Chinese Cassia Bark (rou gui)  

Cortex Cinnamomi

Properties: The bark is pungent and sweet in flavour, and not in nature. It acts on the heart, spleen, liver and kidney channels. As a pungent, sweet, extremely hot and pure Yang herb, Chinese cassia bark in similar to but slightly weaker than prepared aconite root in supplementing fire and dispersing cold. However, the bark has a mild and lasting effect, and can conduct the fire back to its origin. Therefore, it is often used to treat Yang-deficiency of the spleen and kidney, decline of the fire from the gate of life, pains due to cold, and Yang being expelled externally by Yin-excess in the interior, and other syndromes.

Effects: Supplementing fire, supporting Yang, dispersing cold, alleviating pain, and conducting the fire back to its origin.

Indications:

1. To treat deficiency of kidney-yang and decline of the fire from the gate of life, with symptoms of cold pain in the waist and knee, micturition and impotence, or upward floating of Yang in deficiency condition, heat in the upper and cold in the lower, the bark is often used in combination with prepared aconite root, prepared rehmannia root, Chinese yam and other herbs for tonifying the kidney and supporting Yang, such as Guifu Bawei Decoction and Yougui Pill.

2. The herb is often used in combination with dried ginger, dangshen, white atractylodes rhizome and other herbs for warming the middle-jiao, dispersing cold, strengthening the spleen and arresting diarrhea, to treat cold of deficiency type in the middle-jiao, stomachache and diarrhea; with evodia fruit, nutgrass flatsedge rhizome, chuanxiong rhizome and other herbs for warming the channels, dispersing cold and alleviating pain, to treat amenia and menorrhalgia due to cold; with common fennel fruit, evodia fruit, corydalis tuber and other herbs for warming the liver, dispersing cold, promoting Qi circulation and alleviating pain, to treat accumulation of cold in the liver channels, abdominal colic due to invasion of cold, and abdominal pain; and with ledebouriella root, asarum herb, notopterygium root and other drugs for expelling with and dampness, to treat damp arthralgia due to wind-cold.

In addition, used in combination with other herbs for supplementing Qi and nourishing blood, it can promote generation of Qi and blood, and treat chromic skin and external diseases, cold of insufficiency type in Qi and blood, chronic ulcer, or weakened resistance due to chronic illness, and deficiency of both Qi and blood.

Dosage and Administration: 2-5g put in decoction later, Ground into powder and orally taken following infusion with boiling water, 1-2g each time. The dosage of Guangui should be doubled because its potency is weak.

Precautions: Since the herb is pungent and hot, which supports fire and activates blood, it is contraindicated in Yin-deficiency, excessive fire and bleeding tendency, and should used cautiously in pregnancy.

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