Free Wanderer Powder

Free Wanderer Powder

Bupleuri Radix (Chai Hu) 1 liang (30g), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui) 1 liang (30g), Paeoniae Radix Alba (Bai Shao) 1 liang (30g), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata cum Melle(Zhi Gan Cao) 0.5 liang (15g), Poria (Fu Ling) 1 liang (30g), Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (Bai Zhu) 1 liang (30g)

Grind these six medicinals into a crude powder. Take two qian (6g) of the powder and boil it with a big zhan (large bowl) of water, add one piece of sliced wei jiang, a little bit of bo he and boil down until seven fen remain, remove the dregs and take the hot decoction at any time. (Modern use: Grind these six medicinals into a crude powder and boil 6-9g with a little wei jiang and bo he. Take it warm three times a day. It can also be prepared as a decoction by adjusting the medicinal quantities based on the original ratios.

Soothes the liver and resolves constraint, nourishes blood and fortifies the spleen.

Xiao Yao San is indicated for the pattern of liver constraint, blood deficiency, and spleen weakness, characterized by rib-side pain, headache, dizziness, dry mouth, dry throat, mental fatigue, reduced food intake, menstrual irregularities, distending pain of the breasts, and a wiry, deficient pulse.

The liver likes to govern free activity and dislikes inhibition and constraint. It stores the blood and belongs to yin in form but yang in function. When emotion is inhibited, the liver fails to free and soften the form, which may result in liver constraint and blood deficiency. Since “the foot jueyin liver channel distributes along the rib-side, circulates behind the throat… connects with the eyes, ascends to the forehead, and joins the du mai at the top of the head,” liver constraint and blood deficiency may result in rib-side pain, headache, and dizziness. When the liver constraint transforms into fire, a dry mouth and dry throat may result. Liver disease tends to transmit to the spleen, which may result in mental fatigue and reduced food intake due to the spleen and stomach weakness. The liver stores the blood and governs the free flow of qi. When women suffer from liver constraint, blood deficiency, and spleen weakness they may suffer menstrual irregularities and distending pain of the breasts. The treatment is to soothe the liver, resolve constraint, nourish blood, and fortify the spleen.

About the dosage of bo he

1. Essential pattern differentiation Xiao Yao San serves as the most common formula to soothe the liver and nourish the blood, and is also commonly applied for regulating menstruation. This clinical pattern is marked by rib-side pain, mental fatigue, reduced food intake, menstrual irregularities, and a wiry, deficient pulse. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders when the patient shows signs of liver constraint, blood deficiency, and spleen weakness: chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, gallstones, gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic gastritis, gastrointestinal neurosis, premenstrual stress disorder, breast lobular hyperplasia, menopausal syndrome, pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and uterine fibroids.

1. Jia Wei Xiao Yao San (Supplemented Free Wanderer Powder, 加味逍遙散)