DANG GUI & ARCTIUM FORMULA
Xiao Feng San

 

 ‘Eliminate Wind Powder’
Source: True Lineage of External Medicine (Wài Ke Zheng Zōng, 1617)

Keywords
Wind-Heat or Damp itchy skin diseases

Ingredients
Schizonepeta tenuifolia (Jing Jie, schizonepeta)
Ledebouriella divaricata (Fang Feng, siler)
Angelica sinensis (Dang Gui)
Rehmannia glutinosa (Sheng Di, raw rehmannia)
Atractylodes lancea (Cang Zhu, blue
atractylodes)
Sesamum indicum (Huo Ma Ren, sesamum)
Arctium lappa (Niu Bang Zi, arctium)
Anemarrhena aspheloides (Zhi Mu, anemarrhena)
Sophora flavescentis (Ku Shen, sophora)
Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Gan Cao, liquorice)

Major therapeutic action
Helps colds, eliminates fluid accumulation, clears heat, nourishes Blood, stops itch.

Biomedical action
Anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, antipruritic.
Indications
*  Itchy red skin diseases. This formula is widely used for the itch and inflammation of acute and chronic
skin diseases.
*  With the appropriate key symptoms this formula can be used to treat disorders such as eczema, psoriasis,
contact dermatitis, tinea infection, nappy rash and urticaria.

Key symptoms for use
*  weepy, itchy, red or dry skin lesions

Combinations
*  With symptoms of severe pallor of face and lips, dry hair, tiredness, poor memory, insomnia, amenorrhoea, a pale tongue and weak pulse, and in chronic cases, combine with Si Wu Tang.
*  With severe symptoms and infection, combine with Wu Wei Xiao Du Yin.
*  With severe itching, add Ku Shen & Bai Xian Pi.
*  With severe fluid accumulation, add Cang Zhu & Huang Bo.
Dosage
The typical dose is three grams twice daily, before meals. In severe or acute cases, or the early stages of treatment (the first two weeks), a 50-100% increase in dose may be used, then reduced as the treatment takes effect.

Cautions and contraindications
This formula is quite dispersing, and thus requires modification for patients with severe deficiencies and weakness.
None noted.

Differentiation
Zhi Tou Chuang Yi Fang: A similar formula, best for skin diseases with a stronger component of infection, that is, those with suppuration and painful lesions in the upper body—cystic, teenage or hormonal acne, oral ulceration, dental abscess.