Formulas that transform phlegm
Er chen tang
Two Aged Herbs Decoction
- Chinese name
- 二陈汤
- Group
- Formulas that transform phlegm
- English name
- Citrus and Pinellia Combination
- Basic formula
- ✓
Dries dampness and dissolves phlegm; regulates the qi and harmonizes stomach and spleen.
Indications
For cough with cold, damp phlegm because spleen and stomach are cold and damp: a full feeling in chest and stomach area, nausea, vomiting, listlessness, a heavy feeling and, in severe cases, dizziness and palpitations. Also for upper respiratory infections, chronic bronchitis, goitre, chronic gastritis, stomach ulcer and Ménière's disease.
Ingredients
| Ingredients | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ban xia, prepared (pinellia) | 15 g |
| Tangerine peel (chen pi) | 15 g |
| Fu ling (poria) | 9 g |
| Honey-fried licorice (zhi gan cao) | 4 g |
| Fresh ginger (sheng jiang) | 3 g |
| Mume plum (wu mei) | 1 stuks |
- Tongue
- moist, greasy white coating
- Pulse
- slippery
Variations
- For damp heat in the upper body: add huang qin, gardenia, apricot kernel and platycodon.
- For damp heat in the lower body: add ku shen, huang bai and talc.
- For wind and damp: add wei ling xian, qin jiao, cang er zi and cinnamon twig.
- For cough with much phlegm from cold: add ma huang and apricot kernel.
- For vomiting from a cold stomach: add dried ginger and sha ren.
- For vomiting of clear fluid: add cang zhu and bai zhu.
- For rubbery lumps from chronic phlegm: add oyster shell, xuan shen, kelp and sargassum.
- For yang deficiency of spleen and kidney with thin, watery phlegm: add cinnamon bark and aconite.
- For insomnia and drowsiness after eating: add bai zhu and shi chang pu.
- For severe night-time cough from phlegm and blood deficiency: add dang gui.
- For phlegm in the uterus with irregular menstruation and much discharge: add chuanxiong and dang gui.
- For phlegm together with dryness: gua lou and bei mu instead of ban xia.
- For dizziness, headache and nausea from wind and phlegm: add tian ma and bai zhu (ban xia bai zhu tian ma tang).
Note
The basis of countless formulas against phlegm, comparable to what Ayurveda calls kapha. With ginseng and bai zhu added it becomes liu jun zi tang; with bamboo shavings and immature bitter orange, wen dan tang; with qing hao, huang qin, bamboo shavings and bi yu san (talc, indigo and licorice), hao qin qing dan tang, for acute damp heat in the gallbladder.