HomeTraditional Chinese Medicine HerbsTurtle Carapace

Turtle Carapace

Name

Turtle Carapace

Latin Pharmaceutical Name

Trionycis Carapax

Chinese Name

鳖甲

Category

Zoological substances

Turtle CarapaceMore Info

Production Regions

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan.

Macroscopic Features

Oval or elliptical shape, raised back, front and back ends are curved inward. 10~23cm long, 8~17cm wide, thick about 5mm. Unobvious raised joints in the center of shell, 8 horizontal indented lines on both sides; front side is grayish-brown and wrinkles and raised spots. Edge of the shell has saw-teeth, off-white; back side is grayish-white and raised, 8 rib bones arranged symmetrically. Hard texture; slightly fishy odor; taste salty.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material is dry, large without flesh, and clean.

Properties

Salty; cold.

Functions

Nourishes yin, subdues yang, softens hardness, disperses binds. Heat and steaming bone, nodule malaria, hard ribs, waist pain, amenorrhea and stasis.

Technical Terms

‘Little skirt’: this refers to the hard skin attached to bie jia; its edges are thick but soft, and form a shape similar to a fin. It also called “skirt edge’.

Origin

The dried shell of Trionyx sinensis Wiegmann (Trionychidae). Harvest mostly at autumn and winter, kill and put into spoil water till the hard skin above shell can be removed, take out, remove the shell and flesh, then sun-dry.

Turtle CarapaceHerbs in the formula

Turtle Shell Decocted Pill

Action：Moves qi, invigorates blood, dispels dampness, dissolves phlegm, softens hardness, and disperses concretions.

Indication：Bie Jia Jian Wan is indicated for chronic malaria with masses below the costal region and abdominal masses. Long-lasting malaria causes masses to gather underneath the costal region. It is called chronic malaria with masses. Symptoms include: Masses underneath the costal region that stay firm when pushed, abdominal pain, weak muscles, decreased appetite, occasional cold or fever, and inhibited menses.

View Details Blood-regulating formulas

Bone-Clearing Powder

Action：Clears deficiency-heat and relieves steaming bone fever.

Indication：This formula is indicated for deficiency of the liver and kidney yin, and deficiency-heat harassing the interior. The symptoms are steaming bone fever, prolonged low-grade fever, emaciation, red lips and cheeks, fatigue and night sweat, thirst and vexation, a red tongue with a scanty coating, and a thready, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Sweet Wormwood and Turtle Shell Decoction

Action：Nourishes yin and vents heat.

Indication：This formula is indicated for patterns where yin has been damaged along with latent pathogens. The symptoms are night fever that abates at dawn, fever that abates without sweating, a red tongue body with a scanty coating, and a thready, rapid pulse.

View Details Heat-clearing formulas

Major Wind-Stabilizing Pill

Action：Enriches yin and extinguishes wind.

Indication：Da Ding Feng Zhu is indicated for a pattern of stirring of wind due to yin deficiency. The symptoms are clonic convulsions of the extremities, weak physique, lassitude of the spirit, a deep red tongue body with a scanty tongue coating, and a weak pulse; patients have a strong tendency of desertion.

View Details Wind-calming formulas