Ground beetle bugs have high medicinal value, and their effects of breaking blood stasis and reconnecting bones have attracted attention

Ground beetle bug is a traditional animal-based Chinese medicinal material, also known as earth turtle bug or tuyuan. It is the dried whole female insect of Eupolyphaga sinensis or Steleophaga plancyi of the family Corydiidae. Its body is flat and oval, with a hard shell on its back. It mostly inhabits dark, damp wall corners, firewood and grass piles, or areas near granaries, and feeds on humus. In the past, it was mainly collected from the wild, but today artificial breeding has been carried out in many places, making it an insect-based medicinal material with a relatively stable source.

In terms of medicinal properties, ground beetle bug is salty in flavor and cold in nature, enters the liver meridian, and is traditionally considered slightly toxic. Its medicinal value is mainly reflected in two aspects: breaking blood and expelling stasis, and reconnecting tendons and bones. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is often used for traumatic injuries, tendon and bone fractures, blood stasis swelling and pain and other traumatic conditions, as well as blood stasis amenorrhea, postpartum stasis obstruction, and abdominal masses and other problems related to stasis.

In practical application, ground beetle bug is mostly used as a medicinal material in the form of dried insect bodies after processing. It can be decocted in soup for internal use, or ground into powder and swallowed, or made into pills and powders. For external use, it is sometimes applied to areas of stasis and swelling. It is often combined with blood-activating and injury-healing medicines and appears in traditional formulas and patent medicines for traumatic injuries and for activating blood and unblocking collaterals. It is one of the insect medicines with a relatively long history of use in traumatology.

It should be noted that ground beetle bug has a strong medicinal action and is slightly toxic. It is prohibited for pregnant women, and elderly, weak, spleen-and-stomach-deficient and cold people, or those without stasis, should not take it at will. Before use as medicine, it should undergo professional processing to reduce toxicity. The specific usage and dosage must be determined under the guidance of a traditional Chinese medicine physician or pharmacist. Do not use it blindly on your own.