I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 373 - 158: One Prescription to "Wash Away" Chronic Herpes Zoster

Speaking of pain, the old lady didn’t try to endure it. She nodded and said, "Indeed, I really can’t sleep at night because of the pain. I even wish I could just die early to avoid the suffering. I’m not asking for a cure anymore; we’ve been treating this for so long without success. It’s not realistic to hope for a cure. As long as I don’t feel pain, that’s a blessing."

Hearing this, Lu Xuan knew that the old lady didn’t have much confidence in the treatment. The reason she switched from Western medicine to traditional Chinese medicine was probably because her younger family members insisted on it. Otherwise, with her stubborn personality, she wouldn’t have thought about undergoing treatment.

In face of the old lady’s lack of confidence, Lu Xuan smiled and reassured her, "Ma’am, don’t say such discouraging things. If we’re going to treat this, we need to do it properly. Merely relieving the pain is not enough. You’ve already mentioned that you’ve taken so many painkillers without effect, and it keeps recurring. This proves that only addressing the symptoms is not enough, and ultimately, it may not even address the symptoms.

You might have heard this before: Western medicine treats the symptoms, while Chinese medicine addresses both the symptoms and the root cause. Since we’ve chosen this path, we must believe in the wisdom passed down from our ancestors. If traditional Chinese medicine, which has been passed down for thousands of years, couldn’t handle this, then you’re underestimating it." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Can it really be cured?" The old lady was obviously skeptical.

"Here, let me prescribe a medicine for you. Take this home and drink it. You’ll know if it works after a few days," Lu Xuan said with a smile.

The old lady was skeptical yet a bit hopeful: "Alright then, I’ll go back and try it. If it truly works, I will make sure to send you a banner in gratitude."

Lu Xuan smiled without saying anything, burying his head in writing the prescription:

grams Gentiana, 30 grams charred Gardenia, 15 grams Scutellaria baicalensis, 15 grams Chaihu, 30 grams Plantago Seed, 30 grams Polygonum, 15 grams Akebia, 30 grams fresh Rehmannia, 15 grams Danggui, 30 grams red peony, 15 grams Chuanxiong, 15 grams Schizonepeta, 15 grams Fangfeng, 15 grams Notopterygium, 15 grams White Atractylodes, 3 grams Asarum, 15 grams Mint, 10 grams licorice, to be decocted in water.

After writing, since he had no assistant, Lu Xuan had to register it into the system himself.

Then he handed the medical insurance card back to Fan Yazi: "The prescription is ready. You can pay downstairs and wait for the medicine. We can also decoct the medicine here, but you need to mention it to the staff while paying, otherwise, it isn’t done by default."

"Thank you, Dr. Lu, I got it," Fan Yazi quickly thanked him and then led the old lady downstairs to pay and wait for the medicine.

Meanwhile, Lu Xuan was lost in thought looking at the prescription he had just entered into the computer screen.

Anyone familiar with traditional Chinese medicine, upon seeing the first ingredient, could guess that Lu Xuan was modifying a known formula.

In fact, if you open any textbook on dermatology in traditional Chinese medicine, you will find that for shingles, the first internal medicine formula considered by TCM is usually Longdan Xiegan Tang.

Longdan Xiegan Tang is a formulation from the "Detailed Explanation of Medical Prescriptions." The original formula consists of Gentiana, Scutellaria baicalensis, Gardenia, Polygonum, Akebia, Danggui, raw Rehmannia, Chaihu, raw licorice, and Plantago Seed.

Its function is to clear heat and dampness and nourish yin blood. Among them, Gentiana clears damp-heat, Scutellaria baicalensis and Gardenia clear heat and dry dampness, while Polygonum, Plantago, and Akebia promote water metabolism, providing a pathway for expelling pathogenic heat. Raw Rehmannia and Danggui nourish yin blood to prevent the injury of yin by drying and expelling damp heat. Chaihu with Scutellaria baicalensis soothes the liver and aids bile flow.

However, Lu Xuan made modifications on this basis using another method.

This method involves expelling external pathogenic toxins.

In the prescription Lu Xuan provided, the additional herbs red peony, Chuanxiong, Schizonepeta, Fangfeng, Notopterygium, White Atractylodes, Asarum, and Mint actually represent some modifications to the Chuanxiong Chatiao San.

Chuanxiong Chatiao San is meant to dispel wind and alleviate pain. It contains many herbs for dispersing and releasing the exterior and expelling wind and dampness.

The properties of these herbs are directed outward.

This means guiding and releasing the damp-heat and turbid toxins accumulated in the skin, achieving the effect of expelling pathogenic factors outward. By internally clearing heat and dampness and outwardly expelling pathogenic factors, the combination can achieve extraordinary effects.

A single prescription to "wash away" chronic shingles.

From this perspective, the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in treating such diseases are evident and are something that conventional Western medicine and drugs often find difficult to achieve.