The efficacy and function of tortoise shell

Turtle shell is a commonly used Chinese medicine. It was first recorded in "Shennong's Herbal Classic" and listed as a fine product. Its original name was "turtle shell".

Other names: lower shell, tortoise shell.

It is the scutum (osteophytic scales) of a small turtle, an aquatic reptile of the family Testudinidae. Small turtles are mostly social animals that eat, live and travel in rivers, lakes and seas.

Origin: The main producing areas are Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Zhejiang Province. In addition, it is also produced in Jiangxi Province, Guangdong Province, Sichuan, Fujian Province, etc.

Characteristic identification: The beam end is composed of 6 pairs of symmetrical scales (horn plates) attached to the bone plate. It is plate-shaped, rectangular and oval, generally 10 to 20 cm long, 7 to 10 cm wide, and 3 to 5 mm thick. The outer edge is blunt or truncated; the two in the middle are ear-shaped because the ends of the beams are horizontally raised and closely connected to the ribs, with concave edges and triangular notches.

The outer layer of scales is smooth, dark brown to dark brown, yellowish white at the inset, narrow ones are like lines, and wide ones are like spots. The inner surface is dirty yellow-white or contains residual skin, meat and blood stains (blood plates). The surface scales fall off, revealing the yellow-white bone plates (soup plates). The bone hyperplasia is hard and not easy to break, and it appears like clustered teeth after being wedged at the insertion point. It has a slightly fishy smell and a slightly salty taste.

It is preferred to choose large plates with blood stains and detailed and smooth scales.

Main ingredients: animal collagen fibers, human fat, calcium and phosphorus.

Medicinal value: reduces fever and calms the nerves, strengthens bones and tendons, and removes blood stasis and swelling. This may be related to the high-quality protein they contain.

Chinese medicine preparation: Use raw or stir-fry and quench in yellow vinegar.

Poria cocos effects: sweet, salty and cold.

Function: Nourishes Yin and suppresses Yang, benefits the kidneys and strengthens bones, replenishes Qi, nourishes blood, and nourishes the heart, and reduces internal heat.

Indications: Kidney yin deficiency, bone steaming and fatigue fever, weakness of waist and knees, gallbladder deficiency and memory loss, frequent spermatorrhea, metrorrhagia and leukorrhea, forehead inability to close in children, chronic cough, chronic dysentery, chronic malaria, etc.

Clinical medical application: as a yin tonifier. It is suitable for all symptoms of deficiency of both Qi and blood and yang deficiency, especially bone steaming, fatigue and fever, frequent spermatorrhea, metrorrhagia, chronic nephritis, etc.

1. It can treat bone steaming during working day, night sweats caused by tuberculosis, has the effect of reducing fever, and can supplement high-quality protein and other nutrients. In accordance with the standard of closely combining tonifying Yin with purging fire, it is often combined with heat-clearing drugs such as Phellodendron chinense, Anemarrhena asphodeloides, and Rehmannia glutinosa, such as Dabuyin Pills.

2. It can be used to treat chronic nephritis of yang deficiency type. It seems to be helpful in removing proteinuria. It can be taken with donkey-hide gelatin cake and Liuwei Dihuang Decoction.

3. To treat spleen meridian weakness, turtle shell has a calming effect and is often combined with Chinese jujube seed, magnetite, purple salvia miltiorrhiza, raw rehmannia, bupleurum, etc.

4. To treat chronic sores that do not heal for a long time, it can be used with Gleditsia sinensis, Pulsatilla scabra, etc., or with Poria cocos glue, also known as Guiling glue.

In addition, turtle shell can treat metrorrhagia and leukorrhea caused by blood heat, because it has the effect of removing blood stasis and activating blood circulation. It can also treat bone and tendon weakness in children. It can be combined with tiger bone, Achyranthes bidentata, Cynomorium songaricum, etc. to make a prescription such as Hu Qian Wan.