Shuo Gao, Chinese medicine name, has the effects of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, clearing heat and detoxifying, dispelling wind and removing dampness, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, and regulating menstruation and promoting bone healing. It is used to treat various inflammatory diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, lower back and leg pain, boils and abscesses, pneumonia, appendicitis, acute cellulitis, tumors, bruises and fractures, etc.
[Properties and Channels]
Properties: sweet and sour, warm.
① "Bie Lu": "Tastes sour, warm, and toxic."
② "Selected Yunnan Chinese Herbs": "Pungent and damp, warm."
③ "Sichuan Chinese Herbal Medicine": "Slightly warm in nature, sweet and tasteless, non-toxic."
Channels: "Enters the Foot Jueyin Liver Channel." - "Changsha Medicine Explanation"
[Functions and Indications]
Shuo Gao has the functions of dispelling wind and removing dampness, promoting blood circulation and resolving stasis. It is mainly used to treat rheumatic pain, nephritis edema, foot qi edema, dysentery, jaundice, chronic bronchitis, rubella itching, erysipelas, boils and abscesses, bruises and fractures.
1. "Bie Lu": "Mainly used for itchy rashes, dampness and obstruction. Can be used as a bath."
2. "Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao": "Treats scabies, rheumatism. Cooked and soaked, also used with leaves."
3. "Changsha Medicine Explanation": "Promotes blood circulation, regulates menstruation, resolves stasis. Treats edema, dispels dampness and obstruction, reduces lumps, breaks up stasis, washes itchy rashes, and applies it to swollen knees and feet."
4. "Classified Herbal Medicine Properties": "The root is used to treat muscle and bone pain, pain in both feet, and bruises and strains."
5. "Guizhou Folk Prescription Collection": "The stem and leaves can diuretic and treat foot swelling and rheumatism. It can also be used externally to treat abscesses, boils, and snake and insect bites."
6. "Sichuan Chinese Herbal Medicine": "The root can diuretic, resolve phlegm, treat jaundice swelling, weak spleen and stomach, and indigestion."
7. "Shanghai Common Chinese Herbal Medicine": "The stem and leaves can induce sweating and diuresis. The root can promote blood circulation, resolve stasis, dispel wind, and activate collaterals."
[Additional Applications]
1. Treatment for unilateral withered and cold arthralgia, slow and heavy pain, or lumbago and leg cramps: Burn the leaves of Shuo Gao, spread them thickly on the bed or sleep on them, and burn them again if they become cold. In winter, take the root, in spring, take the stem, cook it, and it is better to sleep on it. Other thin moxibustion is not as effective as steaming with Shuo Gao. This method is also used for wind and dampness in various parts of the body. ("Qian Jin Fang")
2. Treatment for edema, unable to sit or lie down, with swelling of the head, face and body: Scrape off the skin of Shuo Gao root, mash it into juice, mix it with an equal amount of wine, warm it, take it on an empty stomach, and induce slight vomiting and bowel movements. ("Mei Shi Ji Yan Fang")
3. Treatment for initial athlete's foot, swelling and pain from the foot to the tibia: Grind the Shuo Gao root into a paste, mix it with three parts of wine lees and one part of the root, steam it until it is hot, and wrap it on the swollen area. Change it twice a day. Also used for numb and stubborn rheumatism. ("Qian Jin Fang")
4. Treatment for nephritis edema, foot qi edema: Take Shuo Gao whole plant, four to eight qian. Decoction and take orally. (Guangzhou Military "Handbook of Common Chinese Herbal Medicine")
5. Treatment for jaundice: Stew Shuo Gao root with pork belly. ("Sichuan Chinese Herbal Medicine")
6. Treatment for urinary tract infection: Take fresh Shuo Gao root, four liang each time. Stew and take with pig red meat (pig tripe is also good), take it three or four times in a row. ("Quanzhou Herbal Medicine")
7. Treatment for women's red and white discharge: Take fresh Shuo Gao root, two liang each time. Stew and take with pig small intestine, take it three to five times in a row. ("Quanzhou Herbal Medicine")
8. Treatment for pain from trauma or sprained tendons: Take six qian of Shuo Gao root. Boil it with half wine and half water, filter out the residue, add one liang of white sugar, stir and take it. ("Jiangxi Folk Herbal Medicine")
9. Treatment for fractures: Mash fresh Shuo Gao roots, bark, and leaves, and apply them externally. ("Selected Yunnan Chinese Herbs")
10. Treatment for bruises and sprains: Chop fresh Shuo Gao roots into small pieces, mix them with scallions and rice wine, and mash them into a paste. Apply the paste to the affected area, and change it once a day. ("Jiangxi Folk Herbal Medicine")
11. Treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lower back and leg pain, acute sprains with hematoma, and edema: Take five to ten qian of Shuo Gao whole plant. Decoction and take orally or boil and use the water to wash the affected area. ("Selected Yunnan Chinese Herbs")
12. Treatment for bleeding from injuries: Take three qian of dried Shuo Gao roots, three qian of Chinese cypress leaves, and four qian of common tormentil. Decoction and take orally. ("Zhejiang Folk Herbal Medicine")
13. Treatment for rubella itching: Boil the whole plant of Shuo Gao and use the water to wash externally. (Guangzhou Military "Handbook of Common Chinese Herbal Medicine")
14. Treatment for children's red and itchy rashes: Boil the juice of Shuo Gao. Wash with it. ("Zi Mu Mi Lu")
15. Treatment for abscesses and swollen flesh that cannot be completely removed: Mix Shuo Gao ash with lime. Extract the juice from the two ingredients separately, and boil them together until they become a paste. Eat the paste to remove the rotten flesh and also remove black spots. This medicine is not effective after ten days. ("Qian Jin Fang")
16. Treatment for red and swollen abscesses: Chop fresh Shuo Gao roots or leaves into small pieces, and add some chicken eggs. Mash them together and apply to the affected area. ("Jiangxi Folk Herbal Medicine")
[Dosage]
Internal use: Decoction, 2-4 qian (3-4 liang for fresh). Mash or soak in wine. External use: Decoction for bathing or applied as a paste.
[Precautions]
"Chinese Herbal Medicine in Jiangxi": "Pregnant women should not take it."
