What is Qiang Huo?
Qiang Huo
Qiang Huo(scientific name:
Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii), also known as
Notopterygium Incisum, is a type of Chinese medicinal herb. It is made from the dried root and rhizome of either Notopterygium incisum or Notopterygium franchetii, both of which belong to the umbrella family.
Notopterygium Incisum
Notopterygium Incisum is pungent, bitter, with a warm dispersing nature. It is considered dry and hot, and primarily enters the bladder and kidney meridians. Qianghuo is commonly used to expel exterior pathogenic factors, especially those related to wind, cold, and dampness, and to relieve pain in the joints, especially those of the shoulders, back, and limbs, as well as the head and neck.
Growth environment of Qiang Huo
Qiang Huo is a wild herb that grows in sunny mountain slopes, forest edges, valleys, grasslands, and shrubs. It prefers a cool and humid climate, cold tolerant, and grows best in sandy loam soils that are deep, loose, well-drained and rich in humus.
Qiang Huo is mainly distributed in Sichuan, Qinghai, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces in China. The ones growing in Sichuan Aba, Ganzi, Mianyang, and Yunnan Nujiang are called "Chuan Qiang," while those in Qinghai and Gansu are called "Xi Qiang."
Harvest and Processing of Qiang Huo
Harvest
Harvested in spring and autumn.
Processing
Qiang Huo
Remove impurities, wash clean, fully moisturized, slice into thick pieces, and dry in the sun or conduct low-temperature oven-dry.
Jiu Qiang Huo
Mix Qiang Huo slices with yellow wine, let it thoroughly soaked until the wine is completely absorbed, and then slowly heat it in a pot until it is dry. For every 100kg of Qiang Huo, 20kg of yellow wine is used.
Storage
Stored in dry and cool places, mothproof.
Types of Qiang Huo
Qiang Huo is divided into several types based on its medicinal use and appearance, including Can Qiang (also known as Luo Si Qiang), Zhu Jie Qiang, Da Tou Qiang, and Tiao Qiang.
(1)Can Qiang
Also known as Luo Si Qiang, it is a kind of dried root and rhizome, shaped like a silkworm, cylindrical or slightly curved, about 4-10 cm in length and 1-2 cm in diameter, with stem and leaf residues at the top. The surface is brownish-brown with many closely knit and raised nodes. The nodes have numerous wart-like roots. It is light and easily broken, with uneven fracture sections, obvious chrysanthemum patterns, and many cracks. The skin is reddish-brown, and the xylem is light yellow with a central yellowish-white marrow and evenly-scattered cinnabar dots. It has a special aroma and a slightly bitter and numbing taste.
(2)Zhu Jie Qiang
The nodes of its rhizome are scattered sparsely, shaped like bamboo nodes, similar to Can Qiang but slightly larger.
(3)Da Tou Qiang
The nodes of its rhizome are particularly swollen and irregularly shaped, varying in size, with many residual stem bases at the top, while the rest is the same as Can Qiang.
(4)Tiao Qiang
It is the dried root and branch, cylindrical or branched, 3-17 cm in length and 0.7-1.7 cm in diameter, with occasionally-seen rhizomes at the top. The surface is chocolate brown with longitudinal stripes and wart-like roots. The upper end is thicker with sparsely raised nodes. It is light, loose, brittle in texture, and easily broken with uneven fracture sections. The skin is light brown, the xylem is yellowish-white with chrysanthemum patterns, and there are no obvious cinnabar dots or marrow in the center. The smell is relatively weak.
Qiang Huo TCM
Medicine part
The dried rhizome and root of Notopterygium incisum Ting ex H. T. Chang or Notopterygium forbesii Boiss.
Taste
Pungent, bitter, warm in nature.
Tropism
Enter bladder, kidney meridians.
Effect
Qiang Huo has the effects of dispelling cold, expelling wind, removing dampness and relieving pain.
Attending
Qiang Huo is mainly used to treat anemofrigid cold headache, rheumatic arthralgia, shoulder and back pain.
Dosage
Oral administration
decoction, 3-10g, or take in pill or powder forms.
Taboo
(1) Qiang Huo has a strong smell, taking excessive dosage of it can easily cause vomiting, and it is not suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach functions.
(2) Qiang Huo is pungent in taste, warm and dry in nature, comsumption of it may damage yin-blood. For those with blood-deficiency induced arthralgia , and yin-deficiency caused headache, take it with caution.
(3) Take Qiang Huo with caution for patients with yin deficiency and blood loss, qi deficiency and hyperhidrosis.
(4) Since Qiang Huo is a traditional Chinese medicine, it is suggested to not eat spicy food during the medication, so as not to reduce the efficacy of it.
Related discussion
(1)Tang Bencao, To treat wind related diseases, use Duhuo; to treat both wind and water related diseases, use Qianghuo.
(2)Yixue Qiyuan, Qianghuo is used to treat pain in the limbs, and it is also a medicinal herb for wind in the hand-foot Taiyang meridian. When combined with Chuanxiong, it help relieve pain in the Taiyang and Shaoyin meridians, benefit the joints, and dispel wind-dampness. Zhu Zhi Mi Jue states that Qianghuo has five benefits.
1.Open the meridians of the hand-foot Taiyang.
2.Treat wind and dampness related diseases together.
3.Relieve joint pain.
4.Eliminate boils and sepsis.
5.Treat wind-dampness causeed headaches.
(3)Bencao Gangmu, Qianghuo and Duhuo are both capable of dispelling wind and removing dampness, benefiting the joints. However, their natures differ to some extent.
(4)Lei Gong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie, Qianghuo is light warm in nature and belongs to the yang category. It has the effects of promoting qi circulation without any constringency, and is capable of ascending while also lowering it. It also has strong dispersing ability, and can eliminate evil qi, which is why it enters the Small Intestine Meridian of Hand-Taiyang. On the other hand, Qianghuo can regulate wind through the Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyangby, which is different from that of Duhuo but complementary to each other.
(5)Bencao Huiyan, Qianghuo has the ability to connect to the limbs and unblock blood vessels, dispel evil qi, and scatter wind-cold and wind-dampness. Therefore, it can treat ulcers by expelling pus and toxins and promoting tissue regeneration, resolve eye problems like blurry vision, discomfort with foreign objects, swelling and pain, and also work on impotence, convulsions, epilepsy, paralysis, and hypotension. Its light nature, pungent taste, good dispersing ability and active functions make it travel upwards to the head and downwards to the feet, and throughout the body to clear away evil qi.
(6)Benjing Fengyuan, Qianghuo is deemed as the commander-in-chief of regulating disordered qi and reversing to correct. As wind can overcome dampness, Qianghuo can treat dampness and is often used together with Fangfeng and Baizhi to treat headaches and fever, promote sweating, dispel external pathogenic factors, and benefit the joints and open meridians. In the past, it was added to Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang to treat symptoms caused by overexertion and get the name of supplementing the middle and purging the bowel.
Related compatibility
Qianghuo has the benefits of dispersing wind-cold and relieving pain.
(1) Qianghuo is used for treating wind-cold symptoms with headaches and body aches, often combined with Fangfeng and Baizhi.
(2) Qianghuo is also effective in dispelling wind-damp and is often combined with Fangfeng and Duhuo.
(3) For relieving headaches, Qianghuo is often combined with Chuanxiong and Xixin.
(4) For treating wind-cold dampness and arthralgia, shoulder and arm pain, difficulty in movement, and numbness of the hands and feet, Qianghuo is often used together with Fangfeng, Jianghuang, and Danggui.
Qiang Huo benefits
Qiang Huo is pungent and bitter in taste, warm in nature, enters the bladder and kidney meridians, and has the effects of dissipating cold and resolving the exterior, expelling wind and dampness, and relieving pain. Modern studies have shown that it has various pharmacological effects like resolving fever, anti-inflammatory, relieving pain, anti-arrhythmia, anti-coagulation, and anti-pathogenic microorganisms, etc.
Qiang Huo side effects
(1) Qiang Huo has a strong smell, taking excessive dosage of it can easily cause vomiting, and it is not suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach functions.
(2) Qiang Huo is pungent in taste, warm and dry in nature, comsumption of it may damage yin-blood. For those with blood-deficiency induced arthralgia , and yin-deficiency caused headache, take it with caution.
How to take Qiang Huo?
Qiang Huo is usually taken in decoction, or made into powder or pill forms. It can also be taken as a medicinal diet.The commonly used medicinal diet recipes are as follows.
(1)For treating joint pain, spasm of tendons, or hemiplegia due to stroke, oblique eyes and mouth, numbness of limbs
Ingredients
1 long-noded pit viper, 60g of Qianghuo, 60g of Angelica, 60g of Tianma, 60g of Gentiana, 60g of Wujiapi, 30g of Fangfeng, 4L if glutinous rice wine.
Instructions
(1)Wash the long-noded pit viper with wine, moisten it thoroughly, remove the bone spurs, and take the meat.
(2)Chop up each medicine, put in a silk bag, and then place them in a wine jar.
(3)Put the wine jar in a large pot, add water around the jar, stew for 1 day. Then, take the jar up to bury in the shade, and finally take out on the 7th day.
Drink 1~2 cups (30~60mL) each time.
(2)Treatment of rheumatic shoulder and back pain
Ingredients
80g of turmeric, 160g of papaya, 80g of Qianghuo, 1L of yellow rice wine
Instructions
Put the ingredients above in a can and seal it for 7 days before serving.
Take 3 times a day, drink 10mL each time.
Attention
The use of traditional Chinese medicine must be based on syndrome difference and treatment, and should be used under the guidance of professional Chinese medicine practitioners, and should not be used arbitrarily.
How to choose Qiang Huo?
Property distinguish
(1)Qiang Huo
It is a kind of cylindrical and slightly curved rhizome, 4-13cm in length and 0.6-2.5cm in diameter. There are some stem scars on the top. The surface is chocolate brown to blackish-brown, and looks yellow where the outer skin peels off. The distance of the Internodes are either shortened and tightly raised rings resembling silkworms are formed in-between (referred to as Can Qiang), or elongated and shaped like bamboo knots (referred to as Zhu Jie Qiang). There are multiple small dot-like or wart-like lumpy roots and fractured scales on the joints. It is lightweight, brittle, and easily broken. The fracture sections are uneven, with several cracks. The skin is yellowish-brown to dark brown, oily, and has brown oil spots. The xylem is yellowish-white with distinct rays, and the medulla is yellow to yellowish-brown. It has a fragrant aroma and a slightly bitter and spicy taste.
(2)Wide-leaf Qiang Huo
It is a kind of cylindrical rhizome, with stem and leaf sheath residues on the top. The root is conical, with longitudinal wrinkles and skin pores. The surface is chocolate brown, with denser rings near the rhizome. It is 8-15cm in length and 1-3cm in diameter (referred to as Tiao Qiang). While some rhizomes are large and look irregularly nodular, with several stem bases on the top and has thin roots (referred to as Da Tou Qiang). It is loose and brittle in texture, easy to break. The cross-section is sort of flat and smooth, the skin is light brown and the xylem is yellowish-white. The scent of the wide-leaf Qiang Huo is a little weak.
The best Qiang Huo are the ones which have thick and curved raised rings on the rhizome, a brown surface, a dense and tight cross-section, and many cinnabar dots with a strong fragrance. Can Qiang is generally considered to be of the best quality, followed by Zhu Jie Qiang, with Da Tou Qiang being the lowest.
How to buy Qiang Huo?
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