Mugwort is a Medicine

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: Bai Ji Li (caltrop fruit)

NEUTRAL

Acrid (disperses) & Bitter (drains)

LIVER

6-15 grams

Caution in pregnancy; caution with qi or blood deficiency

白蒺藜 Fructus tribuli terrestris

Smooths Liver Qi ; Breaks excess/clumping (irregular menstruation, lactation); Wind-Heat; Brightens Eyes; Itching

1. Calms Liver / Anchors Yang

* headache, vertigo/dizziness from LYR

2. Dredges Liver Qi - smooths flow - disperses constraint/clumping

* pain/distension in flanks or chest
* irregular menstruation
* insufficient lactation

3. Dispels Wind-Heat / Brightens Eyes

* red, swollen, painful eyes
* increased tearing

4. Dispels Wind / Stops Itching
* any kind of skin lesion with itching

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: Tian Ma (heavenly hemp)

tian ma

天麻 rhizoma gastrodiae

"heavenly hemp"

LIVER

NEUTRAL, sweet

3-9 grams

Dui Yao combination with Gou Teng (cool)

"Sweet, neutral and moist, with a nature that is slightly moistening and tonifying, Tian Ma enters the Liver channel to nourish the yin fluids, calm the Liver, and extinguish wind." ALL FORMS OF INTERNAL WIND.

Above: Tian Ma treats all forms of internal wind!

It also disperses painful obstructions.

1. Calms Liver / Extinguishes Wind / Controls Spasms and Tremors

* VERY IMPORTANT herb for treating internal stirring of Liver wind, caused by heat or cold.
- headache, dizziness, childhood convulsions, epilepsy, tonic-clonic spasms, opisthotonos, tetany, wind-stroke.

2. Extinguishes Wind / Alleviates Pain

* headaches, dizziness, migraines in wind-phlegm patterns
* wind-stroke with hemiplegia, dizziness, and numb limbs

FOR EXCESS AND DEFICIENT CONDITIONS

3. Disperses Painful Obstruction

* pain and numbness of lower back and extremities

Tian Ma is the rhizome of Gastrodia, a kind of orchid.

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: Gou Teng (Hook Vine)

Gou Teng

钩藤 radix uncariae cum uncis

"Hook Vine" / Gambir / "Cat's Claw"

COOL
SWEET

LIVER and HEART/PC

INTERNAL and EXTERNAL WIND HEAT; Childhood convulsions, tremors, liver fire, LYR, Releases the Exterior

6-15 grams, do not decoct for longer than fifteen minutes

Do not use if wind-heat or heat from excess are not present.

Light, clearing, and cooling, Gou Teng is able to drain fire and to settle wind that are causing convulsions and seizures, or more mildly dizziness, headaches, and red eyes. It is particularly appropriate for childhood convulsions, which is easy to remember because the fancy little herb looks like toy monkey tails that would be fun to play with. Also, it is for both INTERNAL and EXTERNAL wind-heat - and a way to remember that is that it is a hook that comes from the outside and penetrates to the inside.

1. Extinguish Wind / Alleviate Spasms

* tremors, seizures, eclampsia due to Liver heat with internal Liver wind stirring

2. Drains Liver Heat / Pacifies Liver Yang

* headache
* irritability
* red eyes
* dizziness
* hypertension

3. Releases the exterior

* Wind-heat with fever, headache, red eyes

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: Dai Zhe Shi (ferrous oxide)

dai zhe shi (hematite / ferrous oxide)

代赭石 haematium

"Red Stone from Dai"

Bitter
Cold
(& HEAVY)

Liver, HEART/PC

9- 30 grams (crushed, in decoctions); 1-3 grams in pills/powders

Caution: Pregnancy
Do not take long term.

1. Sedates & Anchors Liver Yang / Clears Liver Fire

* LYR w/ dizziness/vertigo, headache, eye pressure, tinnitus

2. Strongly Directs Rebellious Qi Downward

* belching, vomiting, hiccups, wheezing

3. Cools Blood / Stops Bleeding due to hot blood or cold from deficiency

* nosebleeds
* vomiting blood

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: Mu Li (oyster shell)

mu li (oyster shell)

牡蛎 concha ostreae

mu = male
li = oyster

COOL

Salty, Astringent

Liver and KIDNEY

9 - 30 grams (cook first when used in decoctions)

CI: High fever due to excess with no sweating

"Cool and heavy mu li enters the liver and kidney channels to cool heat, augment the yin, subdue the yang, and suppress fright." Mu Li has a wide scope of action. Bensky categorizes it in the "Substances that Calm the Spirit" section; in class, we have it in the Extinguish Wind / Stop Tremors category. Bensky summarizes its functions this way:

"Patterns of deficiency leading to leakage and loss; masses or nodules due to constrained heat and phlegm; and yin deficiency with floating yang leading to disorders in the channels of the Heart, Liver, and Kidneys."

Mu Li is heavy and very calming - for excess yang, Type A personalities where the liver begins to attack the spleen. Specific indications for Mu Li:

1. Heavily Settles and Calms the Spirit

* palpitations
* anxiety
* restlessness
* insomnia

2. Benefits Yin / Anchors Yang

* irritability
* insomnia
* dizziness
* headache
* tinnitus
* blurry vision
* bad temper
* red, flushed face d/t yin deficiency / yang rising

3. Prevents Fluid Leakage (astringes)

* continuous sweating in patients with steaming bone disorder
* spontaneous sweats
* night sweats
* nocturnal emissions
* spermatorrhea / vaginal discharge
* uterine bleeding due to deficiency

4. Softens hardness / Dissipates Nodules (salty nature)

* lumps, including goiter and scrofula

5. Absorbs acidity / Alleviates Pain

* calcinated for Stomach pain with sour taste

Extinguish Wind and Stop Tremors: Shi Jue Ming (abalone shell)

Shi Jue Ming - abalone shell

"Working deeply to anchor fire and yang."
"When the liver channel is deficient, one definitely cannot do without it."

石决明 concha haliotidis

"stone unhampered clarity"

COLD (from the sea) SALTY (from the sea)

Liver & KIDNEY (the abalone shell kind of looks like a Kidney?)

Shi Jue Ming is a substance used to treat wind-fire blazing upward from a blood deficient liver. Symptoms will be dizziness/vertigo/headaches and loss of vision.

High dosage: 15 to 30 grams

1. Drains Liver Fire / Anchors & Sedates Liver Yang

* headache/dizziness
* red eyes
* hypertension

2. Improves vision

* superficial visual obstruction
* photophobia
* blurry vision
* red eyes

3. Reduces Gastric Acidity

4. Reduces bleeding due to trauma (powdered)

Extinguish Wind Stop Tremors: LIng Yang Jiao (antelope horn)

Ling Yang Jiao (antelope horn)

Cold and Salty

Liver & HEART

Endangered - on the CITES list

FOR EXTREME HEAT STIRRING UP LIVER WIND (clears heat - LYR, childhood convulsions, splitting headaches, red/swollen eyes, high fever, delirium, "heat in the PC")

small dose: 1 - 3 grams (decocted by itself for 2+ hours);
0.3-0.6 g ground into a powder

CI: Chronic convulsions from Spleen deficiency (this substance is for excess!)

羚羊角 jiao cornu antelopis saiga-tataici

Ling Yang Jiao is used for liver wind generated warm-heat pathogen disorders creating excessive heat which creates movement of wind leading to spasms, impaired consciousness, convulsions (wind-stroke or epilepsy). Ling Yang Jiao is also used for wind caused by blazing liver fire giving rise to headaches, red eyes, and dizziness; it is also used for heat toxins that bring out "spots" or "measles sinking interiorly."

Specific Indications:

1. DRAINS LIVER HEAT / Calm Liver / Extinguish Wind / Control Spasms & Convulsions

* childhood convulsions & seizures
* stubborn high fevers & stirring of wind due to intense heat