
MorePurgative formulae break down the interior accumulations through vigorous evacuation of the bowels.
MoreThese formulae treat in the superficial portion of the body through the actions of inducing sweating, releasing muscles or promoting eruption. In TCM, the body surface forms the first barrier against the invasion of , and is mainly dominated by the lung and bladder meridians. When exogenous pathogens first attack…
MoreThese formulae promote digestion and remove food retention. Improper diet damages the digestion and causes stomach dysfunction, leading to indigestion symptoms such as distention and fullness in the gastric and abdominal regions, poor appetite, bad breath, belching, nausea, thick and greasy tongue fur, loose bowels and sometimes diarrhea.
MoreHarmonizing formulae mediate or regulate the physiological functions needed so as to achieve in a new balanced condition, which involve complex processes in different levels of the body. They are usually used in shao yang diseases, organ dysfunction, disharmony in qi (vital energy), blood and meridians.
MoreHeat-clearing formulae treat various heat syndromes through the actions of clearing away heat, draining fire, cooling blood, eliminating toxic heat and nourishing the body.
MoreInterior-warming formulae warm the interior and unblock the meridians , so as to eliminate cold evils inside the body, and for resuscitation. They should therefore be used with caution in cases of yin deficiency or blood loss.
MoreTonic formulae enrich, augment, nourish or replenish the qi blood, yin or yang of the body when they become deficient or weak. When the body has developed a depletion of fundamental substances or under-functioning of organs, TCM tonifying methods are used to overcome this particular deficiency inside the body.…
MoreAstringent formulae arrest abnormal discharge or leakage of fluids and other substances from the body, such as sweat, sputum, blood, urine, stool, sperm and vaginal discharges. Astringent formulae are used for simply weakened or deficient conditions itself.
MoreCalming formulae are for relieving mental tension and uneasiness, and some are similar to sedative effect in Western medicine. In TCM, the brain’s activities pertain to , disturbances of the spirit are closely related to functional disorders in and among the organs, particularly in the heart, liver and kidney, thus an…
MoreOrifice-opening formulae are used to reopen sensory orifices and wake up spirit. They can only be used for treating critical condition and for temporality, once the condition becomes stable, then it should be stopped immediately. Long-term administration can easily lead to exhaustion of inborn qi.
MoreQi-regulating Formulae aim to regulate qi flow that can relieve disharmonies like qi stagnation, and counterflow of qi. Disharmony in qi flowing can be seen in a wide range of clinical conditions, physicians will design the remedies accordingly to specific signs.
MoreBlood-regulating formulae treat disorders related to abnormal blood flowing, mainly for dispelling blood stasis and arresting bleeding. Blood and qi (vital energy) are mutually promote and nourish each other, and thus qi herbs or other tonic herbs are often added in the formulae, to enhance the overall efficacy.
MoreDampness is a heavy, sluggish pathogen that leads to disorders processing slowly and lingering inside the body. When it invades the body, there will be sluggishness, tiredness, heavy limbs, a feeling of distention in the head, stiffness and pain in the joints, or limb puffiness. Any bodily discharge tends to…
MorePhlegm-resolving formulae can eliminate the effects caused by phlegm and retained fluid. The disorders include coughing, breathing difficulty, headache, dizziness or vertigo, chest bi-syndrome, vomiting, stroke, phlegm jue-syndrome, mania-depressive syndrome , convulsive diseases, nodules or lumps such as scrofula.
MoreWind-eliminating formulae is used to expel exogenous wind and extinguish endogenous wind. Wind evil is considered a yang pathogen and it has influential effects. Characteristic conditions involving wind disharmonies are sudden onset and a lingering and changeable nature.
MoreTCM strategies for the dry disharmonies involve enhancing the lungs to disperse dryness evils in external cases, while nourishing yin and enhancing fluid production as well as distribution in internal cases.
More
English
