What are the medicinal values ​​of reed root

There are many Chinese herbal medicines in my country. Some of them are made from leaves of plants, some from bark of plants, some from flowers of plants, and some from roots of plants. The Chinese herbal medicine reed root is the rhizome of reed. I think many people may not be particularly familiar with the medicinal value of reed root. In this article, let’s take a look at the introduction to the medicinal value of reed root.

Reed root, a traditional Chinese medicine, is the rhizome of the grass plant reed. Reed root was first recorded in "Bielu" and listed as a low-grade product. The Newly Revised Materia Medica says: "It grows in wetlands. Its stems and leaves are like bamboo, and its flowers are like reed flowers. The roots are collected in February and August and dried in the sun for use." The Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica says: "The root of reed, in the past it was not recorded where it came from, but now it is found everywhere. It grows in wet ponds and swamps. It looks like bamboo, but its leaves grow around the stem, and it has no branches. The flowers are white and in spikes, like thatch flowers. The roots are also like bamboo roots, but with sparse nodes." The above records and the attached figure in the Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica are all consistent with this product.

Medicinal value of reed root:

1. Reed root can clear the middle and dispel wind-heat, and can be used to treat wind-heat cough. It is often combined with mulberry leaves, chrysanthemum, platycodon and other medicines to dispel wind and heat, promote lung function and relieve cough. The recipe is Sangju Drink in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases".

2. Reed root is used for fever and thirst.

3. The medicinal effect is stronger when used fresh.

4. Reed root is used for hot and painful stranguria.

5. In the early stage of measles, if the rash is not coming out smoothly, you can use reed root with mint and cicada shell to dispel wind and heat, expel toxins and clear the rash.

6. Reed root is used for cough due to lung heat and pus vomiting due to lung abscess. Reed root can clear away lung heat and act as a diuretic, and can guide heat and toxins out of the urine. Therefore, it can treat lung heat, cough with thick phlegm, and lung abscess with cough and spitting of pus and blood. To treat the former, it is often combined with mulberry bark, scutellaria baicalensis, Fritillaria and other drugs to clear away heat, resolve phlegm and relieve cough; to treat the latter, it is often combined with platycodon, houttuynia cordata, raw coix seed, honeysuckle and other drugs to clear the lungs, discharge pus, detoxify and treat abscesses.

7. Reed root has the property of penetrating and dispersing.

8. Reed root can also be used to treat puffer fish poisoning. Use the juice alone, or add ginger, perilla leaves, etc., and boil it in water to drink.

9. Reed root is used for vomiting caused by stomach heat. Reed root can clear away heat, harmonize the stomach and stop vomiting, but it is not greasy and harmful to the stomach. Therefore, it is an important medicine for treating vomiting caused by stomach heat. For mild cases, it can be used alone. For severe cases, it is often used with bamboo shavings, ginger, rice, etc. to enhance the effect of clearing heat, relieving adverse effects, and stopping vomiting, such as the Reed Root Drink in Qianjin Yaofang.

It is said that all medicines are three-tenths poisonous. Although reed root is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, it is not suitable for everyone to take. Because reed root is a cold medicine, people with weak spleen and stomach should not take reed root. People should also be careful when taking reed root and should not take it at the same time as croton.