Herbs That Stop Bleeding

Introduction

• This is the first section of Herbs that Regulate the Blood in Bensky's guide.
• Causes of Bleeding in TCM:
  • External Bleeding (injury, trauma)
  • Internal Bleeding (e.g. nosebleed, vomiting blood, blood in urine/stool, uterine bleeding)
  • Bleeding during pregnancy (restless fetus syndrome)
• Main Causes of Bleeding in TCM:
  • Heat in the Blood: Heat causes the blood to move recklessly.
  • Blood Stasis: Blood encounters an obstruction and moves outside the vessel to bypass it.
  • Deficiency: Specifically Spleen Yang Deficiency, where the Spleen fails to contain the blood, leading to leaking. Known as bleeding due to deficiency cold.

Treatment Strategies

• Clear Heat and Cool the Blood
• Invigorate Blood (Transform Blood Stasis)
• Warm the Interior/Warm the Channels
• Induce Astringency (for injury and trauma, or unclear causes)

Properties of These Herbs

• Taste and Temperature:
  • Invigorate blood: Acrid flavor
  • Clear heat: Bitter flavor
  • Warm interior: Warm temperature
  • Induce astringency: Neutral temperature
  • All enter the Liver channel.

Cautions and Contraindications

• Invigorate Blood Herbs: Use caution during pregnancy.
• Clear Heat Herbs: Avoid in cold patterns/deficiency.
• Warm interior or channel herbs should not be used in heat patterns.

Individual Herbs

1. San Qi (Notoginseng Radix)

   • Invigorates blood to stop bleeding, stops pain.
   • Good for injury and trauma.
   • Special preparation: crush before decocting or use powdered form.
   • Caution during pregnancy.

2. Pu Huang (Typhae Pollen)

   • Invigorates blood to stop bleeding and pain.
   • Especially good for painful menstruation and blood in urine.
   • Promotes urination (Lins syndrome, especially blood in urine).
   • Various preparations: charred form for stopping bleeding, alcohol-prepared for invigorating blood/pain.
   • Caution during pregnancy.

3. Qian Cao (Rubiae Radix)

   • Clears heat and invigorates blood to stop bleeding.
   • Treats amenorrhea, injury, trauma, and joint pain.

4. Da Ji (Cirsii Japonici Radix)

   • Clears heat and cools blood to stop bleeding (especially upper body: vomiting blood, coughing up blood).
   • Clears heat toxicity for skin infections.
   • Treats damp-heat (jaundice) and high blood pressure with liver heat.

5. Xiao Ji (Cirsii Herba)

   • Clears heat, promotes urination (Lin syndrome with blood in urine).
   • Effective for bloody urine.

6. Di Yu (Sanguisorbae Radix)

   • Clears heat to stop bleeding and treats hemorrhoids and bloody dysentery.
   • Effective for excessive uterine bleeding (flooding and spotting).
   • Clears heat toxicity (sores) and treats external burns.
   • Use charred form for stopping bleeding.

7. Huai Mi (Sophorae Flos Immaturus)

   • Clears heat, especially for liver heat (red eyes, headache, dizziness).
   • Effective for lower body bleeding (hemorrhoids, bloody dysentery).

8. Ce Bai Ye (Platycladi Cacumen)

   • Clears heat, cools blood, induces astringency.
   • Effective for any bleeding (heat, cold, excess, deficiency).
   • Also treats coughing with blood-streaked phlegm.
   • Clears heat and phlegm, stops cough, treats early stage burns.

9. Bai Mao Gen (Imperatae Rhizoma)

   • Clears heat, cools blood to stop bleeding.
   • Promotes urination (Lin syndrome).
   • Clears lung and stomach heat (generates body fluids, treats thirst).

10. Xian He Cao (Agrimoniae Herba)

    • Induces astringency to stop bleeding (all types).
    • Also stops diarrhea and dysentery.
    • Kills parasites (intestinal, skin infections).

11. Bai Ji (Bletillae Rhizoma)

    • Induces astringency to stop bleeding (lung and stomach bleeding).
    • Heals stomach ulcers.
    • Reduces swelling and regenerates flesh (sores, chapped skin).
    • Incompatible with Fu Zi (Aconiti Radix Lateralis Preparata).

12. Ou Jie (Nelumbinis Nodus Rhizomatis)

    • Induces astringency and invigorates blood.
    • All-purpose blood stopper (mild, often an auxiliary herb).

13. Ai Ye (Artemisiae Argyi Folium)

    • Warms the channels/Menses to stop bleeding.
    • Treats abdominal pain, irregular/painful menstruation, bleeding due to cold.
    • Calms restless fetus.
    • Also used topically for skin problems like eczema.

14. Pao Jiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma Preparatum)

    • Warms the channels to stop bleeding (middle jiao, digestive bleeding).
    • Also warms the middle for abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea due to cold.
    • Commonly not on all syllabuses.

Additional Interesting Herbs

1. Xue Yu Tan

   • Chared human hair.

2. Zao Xin Tu

   • Oven clay.
   • Used in Huang Tu Tang for deficiency cold bleeding.

Example Formulas

1. Shi Hui San (Ten Partially-Charred Substances Powder)

   • For bleeding due to heat in the middle and upper jiao.

2. Xiao Ji Yin Zi (Small Thistle Drink)

   • For blood in the urine (Lin syndrome).

3. Huai Hua San (Sophora Japonica Flower Powder)

   • For large intestine bleeding

Conclusion

• Review the method by which each herb stops bleeding (invigorate blood, clear heat, induce astringency, or warm channels).
• Note any specific specialties (areas of bleeding, additional functions).