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INDIVIDUAL HERBS

NAME: MU ZEI - 木賊 - HERBA EQUISETI HIEMALIS

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Herba Equiseti Hiemalis
Common English:	Equisetium Scouring Rush Shave Grass Horse Tail Dutch Rushes

PROPERTIES

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Sweet Bitter (Astringent)	Neutral (Cool)	Liver Lung Gallbladder	3-12g Tincture: 1-4ml

ACTIONS AND INDICATIONS

Actions

Indications/Syndromes

Disperses Wind-Heat, clears the eyes and eliminates superficial visual obstruction

Wind-Heat affecting the eyes with redness, pain, swelling, cloudiness, blurred vision, pterygium or excessive tearing, headaches

Liver/Gallbladder channel Fire

Liver Yin Deficiency haziness

Clears Heat and stops bleeding

Heat in the Blood causing hemafecia or hemorrhoids

CONTRAINDICATIONS, INCOMPATIBILITIES AND HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Use caution for those with urinary frequency.
Use caution for those with depleted fluids
Use caution for those with Qi Deficiency or Qi and Blood Deficiency.
Use caution for those with Yin Deficiency, Yang Deficiency or Yin and Yang Deficiency.
Use caution during pregnancy.
Use caution for those with Heart and Kidney disorders.
Use caution for those with red eyes due to Liver Yang Rising.
Use caution with children under 1 year old.
Do not use for a prolonged period.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS

MAJOR COMBINATIONS

Flos Chrysanthemi Ju Hua	Rz. Atractylodis Cang Zhu	Fr. Tribuli Bai Ji Li
Swelling, pain and redness of the eyes Pterygium	Blurred vision and excessive tearing	Hives, itching, pterygium, and excessive tearing (Bai Ji Li is more effective at calming the Liver and removing obstruction while Mu Zei has a stronger dispersing action)
Flos Eriocauli Gu Jing Cao Concha Haliotidis Shi Jue Ming	Fr. Sophorae Huai Jiao Rx. Sanguisorbae Di Yu	Periostracum Cicadae Chan Tui Flos Eriocauli Gu Jing Cao Spica Prunellae Xia Ku Cao Fr. Tribuli Bai Ji Li
Red eyes	Bleeding hemorrhoids or hemafecia due to Heat in the Blood	External Wind-Heat or Liver Heat with red eyes, Excess tearing etc.
Faeces Vespertilionis Ye Ming Sha Rx. Angelicae Sinensis Dang Gui Periostracum Cicadae Chan Tui Goat Liver
Night blindness due to Liver Blood Deficiency

NOTES

Some sources say that this herb has diuretic properties to treat Damp-Heat.
Some sources say that this herb treats haziness due to Liver Yin Deficiency.
Other sources classify this herb as a Heat Clearing herb which benefits the eyes.
In the West, this herb is used for connective tissue weakness, toxicosis and organic Kidney, Lung and bone disease.
Because of their high silica content, the stems are used as polishing tools and reeds for wind instruments.
This herb accumulates gold from the soil and is used as an indicator of gold content in the soil.
It is rarely used in Wind-Heat formulas unless there is an associated eye disorder.
This herb treats pain from bulging disorders, prolapsed rectum, bleeding hemorrhoids from Intestinal Wind, hemafecia, and gynecological bleeding as long as they are due to Wind-Heat.
It can be used alone at a dosage of 15 to 30g for bloody dysentery.
Mu Zei and Hb. Ephedrae Ma Huang are similar in form and nature but Mu Zei is not acrid and hot. It enters the Liver and Gallbladder channels to disperse Wind-Heat from the their Blood levels and make the Blood rise up to the eyes. Ma Huang is focused on opening the Wei Qi to induce copious sweating.
Both Mu Zei and Fr. Tribuli Bai Ji Li dredge and disperse Wind-Heat, brighten the eyes, stop itching and can be combined to treat these conditions. Bai Ji Li calms and extinguishes Internal Wind and dredges the Liver to promote the flow of stagnant Qi and Blood. Mu Zei releases the muscle layer, expels Wind-Dampness and more strongly eliminates superficial visual obstruction.