Grasshoppers, also known as E Ma Huang, are a common detoxification and anti-swelling medicine. They not only have the effect of appetizing and relieving heat, but also can be used to treat snake bites. So what are the characteristics of grasshoppers? What are their effects and functions?
Grasshoppers are also known as Xi Feng Dai, Shan Jiao Dou, Hong Zhang Cao, Shan Dou Gen, Lan Dou Shu, Da Hong Pao, Shan Ma Huang, Nian Shen Cao, Wei Tong Cao, Diao Ma Hua, Zi Teng Xiao Huai Hua, and Ye Huang Dou.
The whole stem of the grasshopper is cylindrical, with a diameter of about 3mm. The surface has longitudinal ridges, and three-compound leaves can be seen. The top leaflet is larger, measuring 5.5-9cm in length and 3.5-5cm in width, with an elliptical or inverted egg shape.
It is harvested in summer and autumn, cut into sections, dried or used fresh. It has a sweet, bitter, cool, and bitter taste, and has the effects of promoting blood circulation, relieving pain, detoxifying and reducing swelling, clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting digestion, and relieving pain.
Originally, in many rural areas, some women could not deliver the placenta after giving birth, so the elderly used grasshoppers to make medicinal formulas to help with the treatment.
Nowadays, grasshoppers are widely used in clinical practice. You can use wild beans, Huang Shi Ye, and roasted lotus flowers to make a decoction and drink it to treat retained placenta.
Grasshoppers can be stewed with chicken and red sugar for consumption. Grasshoppers are also suitable for women who experience body or joint soreness, pain, and numbness during the puerperium. In fact, postpartum body pain is a very common disease in postpartum women, also known as "postpartum wind".
It is also called "postpartum body pain", "postpartum joint pain", "postpartum paralysis", "postpartum gout". For this condition, we can also use grasshoppers for treatment.
