Nature: acrid, sweet, warm

Enters: Bladder, Liver, Spleen

Actions: Releases the exterior by eliminating wind, cold, and dampness; relives pain; relieves convulsions and tremors; alleviates itching.

Indications:
• Wind-cold-dampness: headache, body ache, aversion to cold or joint pain, muscle spasm in the limbs.
• External wind: tetanus, trembling of the hands and feet.
• Spleen and liver disharmony: intestinal wind – recurrent, painful diarrhea with bright blood in the stool.
• Migraines.
• Deeper effect than Jing jie – Fang feng reaches the muscles and tendons while Jing jie is more for the skin level. Qiang huo which penetrates to the bones and tendons, reaches deeper than Fang feng.
• Analgesic, mild antipyretic.
• Fang feng’s chief function is to disperse wind. Can be combined with Huang qi to prevent wind (e.g. in Jade Wind Screen).
• Not for convulsions due to blood deficiency or Yin deficiency fire.
Liu: May free stagnant liver Qi.
SD: May help antidote arsenic poisoning.
DY: With Huang qi to supplement the defensive Qi without retaining external evils in the body, to drain external evils without damaging correct Qi and without causing perspiration, to secure the exterior, prevent invasion by external evils, and stop perspiration. This combination appears in Yu Ping Feng San for indications such as:
– 1. Spontaneous perspiration due to exterior deficiency.
– 2. Tendency to contract EPIs frequently due to defensive Qi deficiency.
– Yu Ping Feng San should not be used to treat wind affections that are already established. This combination is too astringent once the evil Qi and the defensive Qi are already struggling. Its use might, in this case, retain the external evil inside the body.
– The pair Fang feng and Huang qi, when combined with Zhi ke, yields good results in the treatment of prolapse of the rectum, external hemorrhoids, flatulence, and abdominal distention. For rectal prolapse, the best approach is to add 3g Fang feng and 6g Zhi ke to Bu Zong Yi Qi Tang.

Dose: 3-9g