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Introducing Friday Formula and a Bonus!

Announcing #FridayFormula on the blog! Yes, I know that it is only Wednesday, but I want to give you something to look forward to at the end of the week. Today I am going to tell you about a wonderful herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), but first I want to explain how TCM uses herbs. TCM very rarely prescribes a single herb, or even two herbs together, for a patient's condition. Instead, multiple herbs, sometimes even as many as twelve or more, are combined into a formula. Herbs are combined into formulas for several reasons: synergistic combinations enhance the actions of each herb, mitigating combinations offset undesired side effects or harshness of other herbs, and complementary combinations have different actions that work together for a complex or compound pathology. Formulas are often customized for a patient's condition and presentation. Combining herbs into formulas makes TCM a complex and sophisticated art and science that takes years to learn and a lifetime to master. However, physicians of all types currently see patients who do not fit into simple and distinct boxes. Many patients in the modern day have multiple pathologies, or problems, and are unable or unwilling to have their doctor treat one at a time. Modern pharmacists are accustomed to seeing patients on 6, 12, or even more medications at one time. TCM is one of the oldest herbal traditions still practiced today; its subtlety and sophistication offer a unique paradigm to address complex and interwoven conditions seen in modern practice. Each Friday I will be sharing a #FridayFormula with ingredients, and a discussion of how it is used in TCM.

Yan Hu Suo / Corydalis Tuber

One herb that can be used on its own is corydalis rhizoma the root tuber from the corydalis plant, called yan hu suo in Chinese. It was first recorded in 741AD but likely was in use for many years before that time. In the TCM library, it is found in the category Regulate Blood and the subcategory Invigorate Blood and Remove Stasis. In TCM fixed, sharp, severe pain is categorized as blood stasis and corydalis tuber is one of the best herbs to invigorate the blood and stop pain. The use of corydalis tuber by itself to treat pain is what TCM calls a branch treatment and what biomedicine often calls symptomatic treatment. That is, it does not treat the underlying or root pathology, but it resolves the symptoms, pain in the case of corydalis tuber. In simple cases like a fall without any broken bones or other complications, a branch treatment for pain might be enough while the body heals itself. Even in this case, a competent physician with the resources and sense would probably combine corydalis with frankincense and myrrh (ru xiang and mo yao). For more complex or chronic pain, corydalis can be added to formulas that address the root to stop pain while the rest of the formula works on the root cause of the pain. I hope you enjoyed this look at corydalis, and I will be back on Friday with the first #FridayFormula!

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