This product is the whole body of the animal Pheretima aspergillum (Pheretima aspergillum (Perrier)) or the striped earthworm (Allolobophora caliginosa (Savigny) Trapezoides (Ant. Duges)) from the Megascolecidae family. The former is mainly produced in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and other regions, and the medicinal material is called "Guang Earthworm." The latter is distributed throughout the country, and the medicinal material is called "Tu Earthworm." They are captured in summer and autumn. After capturing Guang Earthworm, the abdomen is promptly opened, and the internal organs and泥沙 are washed away, then dried in the sun or at low temperature. After capturing Tu Earthworm, it is suffocated with plant ash, the ash is removed, and then it is dried in the sun or at low temperature. It is used raw or fresh.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Salty, cold. Act on liver, spleen and bladder meridians.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Clear heat, calm wind, unblock collaterals, relieve asthma, and promote urination.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for high fever, fright epilepsy, manic and depressive psychosis. Earthworm has the effects of clearing heat, extinguishing wind, and calming fright. It is used to treat warm disease with extreme heat producing wind, unconsciousness, delirious speech, and convulsions. It can be used alone by decocting and taking the liquid; or used in combination with Uncaria, Cow-Bezoar, Stiff Silkworm, and other wind-extinguishing and convulsion-relieving herbs. For treating infantile convulsion, high fever, and convulsive seizures, it can be ground into a paste and taken with Cinnabar in pill form. For treating high fever, mania, or epilepsy, fresh earthworm is often used alone, dissolved in salt water, and taken orally.
2. Used for qi deficiency and blood stagnation, hemiplegia. Earthworm is effective in promoting the flow of meridians and is often combined with Astragalus Root, Chinese Angelica, Sichuan Lovage Rhizome, and other medicinal combinations to treat post-apoplexy meridian obstruction, hemiplegia, facial distortion, etc., such as Yang-Tonifying Five-Returning Decoction.
3. Used for Bi disease. This product dredges meridians and activates collaterals, and its cold nature clears heat, making it suitable for treating joint redness, swelling, pain, and restricted movement due to heat arthralgia. It is often combined with Stephania Tetrandra, Gentian, Honeysuckle Stem, and other dampness-heat clearing and meridian-promoting herbs. It is also used to treat wind-cold-dampness impediment, with symptoms such as numbness, pain, and restricted movement of limbs and joints, and can be combined with Aconite Mother Root, Arisaema, frankincense, and other medicinal combinations, such as Small Collaterals-Activating Pill.
4. Used for lung heat asthma. This product also clears lung heat and relieves asthma. It is used to treat pathogenic heat congesting the lungs, leading to continuous asthma and wheezing sounds in the throat. It can be used alone by grinding into powder and taking orally; or combined with Ephedra, Gypsum, Bitter Apricot Seed, etc. In recent years, Earthworm injection, compound Earthworm injection, and oral Earthworm powder have been developed to treat bronchial asthma and asthmatic bronchitis, showing certain antispasmodic and asthma-relieving effects.
5. Used for heat accumulation in the bladder, with symptoms such as difficulty in urination or urinary retention. This product has the effects of clearing heat accumulation and promoting urination. Fresh earthworm can be mashed, soaked in water, and the concentrated liquid filtered and taken; or combined with Plantain Seed, Akebia Stem, Alisma, and other damp-draining diuretics. In addition, it has been used in recent years to treat primary hypertension, mumps, erysipelas, and mental illnesses, showing certain therapeutic effects.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Bielu: "Treats cold-damage disease, latent heat, madness, abdominal distension, jaundice."
2. Bencao Shiyi: "Treats warm disease with high fever, manic raving, manages epidemic heat diseases, and childhood febrile convulsions and epilepsy."
3. Bencao Gangmu: "Its nature is cold and descending; being cold, it can resolve various heat diseases, and descending, it can promote urination, treat foot diseases, and unblock meridians." "Manages cold-damage disease malaria, high fever with mania and irritability, and urinary obstruction in both adults and children, acute and chronic infantile convulsions, and multiple arthralgia pain."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

Decoct and take 5-15g. For fresh products, use 10-20g. Take 1-2g of powdered form each time.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

This product contains earthworm antipyretic alkaloids, earthworm elements, earthworm toxins, as well as nitrogenous substances and xanthine, adenine, guanine, choline, etc.

• Earthworm tincture, dry powder suspension, hot extract, decoction, etc., all have a slow and long-lasting antihypertensive effect.
• Earthworm hypoxanthine has a significant bronchodilatory effect and antagonizes the bronchoconstrictive effects of histamine and pilocarpine;
• A hygroscopic pale yellow needle-like crystal extracted from earthworms has an excitatory effect on isolated and in situ uterus.
• Decoction with water and earthworm antipyretic alkaloids have good antipyretic effects.
• Hot extract and alcohol-extracted solution have sedative and anticonvulsant effects.