Dampness Dispelling Therapy
Dampness dispelling therapy is indicated for conditions with effusions such as eczema, chronic sores and contact dermatitis. The therapy aims at resolving dampness with aromatics, promoting urination and drying dampness by desiccating herbs. Generally, most external diseases are affected by multiple factors, for example, abscesses forming in the soft tissue behind the knee or affecting the bone are also due to the influence of heat; abscesses in the breast, navel and scrotum sores or herpes zoster also involve Liver Meridian pathology; vitiligo is due to wind and dampness attacking the muscles and body surface. Therefore, therapies like heat clearing, eliminating wind and dispelling coldness are often combined.
Herbs with drying effect include atractylodes rhizome, magnolia bark, pinellia tuber and dried tangerine peel, and the remedies are indicated for chronic ulcerative skin problems that appear effusion. Sample prescription: Citrus & Pinellia Decoction (er chen tang) or Calm the Stomach Powder (ping wei san).
Herbs promoting urination include seven-lobed yam rhizome, talc, coix seed, poria and plantian herb. The remedies are indicated for eczema, contact dermatitis, ulcerative wound and suppurative infections in the lower legs; and heat clearing herbs are usually combined. A sample prescription: Five-God Decoction (wu shen tang). The prescription aims at clearing heat and inducing urination. Poria serves as the main ingredient to induce urination; honeysuckle flower; plantain seeds and Tokyo violet herb assist to clear the heat; achyranthes root guides the herbs to work on the lower part of the body and also promotes blood flow of the affected area. This makes it suitable for septic infections in the lower part of the body, such as abscesses behind the knee, septic osteomyelitis and perianal abscess.
For more complicated conditions such as abscess developed in the breast, belly button and scrotum, or herpes zoster. Purging liver fire and clearing damp-heat should be employed. A sample prescription is Gentian Liver-Purging Decoction (long dan xie gan tang).
Herbs eliminating wind and dispelling dampness: dictamnus root bark, belvedere fruit, Siegesbackia herb and clematis root. The remedies are indicated for wind and dampness attacked the superficial body, leading to conditions like vitiligo.
