Product: Wild Smilax glabra (powdery type)

Place of origin: Yunnan, China

Specifications: slices or irregular pieces

Net weight: 8 oz–16 oz

Dosage:15–60 g; for external use, grind an appropriate amount into powder for application or decoct and wash externally

Note: Although Smilax glabra and white poria differ by only one character in Chinese, they come from entirely different sources and have very different meridians entered, effects, and indications. Smilax glabra is the rhizome of the lily-family plant Smilax glabra, whereas white poria is the sclerotium of the fungus poria.

Effects and uses

Smilax glabra is also known as “mountain boar droppings,” “cold rice cake,” and “hard rice head,” among other names;it is the dried rhizome of the lily-family plantSmilax glabra .

Li Shizhen recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica that Smilax glabra comes in red and white varieties. It has woody and powdery types; when powdery slices are snapped in half by hand, powder can clearly be seen springing out. It is aA commonly used herb for clearing heat and detoxifying and dispelling dampness, often used in infused water, soups, or medicinal preparations.

Sweet and bland in taste, neutral in nature. Enters the liver and stomach meridians.

Has effects including clearing heat and detoxifying, dispelling wind and dampness, and promoting joint mobility. Commonly used for syphilis, gonorrhea, Heat in the blood with headache,sore and swollen throat,limb spasms, tendon and bone pain, damp-heat strangury with turbid discharge, vulvar itching, vaginal discharge, boils and swellings, scrofula, ringworm, diarrhea, and more.

Tips

Clears heat and detoxifies, dispels wind and dampness

16 oz pork bones, 50 g Smilax glabra, 20 g each of fox nuts, coix seeds, and anemarrhena rhizome, 2 candied dates, and an appropriate amount of water; simmer for 3 hours.

50 g each of Smilax glabra, red beans, and coix seeds, half a dried tangerine peel, and an appropriate amount of water; simmer for 2 hours, then add brown sugar to taste.

Nourishes yin and the kidneys, clears heat and detoxifies, dispels wind and dampness

16 oz pork bones, 50 g each of Smilax glabra, white poria, and prepared tortoise shell, 20 g each of red beans and coix seeds, 5 pitted red dates, 2 candied dates, ginger, and an appropriate amount of water; simmer for 3 hours.

Strengthens the spleen and dispels dampness, strengthens tendons and bones, regulates qi, and nourishes the stomach

24 oz pork bones, 50 g Millettia speciosa, 100 g Smilax glabra, 25 g each of Ficus hirta root, coix seeds, and fox nuts, 16 oz pork bones, half a dried tangerine peel, and an appropriate amount of water; simmer for 3 hours.

The classic 【Four Marvels Pill】 formula comes from《Cheng Fang Bian Du》 and is made into pills (or powder) for oral consumption.

However, in modern clinical practice, during acute gout attacks with severe joint redness, swelling, heat, and pain, it is used as a decoction (absorbed fastest and sufficiently potent) to control joint inflammation and lower uric acid levels in the shortest possible time.

Has effects including “clearing heat and drying dampness,Detoxifies and promotes uric acid excretion,Promotes joint mobility” and other effects。

Main indicationsGouty arthritis (acute attack): sudden redness, swelling, heat, and excruciating, knife-like pain in the big toe (first metatarsophalangeal joint), ankle, knee, or other joints, with extreme tenderness to touch.

Damp-heat pouring downward pattern (rheumatic joint pain/lower-limb eczema): heaviness, numbness, and swelling in the lower-limb joints, possibly accompanied by eczema on both legs, red rashes on the lower-limb skin, dark-yellow and painful urination, a yellow, greasy tongue coating, and similar symptoms.

Used in decoctions:

12 grams of phellodendron bark: Clears heat and dries dampness, clearing damp-heat in the lower burner.

12 grams of atractylodes: Bitter and warm; dries dampness and strengthens the spleen to transport dampness.

15 grams of cyathula root: Promotes blood circulation, unblocks the meridians, and directs the medicine downward.

30–40 grams of raw coix seed: Promotes urination and drains dampness, relaxes the sinews, and relieves painful obstruction.

15 grams of clematis root: Dispels wind, unblocks the meridians, reduces swelling, and relieves pain.

12 grams of gentian root: Clears heat and dispels wind; particularly effective for relieving damp-heat and deficiency heat.

① Soaking: After washing, soak in cold water before decocting; 60 minutes is recommended (use an earthenware or stainless-steel pot), with the water 3–4 centimeters above the herbs (about 900 milliliters).

② First decoction: Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 30–40 minutes and strain out the liquid.

③ Second decoction: Add warm water again until it covers the herbs by about 2 centimeters (about 450 milliliters).Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 25–30 minutes and strain out the liquid.

④ Taking the medicine: Mix the two batches of decoction (about 400 milliliters in total), and take 200 milliliters warm each time, 30 minutes after breakfast and dinner.

Pain relief: If the big toe or ankle joint has excruciating, knife-like pain, add 15 grams of corydalis tuber and 10 grams of myrrh to promote blood circulation and relieve pain.

For those with a cold, deficient spleen and stomach (prone to diarrhea): When preparing the decoction, you must add 6 grams of licorice and 3 slices of dried ginger to harmonize the stomach and dispel dampness.

Drink more water during a gout flare: During the course of treatment, drink more plain water every day to help the medicine eliminate uric acid.

When to stop taking the medicine:

1、Symptoms disappear and uric acid reaches the target level；

2、Ifsevere digestive tract reactions: Experiencing severe stomach pain, a burning sensation in the stomach, nausea and vomiting, or persistent diarrhea, etc..

3IfAllergic reactions: Suddenly developing intensely itchy red rashes or hives after taking the medicine, or experiencing difficulty breathing.

4. If liver or kidney function is abnormal: Take the medicine continuously for more than 2 weeks. Because all Chinese and Western medicines require liver and kidney metabolism, and gout patients already place a heavy burden on their kidneys, this formula should not be taken continuously for more than 14 days without rechecking liver and kidney function.