09/11/2025
Welcome to Herbal Thursdays where medicine is art!
This is a modification of 半夏厚朴湯 – Ban Xia Hou Po Tang – Pinellia and Magnolia Decoction, a formula commonly used when strong emotions are held in rather than expressed resulting in the sensation of something stuck in the throat. In Chinese medicine we refer to this as “plumb pi qi”, which forms when the qi constrained by held in emotions causes fluids to stagnate and turn into phlegm-dampness in the tissues of the throat, creating the sensation of something stuck in the throat while nothing can be seen on inspection. In this case, the patient was suffering from anxiety, depression, and emotional constraint, and while they did not have the classic plumb pit qi feeling, there was plenty of evidence in the rest of the patient's pattern to suggest qi constraint and fluids congealing into phlegm, and there was significant stinging pain in the throat without any visualized inflammation upon inspection.
The bottom 5 ingredients make up Ban Xia Hou Pou Tang: 半夏 – ban xia – prepared pinellia rhizome, 厚朴 – hou po – magnolia bark, 茯苓 – fu ling – poria, 生薑 – sheng jiang – fresh ginger rhizome, and 紫蘇葉 – zi su ye – perilla leaf. These herbs warm and transform congested fluids, unblock the throat, and descend the qi to drain the pathological fluid out through the urine. The top two herbs 玄參 – xuan shen – scrophularia root and 桔梗 – jie geng – balloon flower root soothe the throat, clear heat, and nourish fluids. Altogether this formula addresses acute manifestations of qi constrained by held in emotions and then replenishes the affected area (throat) with healthy fluids.
Fun fact! Zi su ye – perilla leaf use to be served with sushi because is counteracts seafood poisoning (as does fresh ginger) before it got replaced by green plastic grass… 😒
