INDIVIDUAL HERBS
Pharmaceutical Latin: | Herba Polygoni Avicularis |
Common English: | Knotgrass Knotweed Polygonum |
Taste | Temperature | Entering Meridians | Dosage |
Bitter |
Slightly Cold (Cool) (Neutral) |
Bladder |
8-16g Tincture: 2-4ml |
Actions | Indications/Syndromes |
Drains Damp-Heat from the Urinary Bladder, promotes urination and unblocks painful urinary dysfunction |
Damp-Heat Painful Urinary Dysfunction (Lin Syndrome) Damp-Heat jaundice |
Expels parasites and stops itching |
Damp lesions with itch including tinea Intestinal parasites such as tapeworm, hookworm and pinworm |
CONTRAINDICATIONS |
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INCOMPATIBILITIES |
HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS |
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Hb. Dianthi |
Hb. Cirsii |
Hb. Lysimachiae/Desmodii/Glechomae |
Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao or Stone Lin with urinary discomfort. |
Blood (Xue) Lin. |
Stone Lin. |
Fr. Quisqualis |
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Topically as a wash for Damp-Heat induced genital itching. |
Roundworms. |
As an external wash for pinworms. |
Hb. Dianthi |
Caulis Akebiae |
Rx. et Rz. Rhei |
Painful urinary dysfunction. |
Damp-Heat dysuria. (Shi-Re Lin) |
Jaundice. |
Rz. Atractylodis |
Hb. Artemisiae Scopariae |
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Eczema. |
Damp-Heat jaundice. |
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- This herb is most appropriate when Heat and Dampness are equally severe.
- This herb is also used for Damp-Heat jaundice and dysenteric disorders, due to Damp-Heat and Damp-Heat sores and itchy rashes.
- It treats weeping rashes, hemorrhoids, the three parasites, sudden turmoil disorder and vaginal erosion.
- it can be used topically as a wash for itching due to parasites.
- Both Bian Xu and Hb. Dianthi Qu Mai clear Heat and facilitate the removal of pathogenic water to unblock painful urinary dysfunction. They are often used together to treat burning, painful and difficult urination Bian Xu is bitter, directs downward and directly enters the Bladder to cool Damp-Heat and is superior for scanty, dark and difficult -to-pass urine due to Damp-Heat. It can also be used for Damp-Heat jaundice. Qu Mai facilitates the function of the Small Intestine to guide Internal Heat outward and is better for burning pain during urination or hematuria due to Heat. It also breaks up blood Stasis and unblocks the channels to treat amenorrhea.
- In Western herbology, Bian Xu is also used to treat gout and rheumatism.