Botanical Name: Platycodi Radix
Jie Geng
Category: Transform Cold-Phlegm
Taste: Bitter, Acrid
Temperature: Neutral
Channels Entered: Lung
Dosage: 3-9g
Cautions & Contraindications:
- Because of this herb’s acrid, dispersing, and draining qualities, it is contraindicated for chronic cough form yin deficiency or in patients with a tendency to cough up blood.
Actions & Indications:
- Opens up and disseminates the Lung qi, dispels phlegm, and benefits the throat: for cough or wheezing with profuse sputum, throat pain, and loss of voice. Can be used for cough with profuse sputum from either cold or heat.
- Pushes out pus: for expelling pus associated with Lung abscess or throat abscess. The traditional disease of Lung abscess is marked by fevers, chest pain, coughing of yellow sputum with a fishy smell, along with coughing up of blood and pus.
- Opens up and raises the Lung qi while also directing the actions of other herbs to the upper regions of the body: used not only to reinforce the actions of other herbs that clear and drain the upper burner, but also whenever the actions of a formula should be focused on the upper regions of the body.
