Nature: sweet, cold

Enters: Lung, Stomach, Large Intestine

Actions: Clears heat; eliminates toxicity; expels wind-heat; clears lower Jiao damp-heat.

Indications:
• Wind-heat or early stage of warm-heat pathogenic invasion: fever, slight aversion to cold, slight sensitivity to wind, sore throat, headache. This herb can be applied to Wei, Qi, or Ying level heat invasion.
• Heat and toxicity: carbuncles, boils, dysentery, hot painful sores and swellings, arthritis, intestinal abscess. Especially useful for affections of the breast, throat, or eyes.
• Lower Jiao damp-heat: dysenteric disorder or painful urinary dysfunction.
• Externally contracted summer-heat.
• Tuberculosis.
• Chronic conjunctivitis, keratitis, corneal ulcers.
• By IM injection or injection into acupoints, Jin yin hua has proven useful in treating severe acute pneumonia and bacillary dysentery.
• Also for many purulent diseases including appendicitis with perforation, mastitis, erysipelas.
• Broad antimicrobial, antiviral. Anti-inflammatory.
• Not for yin-type ulcers or for sores due to Qi deficiency.
DY: For severe heat-toxicity, dysentery, or pyogenic skin infections, use 30-60g per day. High doses can be used without side effects.
• With Lian qiao to strongly and effectively clear heat and resolve toxins. For indications such as:
– 1. Colds and influenza due to wind-heat. (Yin Qiao San)
– 2. Warm diseases with internal heat. (Yin Qiao San)
– 3. Headache, eye pain, toothache, sinusitis, and painful, swollen throat due to wind-heat.
– 4. Skin eruptions with pruritis due to wind-heat.
– 5. Skin inflammation due to heat toxicity.
– Neither herb is acrid. They are often included in formulas for dispelling wind-heat to prevent the production of heat toxins or to prevent heat from entering deeper into the interior. They are able to limit the worsening of colds, influenza, and other illnesses due to wind-heat.HF: A Sha Chong (kill worms or parasites) herb, important in Gu Zheng (Gu parasites) formulas.
K&R: Water yin, fire yin. Diuretic, antiseptic, sudorific, febrifuge, oxytocic.
• Tonsilitis, strep, pyelonephritis, acute articular rheumatism.
• The leaf may accelerate childbirth.

Dose: 9-60g

 
Ren Dong Teng: the stem – “Stem that Resists Winter”
• Similar functions Jin yin hua, but does not disperse wind-heat.
• Also clears wind, heat, and dampness from the channels.
• Wind-damp-heat in the channels: hot, swollen, painful joints that are difficult to move (arthritis).
• Doctrine of signatures: the stem resembles a meridian – clears the meridians, treats the extremities.
15-30g