What medicinal herb is Chonglou? Understanding the traditional Chinese medicine Chonglou in one article
Chonglou is also known as Hua Chonglou, Qiyelian, Tiedengtai, etc. Medicinal Chonglou generally refers to the two species recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis and Paris polyphylla, which grow in shady, damp places under mountain forests or in roadside grass. They are distributed in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hubei and other places in China. Now let us take a look together at what medicinal herb Chonglou is!
What medicinal herb is Chonglou?
Chonglou is a traditional heat-clearing medicine. Chonglou is the dried rhizome of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis or Paris polyphylla, plants of the genus Paris in the Liliaceae family. As medicine, it has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and relieving pain, and cooling the liver and calming fright. It is commonly used for boils, sores and swellings, sore and swollen throat, snake and insect bites, bruises and injuries, and convulsions. Among them, Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis is mainly produced in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places, while Paris polyphylla is produced in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Fujian, Shaanxi, Sichuan and other places.
What effects does Chonglou have?
1. Treating sores and boils: Chonglou has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and relieving pain. It is a commonly used medicine for treating boils, sores, and venomous snake bites. It can be used alone as a powder, mixed with vinegar for external application, or used together with Huanglian, Chishao, Jinyinhua and others.
2. Treating sore and swollen throat: Chonglou is used to treat sore and swollen throat, mumps, and throat blockage. It is often used together with Niubangzi, Lianqiao, Banlangen and others. If treating scrofula and phlegm nodules, it can be used together with Xiakucao, Muli, Dabei Mu and others.
3. Treating venomous snake bites: Chonglou can be used alone, ground into powder and taken with water, while its fresh root is pounded and applied externally to the affected area. For treating venomous snake bites, redness, swelling and pain, it is also often used in combination with Banbianlian.
4. Treating convulsions: Chonglou is bitter and cold and enters the liver. It has the effects of cooling the liver and purging fire, calming wind and stopping convulsions. Used alone as a powder taken with water, or combined with Gouteng, Juhua, Chantui and others, it has good effects on children with extreme heat generating wind and twitching of hands and feet.
5. Treating bruises and injuries: Chonglou enters the blood aspect of the liver meridian and can reduce swelling, relieve pain, resolve blood stasis and stop bleeding. It can be used alone, ground into powder and taken with water, to treat external bleeding, bruises and injuries, and blood stasis swelling and pain. It can also be used together with Sanqi, Xuejie, Zirantong and others.
Medicinal prescriptions for Chonglou
1. Treating shingles: Appropriate amounts of Chonglou and Zhushagen, ground together into powder, add a little Xionghuang, mix with baijiu and apply to the affected area.
2. Treating sudden swelling due to wind toxin: 50 grams each of Chongtai herb, Mumiezi and Banxia. Pound the above medicines finely and sieve into powder, mix with strong vinegar and apply.
3. Treating breast lumps in women, blocked milk flow, or infant suckling sores: 15 grams of Chonglou, decoct in water, and take with a little rice wine.
4. Treating sores inside the ear with heat and pain: An appropriate amount of Zaoxiu, grind with vinegar and apply to the affected area.
5. Treating infantile fetal wind and hand-foot twitching: Zaoxiu is made into powder, 2.5 grams per dose, taken with cold water.
6. Treating chronic cough due to pulmonary tuberculosis and asthma: 25 grams of Zaoxiu, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer with chicken or pig lungs before eating.
7. Treating internal injuries from falls and bruises, relieving pain and dissipating blood stasis: Chonglou, soaked in boy's urine for 40 to 50 days, washed clean, sun-dried and ground into powder, 1.5 grams per dose, taken with wine or boiled water.