What are the effects and functions of the traditional Chinese medicine Tubeimu?
Tubeimu, also known as Tubei, Dikudan, Caobei, etc., is the dried tuber of the plant Tubeimu (Bolbostemma paniculatum) in the genus Bolbostemma of the gourd family, distributed in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and other places. Used as medicine, it has the effects of dissipating clumps and toxins and reducing abscesses and swelling, and has therapeutic effects on breast abscess, scrofula and phlegm nodes, sores and ulcerous swellings, snake and insect poison, etc. Let us take a look at the effects and functions of Tubeimu below!
The medicinal effects of Tubeimu
[Nature and flavor] Bitter in taste, slightly cold in nature.
[Meridian tropism] Lung and spleen meridians.
[Effects] Detoxifying, dissipating clumps, reducing swelling; mainly treats breast abscess, scrofula, and phlegm nodes.
Medicinal discussions of Tubeimu
1. "Bencao Congxin": Treats surgical phlegm toxin.
2. "Baicao Jing": Can dissipate abscess toxin, discharge pus and move stagnation, resolve widespread sores and clumped toxin, eliminate wind-dampness, promote phlegm, apply to malignant sores and close sore openings.
3. "Shaanxi Chinese Herbal Medicine": Clears heat, detoxifies and reduces swelling. Treats lymphatic tuberculosis, early acute mastitis, and abscess swelling.
Medicinal selected formulas of Tubeimu
1. To treat early breast abscess: Part one: Angelica dahurica and Tubeimu in equal parts. Grind into fine powder, take 3 qian per dose, take hot with aged wine, keep warm and induce sweating and it will resolve. For severe cases, take one more dose. For those who are strong and robust, take 5 qian per dose. Part two: Angelica dahurica root tips, Tubeimu, and Trichosanthes root each 3 qian, frankincense (oil removed) 1.5 qian. Stir-fry together and grind into powder, mix with white rice wine and apply, then take 3 qian mixed with rice wine.
2. To treat breast cancer: Yanghe Decoction plus 5 qian of Tubeimu, decoct and take.
3. To treat breast cancer that has ulcerated: Fritillaria cirrhosa, walnut shell, honeysuckle, and Forsythia each 3 qian. Decoct with wine and water and take.
4. To treat hand carbuncle on the back: Raw licorice and honey-fried licorice each 5 qian, Chinese honeylocust spine 2.5 qian, soil-fried Tubei 5.5 qian, Pinellia ternata 1.5 qian, pangolin scale 2.5 qian (stir-fried black), Anemarrhena asphodeloides 2.5 qian. Add scallion, ginger, water, and wine and decoct.
5. To treat scrofula string, whether ulcerated or not: Tubeimu half a jin, cowhide glue 4 liang (broken into pieces, stir-fried with oyster shell powder into beads, remove the powder and make into fine powder). Make into pills with water, mung bean size. Every morning and evening, use 3 qian of the root of Begonia fimbristipula, or use kelp and sea tangle each 1.5 qian, decoct into soup and swallow 3 qian of pills.
6. To treat scrofula string: Cowhide glue (melted in water) 1 liang, add 5 qian of Tubeimu powder, spread on oiled paper and apply.
7. To treat scrofula: One large crucian carp, the single seed inside Chinese honeylocust, one for each year of age, Fritillaria cirrhosa 2 qian, Tubeimu 2 qian. Put the Chinese honeylocust seeds and fritillaria into the fish belly, wrap in yellow mud, bake dry over charcoal fire on yin-yang tiles, preserve its nature, and grind into fine powder. Take 3 qian per dose, take mixed with yellow wine after meals, avoid meat for 100 days.
8. To treat unbroken cervical lymphatic tuberculosis: Tubeimu 3 qian, decoct in water and take, and at the same time grind Tubeimu into powder, mix with vinegar and apply externally.
9. To treat venomous snake bite: Quickly drink a bowl of sesame oil to prevent the poison from attacking the heart, then use 4 to 5 qian of Tubeimu ground into powder, take with hot wine, then drink until drunk, lie down quietly for a while; when the medicinal power reaches the spot, water will spurt from the wound; wait until the water is gone, then apply the Tubeimu residue in the bowl to the wound.
10. To treat cuts by knife or axe, and injuries from pincers, guns, and arrows: Apply Tubeimu powder to stop bleeding and close the wound.