This product is the whole herb of the perennial herbaceous plant Northern Asarum (Asarum heterotropides Fr. Schmidt var. mandshuricum (Maxim.) Kitag.), Seoul Asarum (Asarum sieboldii Miq. var. seoulense Nakai), or Chinese Asarum (Asarum sieboldii Miq.). The first two are commonly referred to as "Asarum" and are mainly produced in Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang; the latter is mainly produced in Shaanxi and other regions. It is harvested in summer and autumn and dried in the shade for use.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Acrid, warm. slightly toxic. Act on lung, kidney and heart meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Dispelling wind and dispersing cold, relieving stuffy orifices, alleviating pain, warming the lungs, and resolving fluid retention.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for wind-cold common cold, yang deficiency external contraction. This product dispels wind and disperses cold, reaching the surface and penetrating the interior. Entering the lung meridian, it disperses wind-cold on the surface, often used with Notopterygium, Saposhnikovia Root, Dahurian Angelica, etc., to treat general wind-cold common cold, such as Nine-lngredient Notopterygium Decoction; entering the kidney meridian, it also eliminates interior cold pathogens, often used with Aconite Lateral Root, Ephedra to treat aversion to cold without sweating, fever with deep pulse in yang deficiency external contraction, such as Ephedra, Asarum and Aconite Decoction.
2. Used to treat headache, sinusitis, toothache, and pain due to impediment. This product is pungent and aromatic, able to dispel wind and cold, relieve stuffy nose, and stop pain. Used to treat external contraction of wind pathogens, migraine or general headache, often used with Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, Dahurian Angelica, Notopterygium, etc., such as Tea-Blended Ligusticum Powder; if treating pain as if splitting, with a slightly wiry and tight pulse due to wind-cold headache, it should be combined with Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, Ephedra, Aconite Lateral Root, such as Asarum Decoction. Used to treat wind pathogens invading the lung, nasal congestion sinusitis, headache with runny nose, it can be combined with Magnolia, Dahurian Angelica, Cocklebur Fruit, etc. Effective in treating wind-cold toothache, it can be used alone as Asarum or combined with Dahurian Angelica to make a decoction for gargling, or combined with long pepper to make a decoction for gargling, known as Asarum Decoction (Shengji Zonglu), both with good effects; if treating stomach fire toothache, it should be combined with raw Gypsum, Coptis Rhizome, Cimicifuga Rhizome, etc., to clear stomach fire; if treating worm-induced toothache, it can be combined with honeycomb to make a decoction for gargling. Used to treat wind-cold-dampness impediment, cold pain in the waist and knees, often combined with Pubescent Angelica, Chinese Taxillus Herb, Saposhnikovia Root, etc., such as Pubescent Angelica and Taxillus Decoction.
3. Used for cold phlegm and fluid retention, qi counterflow with wheezing and cough. This product is pungent and dispersing, warm and drying, able to disperse exterior cold, lower qi and eliminate phlegm, warm the lung and resolve fluid retention, thus used to treat external contraction of wind-cold, internal retention of fluid, wheezing and cough, with copious clear and thin phlegm, often combined with Ephedra, Cinnamon Twig, Dried Ginger, etc., such as Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction; if there is no exterior pathogen, purely cold phlegm and fluid retention affecting the lung, with qi counterflow and wheezing cough, it can be combined with Poria, Dried Ginger, Schisandra Fruit, etc., such as Potia, Licorice, Schisandra, Ginger and Asarum Decoction.
4. In addition, this product is pungent and warm, dispersing and aromatic, used nasally to induce sneezing, has the function of opening the orifices and resuscitation. Used to treat sudden lockjaw, breathlessness, unconsciousness, pale complexion, tightly closed jaw due to attack of noxious factor or phlegm syncope, belonging to pattern of obstruction, excess pattern, often combined with Chinese Honeylocust Fruit ground into powder and mixed, blowing a small amount into the nose to induce sneezing, such as Tong Guan San; it can also be used alone as a powder, blown into the nose to induce sneezing.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Benjing: "Mainly treats cough and counterflow, headache and brain movement, joint stiffness of the body, wind-dampness pain, dead flesh... improving vision, benefiting the nine orifices."
2. Bencao Bieshuo: "If Asarum is used alone as a powder, it should not exceed half a coin in amount, as too much can cause chest congestion and blockage, leading to death in severe cases."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 2-5g; for pill or powder, use 0.5-1g. Apply an appropriate amount externally.

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Contraindicated for headaches due to yin deficiency with yang hyperactivity and dry cough caused by lung dryness damaging yin. Incompatible with false hellebore.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains volatile oil, with its main component being methyl clove oil phenol, and also contains safrole, N-isobutyl dodecatetraenamide, and racemic demethyl lindera alkaloid, among others.

1. The volatile oil, water, and alcohol extracts of Asarum have antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, anticonvulsant, and local anesthetic effects respectively; a large dose of volatile oil can first excite and then inhibit the central nervous system, showing certain toxic side effects;
2. its alcohol extract and volatile oil have bacteriostatic effects in vitro;
3. the contained racemic demethyl lindera alkaloid has extensive effects including cardiotonic, vasodilating, smooth muscle relaxing, enhancing lipid metabolism, and increasing blood sugar;
4. the contained safrole is highly toxic, a carcinogenic substance, and can be easily destroyed at high temperatures.