Category
Cool
Pin Yin
Latin Name
Cicadae Periostracum
English Name
Cicada Shell
Dosage
3-9g
Entering Channels
LU
Flavor
salty
Temperature
slightly cold
Pregnancy
Image
Chinese Herbal Formulas (Comprehensive List)
Individual Essential Oils
Kampo Name
Kampo Number
Kanji
Katakana
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Key Characteristics:
Cautions & Contraindications:
- Many premodern materia medica texts record the use of this substance for delayed labor and to promote the expulsion of the residue of the birth process. It should therefore be used with caution in patients who might be pregnant, especially if they have a history of miscarriage.
Actions & Indications:
- Disperses wind and clears heat: for patterns of externally-contracted wind-heat, especially with loss of voice and swollen, sore throat, as in Sang Ju Yin.
- Vents rashes: for early stage of measles with an incomplete expression due to Lung heat.
- Clears the eyes and removes superficial visual obstruction: for wind-heat eye problems such as red, painful, and swollen eyes, excessive tearing, or blurry vision.
- Stops spasms and extinguishes wind: for childhood febrile diseases in which wind causes convulsions, spasms, delirium, or night terrors. Also used as an auxiliary substance in treating tetanus.
Related Herbal Formulas
Combinations:
- Pang Da Hai: loss of voice or laryngitis. (Or use Ren Shen Ye, Mai Men Dong, Wu Wei Zi).
- Niu Bang Zi: rashes.
Commentary:
- Strongly affects the throat and skin.