Nature: sour, cold

Enters: Large Intestine, Liver

Actions: Relieves fire toxicity; cools the blood; clears damp-heat; treats sores; antidotes wasp and snake poison.

Indications:
• Damp-heat or fire toxicity: dysenteric disorders; hot or bloody painful urinary dysfunction. In clinical studies involving thousands of subjects, decoctions of Ma chi xian reduced the incidence of bacillary dysentery in those exposed during epidemics. The herb is about as effective as sulfa drugs in treating acute and recurrent bacillary dysentery – over 90% effective in acute cases and less than 60% effective in chronic cases.
• Carbuncles, sores, red-and-white vaginal discharge. Applied topically or taken internally.
• Wasp stings, snake bites: for pain and swelling.
• Recently used for post-partum bleeding.
• Hookworm: when juice or tablets of Ma chi xian were taken by 192 subjects, 80% had a negative stool sample in one month.
• Appendicitis: A decoction of Ma chi xian and Pu gong ying was used in treating 31 cases of clinically diagnosed appendicitis. Of these, only one needed surgery; all others recovered uneventfully.
• Contractile effect on the uterus.
• Often prepared as a wash for skin problems.

Dose: 15-60g (The fresh used is often used at double the dry dosage)