What are the medicinal benefits and effects of the Chinese herb Langdu?
Langdu is the dried root of the toxic plants Euphorbia ebracteolata or Euphorbia fischeriana of the genus Euphorbia in the family Euphorbiaceae, produced in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and Shandong, among other places. Used as medicine, it has the effects of dissipating nodules and killing parasites, and when applied externally it has therapeutic effects on scrofula (lymph node tuberculosis), skin ringworm, and killing maggots. Let us take a look together at the benefits and effects of Langdu!
The medicinal effects of Langdu
[Nature and flavor] Pungent in flavor, neutral in nature.
[Meridian entry] Liver and spleen meridians.
[Effects] Dissipates nodules and kills parasites; used externally for scrofula (lymph node tuberculosis), skin ringworm, and killing maggots.
Processing methods for Langdu
1. Raw Langdu: Wash clean with water, moisten thoroughly, slice and sun-dry.
2. Vinegar-processed Langdu: Take Langdu slices, add vinegar and mix well, let stand briefly, and when the vinegar is fully absorbed, place in a pan and stir-fry over gentle heat until slightly dry, then remove and sun-dry.
Contraindications for the use of Langdu
1. Langdu is toxic and should be used with caution when taken internally.
2. Those who are weak and pregnant women should avoid taking Langdu.
3. For those with insufficient spleen vitality and daily depletion of vital qi, it must not be used indiscriminately.
4. Langdu is antagonized by vinegar.
Medicinal prescriptions for Langdu
1. To treat accumulations with abdominal distension as if drum-like: Langdu 4 liang (chopped, stir-fried with vinegar until dry), Fuzi 3 liang (roasted until cracked, peel and remove the umbilical part), and Fangkui 3 liang. Grind the above medicines into powder, mix with refined honey and pound three to two hundred times, and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take five pills each time before meals with rice gruel, with free bowel movement as the criterion.
2. To treat severe wind sores: Use Langdu and Qinjiao in equal parts, grind into powder, take one spoonful each time, taken with warm wine, once or twice a day.
3. To treat sudden hard abdominal masses with qi accumulation below the ribs: Langdu 2 liang, Xuanfuhua 1 liang, Fuzi 2 liang (roasted). Grind and sift, mix with honey and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take two pills, gradually increasing to three pills.
4. To treat dry ringworm of many years (which oozes yellow fluid when scratched, and itches whenever it is cloudy or rainy): Apply Langdu powder topically.
5. To treat distending pain from the heart and abdomen connected together: Langdu 2 liang, Fuzi half a liang. Grind and sift, mix with honey and form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take one pill a day, two pills on the second day, three pills after the third day, then one pill again, and by the sixth day take three pills; from one to three pills taken regularly.
6. To treat scabies and mange of many years: Use Langdu 1 liang, half ground raw and half stir-fried and ground, add Qingfen 3 ge and mercury 3 qian, grind together into powder, soak in clear oil for three days (add a little tea powder to the oil), and dip in the oil to apply to the affected area. At the same time, breathe in the vapor over the medicine bowl through the mouth and nose to aid the medicinal effect.
7. To treat inguinal hernia with the testicles suddenly retracting into the abdomen, with acute pain as if near death: Langdu 4 liang, Fangfeng 2 liang, Fuzi 3 liang (burned). Form honey pills the size of firmiana seeds, take three pills, three times a day and night.
8. To treat dry and wet parasitic scabies: Take Langdu (any amount), pound it into a paste, and mix with lard and horse oil to apply to the affected area. Do not cover the head with a blanket while sleeping, for fear that the medicinal vapor may harm the face.
9. To treat edema: Fine powder of Langdu, take five fen each time, taken with boiling water. Avoid salt for one hundred days, then the yellow fluid will be purged away and the swelling will subside on its own; if the purging does not stop, take cold rice gruel to supplement.
10. To treat parasitic diseases: Grind Langdu finely, take 1 qian, add a lump of sugar, and take on an empty stomach at the hour of the stars, swallowed with water. The next morning the parasites will be expelled.
11. To treat all kinds of food accumulation, phlegm accumulation, parasite accumulation, qi accumulation, and pain from abdominal masses, distension of the chest, diaphragm, abdomen and belly, indigestion, sallow and thin complexion, and single abdominal distension: Make Langdu into powder and form pills with rice paste. The size of horse beans, take seven pills each time, swallowed with boiling water, with free bowel movement as the criterion.
12. To treat external injury bleeding: Grind Langdu into powder and sprinkle on the wound.
13. To treat scrofula (lymph node tuberculosis): For those unruptured or already ruptured, slice Langdu, boil it soft in water, remove the residue and take the medicinal liquid, heat and concentrate it into a paste, clean the wound, and apply externally. To heal scrofula wounds, take Langdu 1 liang and dandelion root 1 liang, decoct into a paste and apply externally. For those already ruptured to draw out pus and toxins, take Langdu 1 jin, snake slough 8 fen, Sichuan pepper 1 liang, and rosin 5 qian; decoct Langdu into a paste, grind the other medicines into fine powder, sprinkle in and stir evenly, and apply externally.
14. To treat testicular tuberculosis: Langdu, walnut and white alum in equal amounts. Burn until charred and retain their nature, grind together into fine powder. Once a day, 1 qian 3 fen each time, taken with boiled water.
15. To treat all parasitic diseases within the viscera: Pound Sichuan Langdu into powder, take one large qian each time, with a piece of malt sugar the size of a soapberry and a little granulated sugar, dissolve together in water, and take on an empty stomach at bedtime; the next morning the parasites will be effectively expelled.
16. To treat leprosy and leprous sores: Langdu, soaked in children's urine and stir-fried, then ground into powder. Take five fen each morning and evening, taken with warm wine.
17. To treat chronic dry scabies, dry ringworm and all leprous sores: Langdu (lightly stir-fried and ground into fine powder) and Qingfen at half the amount. Mix evenly; for dry scabies, ringworm and leprous sores, scratch open and apply, and for moist ones sprinkle dry, effective after several applications.
18. To treat dry ringworm with crusts formed over many years, which oozes yellow fluid when scratched and itches whenever it is cloudy or rainy: Langdu, ground with vinegar and applied.