What are the effects and functions of Inula flower?
Inula flower, also known as lü'er grass, baiye grass, etc., is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Inula in the Asteraceae family. Used as medicine, it has the effects of eliminating phlegm, directing qi downward, softening hardness, and promoting water movement. It has therapeutic effects on conditions such as phlegm accumulation in the chest, distension and fullness below the ribs, cough and asthma, hiccups, saliva like glue and lacquer, epigastric fullness and hardness, unceasing belching, and abdominal edema. Let us take a look at the effects and functions of Inula flower below!
The medicinal effects of Inula flower
[Nature and flavor] Salty in flavor, warm in nature, mildly toxic.
[Meridian entry] Lung, liver, and stomach meridians.
[Effects] Eliminates phlegm, directs qi downward, softens hardness, and promotes water movement. Mainly treats phlegm accumulation in the chest, distension and fullness below the ribs, cough and asthma, hiccups, saliva like glue and lacquer, epigastric fullness and hardness, unceasing belching, and abdominal edema.
Medicinal indications and contraindications of Inula flower
1. Patients with deficiency should not take it in large doses; it promotes bowel movements, so caution is advised.
2. In cases of yin deficiency with consumptive cough, or wind-heat dry cough, it must not be used mistakenly.
Related discussions on Inula flower
1. "Bencao Yanyi": Inula flower moves phlegm and water, removes wind from the head and eyes, and is also a dispersing medicine.
2. "Benjing": Mainly treats binding qi, fullness below the ribs, and palpitations. Removes water, eliminates cold and heat among the five zang organs, tonifies the middle, and directs qi downward.
3. "Bielu": Disperses phlegm accumulation in the chest, saliva like glue and lacquer, phlegm and water in the heart and ribs, retained fluids in the bladder, wind qi and damp impediment, dead flesh between the skin, eye discharge, promotes bowel movements, unblocks blood vessels, and improves complexion.
4. "Yaoxing Lun": Mainly treats qi in the ribs and flanks, reduces cold and hot edema, mainly treats chronic water in the bladder, expels and drives out abdominal edema, opens the stomach, and stops vomiting and inability to eat.
Medicinal prescriptions of Inula flower
1. To treat chronic upward qi: Inula flower 1 liang, Chinese honeylocust 1 liang 1 fen, rhubarb 1 liang 5 qian. Grind the above three ingredients into powder, refine with honey into pills the size of parasol tree seeds. Take 10 to 15 pills each time, with warm soup, three times a day.
2. To treat liver affliction, also to treat miscarriage and dripping of lochia in women: Inula flower 3 liang, scallion 14 stalks. A little new crimson. Boil with 3 sheng of water, reduce to 1 sheng, take all at once.
3. To treat phlegm-fluid in the chest and diaphragm with unceasing vomiting, and epigastric fullness and hardness: Inula flower, pinellia, poria, green tangerine peel. Decoct in water and take.
4. To treat wind-phlegm with vomiting and counterflow, inability to eat or drink, and dizziness and stuffiness of the head and eyes: Inula flower, loquat leaf, chuanxiong, asarum, and red poria 1 qian each, peucedanum 1 qian 5 fen. Decoct in water with ginger and jujube and take.
5. To treat wind-dampness and phlegm-fluid attacking upward, with dizziness, distension of the head and eyes, and eye discharge: Inula flower, gastrodia, and sweet chrysanthemum in equal parts. Grind into powder, take 2 qian each night, with plain water.
6. To treat inability to urinate due to phlegm-fluid retention and blockage: a handful of Inula flower, pound to extract juice, and take mixed with raw white liquor.
7. To treat single abdominal distension: Inula and carp. Clean the fish intestines thoroughly, put the medicine inside the fish belly, and decoct and take. When urination is free, the swelling subsides.
8. To treat wind-fire toothache: grind Inula flower into powder, rub on the tooth root; after a long while, remove the phlegm and saliva, and the pain stops.
9. To treat breast rock and breast abscess: Inula flower 2 qian, dandelion 1 qian, licorice node 8 fen, angelica dahurica 1 qian, green tangerine peel 1 qian. Use water and wine as a guide, decoct in water and take.