Since I got to know it, rheumatism has disappeared.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the causes of disease are generally divided into three types: external causes, internal causes, and neither internal nor external causes, with exogenous causes being one of the most common causes. As early as in the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic", there was a saying that "When evil wind comes, it is as fast as wind and rain. Therefore, a good healer treats the skin and fur, then the muscles and skin, then the tendons and veins, then the six bowels, and then the five internal organs", which means "a good healer treats exogenous diseases." Among the various external evils, wind evil is the most serious.

In the world of traditional Chinese medicine, there are many medicines for removing wind evil, but is there any traditional Chinese medicine that has the strongest wind-removing effect and is used the most frequently? The answer is yes. In the world of traditional Chinese medicine, Fangfeng can be called the "best medicine for dispelling wind". Li Shizhen, the Saint of Medicine, explained Fangfeng as follows: "Fang means defense, and its most important function is to treat wind, hence the name."

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the flavor of Fang is pungent and sweet, and slightly warm in nature; it enters the bladder, liver, and spleen meridians; it has the functions of dispelling wind and relieving exterior symptoms, eliminating dampness and relieving pain, and stopping spasms; it is suitable for exogenous symptoms, urticaria itching, rheumatic arthralgia, tetanus and other symptoms. Now let’s take a closer look at the performance of Fangfeng in terms of indications.

The first label of Fangfeng is to dispel wind and relieve exterior symptoms, so it is basically effective for treating external symptoms caused by wind evil. Saposhnikovia divaricata is pungent, warm and dispersing, and its smell has the characteristics of ascending, which can effectively play the main role of dispersing wind and relieving exterior symptoms. At the same time, Saposhnikovia divaricata also has the effect of removing dampness and relieving pain. Therefore, in the general treatment of wind syndrome, Saposhnikovia divaricata is almost the first choice of medicine. It is said in "Bencao Zhengyi": "Saposhnikovia divaricata can cure all wind evils, so "Ben Jing" uses the three words 'treating strong winds' as the outline".

Fangfeng has a first-class effect in dispelling wind, and it also has certain effects in eliminating dampness and removing heat, but it is not very good in the field of dispelling cold. Therefore, Fangfeng can be used in combination with other herbs in the treatment of exogenous wind-cold, rheumatism, and wind-heat symptoms. In the treatment of exogenous symptoms, if the main cause is wind-cold, with symptoms such as headache, body pain, and aversion to wind and cold, it can be used together with drugs such as Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Notopterygium wilfordii, and Angelica dahurica, such as Jingfang Baidu Powder (Notopterygium wilfordii, Notopterygium wilfordii, Bupleurum chinense, Peucedanum chinense, Fructus Aurantii Immaturus, Poria cocos, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Platycodon grandiflorum, and Ligusticum chuanxiong, each 4.5g and 15g of licorice); if the main cause is rheumatism, with symptoms such as headache as if wrapped, heaviness of body and limb pain, it can be used together with drugs such as Notopterygium wilfordii, Ligusticum chuanxiong, such as Qianghuo Shengshi Decoction (Notopterygium wilfordii, Notopterygium wilfordii, each 6g, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Saposhnikovia divaricata, each 3g, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Fructus viticis 2g, and Ligusticum chuanxiong 1.5g); if the main cause is wind-heat, with symptoms such as fever, aversion to wind, sore throat and thirst, it can be used together with pungent and cool antipyretic drugs such as mint, cicada shell, and forsythia.

In the process of using Fangfeng to treat external symptoms, it has its special features. The dispersing effect of Fangfeng is relatively mild. It can be used with Fangfeng, Huangqi, Baizhu and other Wei-tonifying and surface-strengthening medicines to form an "iron triangle" for those with insufficient Wei Qi, weak skin surface, and colds caused by wind-evil. They complement each other and can eliminate evil without hurting the body, and strengthen the surface without retaining evil. It has the effect of strengthening the body and eliminating evil. For example, the famous Yupingfeng Powder (6g Fangfeng, 12g Huangqi, 12g Baizhu) is a typical representative.

Since Fangfeng has a special effect in dispelling wind, it is naturally perfect for treating symptoms such as urticaria and itching. The drug Fangfeng is pungent, warm and dispersing, and has the effect of dispelling wind and relieving itching. It can treat a variety of skin diseases, among which it is especially commonly used for urticaria and itching caused by wind evil. Fangfeng is known for its ability to dispel wind and has a mild nature. It can be used for rashes and itching caused by wind-cold or wind-heat. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Fangfeng is powerful in dispelling wind, and is equally powerful in eliminating dampness. Why is it said that the function of Fangfeng is to overcome dampness rather than eliminate dampness? It is obvious that Fangfeng is strong enough in controlling dampness. Saposhnikovia divaricata has an excellent effect in removing dampness and relieving pain. It is a commonly used medicinal material for removing rheumatism and relieving pain, and is more effective for rheumatic pain. If the patient suffers from wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, joint pain, and tendon spasm, the patient can use anti-rheumatic and analgesic drugs such as Qianghuo, Duhuo, cinnamon twig, and turmeric together, such as Qunbi Decoction (10 grams of Qianghuo, 10 grams of Duhuo, 5 grams of Guixin, 10 grams of Qinjiao, 30 grams of Angelica sinensis, 7 grams of Chuanxiong, 5 grams of Zhigancao, 20 grams of Kaifengteng, 30 grams of Morus alba, 8 grams of Frankincense, and 8 grams of Costus root); if the wind-cold-dampness evil accumulates and turns into heat, causing redness, swelling, heat, and pain in the joints, which becomes hot arthralgia, the patient can also use it in combination with earthworms, coix seed, black-striped snakes, and other drugs.

Another very important role of Fangfeng in treating wind syndrome is to stop spasms, especially for tetanus syndrome. Some people may ask, what is the relationship between stopping spasms and dispelling wind? Let's take tetanus as an example. Due to the invasion of wind poison into the body and penetrating the meridians, it induces internal wind and causes muscle spasms, convulsions of the limbs, stiffness of the neck and back, opisthotonos and other symptoms. The treatment at this time requires calming the internal wind to stop the spasm. Saposhnikovia divaricata can be used together with other wind-dispelling and spasm-stopping drugs such as Gastrodia elata, Arisaema consanguineum, and Aconitum carmichaelii, such as Yuzhen Powder (6g each of Arisaema consanguineum, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Angelica dahurica, Gastrodia elata, Notopterygium wilfordii, and Aconitum carmichaelii).

Of course, there are many other functions of Fangfeng. We will slowly explore this holy medicine for dispelling wind in the future. But there is some knowledge that needs to be understood, that is, when using Fangfeng to dispel wind, it is usually used raw. If used to stop diarrhea, it is usually stir-fried. When used to stop bleeding, it is usually stir-fried into charcoal. Of course, there are some situations in which Fangfeng is not suitable for use. It is clearly pointed out in "Bencao Jingshu" that "all diseases such as blood deficiency, convulsions, headaches not caused by wind and cold, loose diarrhea not caused by cold and dampness, constipation and astringent bowel movements, convulsions due to spleen deficiency in children, slow fright and slow spleen wind, nausea due to rising qi, cough due to rising fire, night sweats due to yin deficiency, spontaneous sweating due to yang deficiency, etc., are all contraindicated according to the law". And in "Depei Materia Medica", there is also a statement that "it is forbidden for use by those with deficiency of vital energy and diseases not caused by rheumatism".