bubble_chart Preparation and Dosage Puff-Ball (Lasiosphaera seu Calvatia)
3gm (1 qián) Mentha (Herba Menthae)
3gm (1 qián) Grind into powder and mix with soup for frequent consumption, or mix with honey to form pills that melt in the mouth. One variation excludes Mentha and includes three qian of Ginseng; another adds Rhubarb Rhizoma to treat constipation, either soaked in wine or roasted for use.
bubble_chart Efficacy
Clearing heat and removing toxins, dispersing wind and expelling pathogens.
bubble_chart Indications
Swollen-head infection, aversion to cold with fever, redness, swelling, and pain in the head and face, throat discomfort, dry mouth, red tongue with yellow coating, and a floating, rapid, and forceful pulse.
bubble_chart Formula Principles
This prescription was originally used to treat swollen-head infection (now known as erysipelas) and has been used to this day. It can be used appropriately for cases of upper energizer wind-heat epidemic toxin. In the prescription, Skullcap Root and Coptis Rhizome purge heat from the heart and lungs; Mentha, Forsythia, Great Burdock Achene, and Stiff Silkworm disperse wind-heat from the upper energizer, head, and face; Puff-Ball and Isatis Root, clearing heat and removing toxin; Scrophularia Root, Platycodon Root, and Liquorice Root clear heat and benefit the pharynx; Cimicifuga Rhizome and Bupleurum release the exterior with pungent-cool properties and guide the other herbs upward; Dried Tangerine Peel regulates qi and disperses stagnation to dissipate pathogenic heat accumulation. By combining clearing and dispersing methods, and balancing ascending and descending actions, the prescription achieves the effects of clearing heat, removing toxin, and dispersing wind to expel pathogenic factors.
bubble_chart Pattern Identification - Head, face, and throat heat toxin, burning pain.
- Fever and chills.
- Thirst.
- Yellow coating.
- Floating and rapid pulse.
bubble_chart Formula Modification
- cough with profuse phlegm: add Trichosanthis Fruit, Bitter Apricot Seed, Coltsfoot Flower.
- Dry mouth and throat: add Reed Rhizome, smallpox powder.
- For constipation: add Rhubarb Rhizoma, Mirabilite.
- For severe heat toxin: add Lonicera, Dandelion, Dyers Woad Leaf.
bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications
This prescription contains mostly bitter, cold, and acrid dispersing herbs; those with yin deficiency should use it with caution.
bubble_chart Modern Application
Erysipelas, acute tonsillitis, mumps, upper respiratory tract infection, enterovirus, acute otitis media, rhinitis, herpes zoster.