五味消毒饮

• Actions: Clears heat and resolves toxicity; disperses toxic sores and boils.
• Core pathogenesis: Accumulation of fire toxin with stagnation of qi and blood. This is often caused by contracting warm-heat/fire toxin, or by a fondness for spicy, rich foods that generates internal accumulated heat, causing fire toxin to steam and accumulate in the skin, and qi, blood and the channels to become stagnant, giving rise to toxic sores, carbuncles and swellings.

1. When it is used

This formula is the representative formula for toxic sores and carbuncles caused by fire toxin. It brings together five heat-clearing, toxin-resolving substances in a single formula, with focused herbal action, aiming to clear and resolve the fire-heat toxin that has coalesced locally.

2. Pattern and presentation

Main symptoms:

• Local redness, swelling, heat and pain, with the sore resembling a millet grain, hard and deep-rooted.
• Aversion to cold with fever, red tongue with yellow coating.

Systemic and accompanying symptoms:

• Thirst, dark urine, rapid pulse.

3. Tongue and pulse

• Tongue: Red tongue body with yellow, dry coating.
• Pulse: Rapid and forceful.

4. Granule conversion and dose

Calculation of the total raw herb weight of the original formula:

Jin Yin Hua (honeysuckle flower) 20 g + Ye Ju Hua (wild chrysanthemum flower) 15 g + Pu Gong Ying (dandelion) 15 g + Zi Hua Di Ding (yedoensis iris herb) 15 g + Zi Bei Tian Kui Zi (begonia fimbristipulata root) 15 g = 80 g.