《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 16

Sun Simiao’s Essential Formulas for Emergencies, Volume 16: Formulas for Disorders of the Seven Orifices—Nasal Disorders, Part Two (Discussion, Formulas, and Moxibustion)

A formula for treating nasal congestion, a cold sensation in the brain, and clear nasal discharge

Take half an ounce each of tongcao and magnolia flower; and one ounce each of asarum, kansui (another version reads “licorice”), cinnamon bark, chuanxiong, and aconite.

Grind these seven ingredients into a fine powder and make it into pills with honey. Wrap a pill in cotton, place it in the nose, and plug it firmly so that no air escapes. Each pill should be about the size of a hemp seed. Increase the amount slightly until a mild pain is felt. The formula can also be made into pills using pounded fresh ginger, with the same effect. Mixing the powder with the bile of a white dog works even better.

A formula for treating nasal congestion and frequent clear nasal discharge

Take eighteen zhu each of asarum, Sichuan pepper, dried ginger, chuanxiong, evodia, and aconite; one ounce of cinnamon bark; half an ounce of gleditsia pod powder; and one sheng of lard.

Coarsely break up the nine ingredients and wrap them in cotton. Soak them in bitter wine overnight. Then add the lard and simmer until the aconite turns yellow. Strain out the herbs. Wrap the medicinal ointment in cotton, place it in the nostrils, and rub it over the outside of the nose.

A method for treating unremitting nasal discharge

Apply seven moxa cones on each side of the nose, level with the nasal septum’s front end.

Fragrant ointment: a formula for treating blocked nasal passages

Take eighteen zhu each of angelica dahurica, chuanxiong, and tongcao; and thirteen zhu each of Chinese angelica, asarum, lemna (the Xiaopin Fang and Qianjin Yifang read “fragrant herb”), and magnolia flower.

Coarsely break up the seven ingredients and soak them in bitter wine overnight. Then add one sheng of lard that has not come into contact with water, and simmer over low heat, alternating three rounds of cooking with three rounds of cooling. When the angelica dahurica turns yellow, the ointment is ready. Strain out the herbs. Dip cotton into an amount of ointment about the size of a date pit and place it in the nose three times a day. The Xiaopin Fang adds eighteen zhu of cinnamon bark.

Fragrant ointment: a formula for treating difficulty breathing freely through the nose

Take eighteen zhu each of Chinese angelica, fragrant herb (the Gu Jin Lu Yan uses costus root), tongcao, asarum, and pistachio kernel; half an ounce each of chuanxiong and angelica dahurica; and four ounces of sheep’s marrow, or lard.

Coarsely break up the eight ingredients and simmer them together over low heat, alternating three rounds of cooking with three rounds of cooling, until the angelica dahurica…

Once the ointment turns yellow, strain out the medicinal residue. Take a pea-sized amount of ointment and place it in the nostril twice a day.

If a febrile illness occurs first, followed by red, ulcerated sores inside the nose, use Scutellaria root and gardenia fruit in place of Chinese angelica root and Asarum.

Formula for Nasal Congestion and Difficulty Breathing

Take a handful of little thistle, chop it finely, and simmer it in three sheng of water until one sheng of liquid remains. Divide it into two doses.

Another formula: Take a little melon-stem powder and blow it into the nose. It may also be wrapped in cotton and inserted into the nostril.

Another formula: Take five sheng of pagoda tree leaves, one sheng of chopped scallion whites, and one ge of fermented soybeans. Simmer these three ingredients in five sheng of water until three sheng of liquid remain. Divide it into three doses and drink warm.

Formula for Long-Standing Nasal Congestion, Loss of Smell, and Persistent Watery Discharge

Take a handful of tribulus that has been run over by a cartwheel. Crush it, add three sheng of water, and simmer. First lie on your back and have someone fill your mouth with the liquid. Then pour one ge into the nose, doing this only twice. You will then sneeze, and, it is said, one or two nasal polyps resembling red pupae will come out. Another formula adds an equal amount of coptis root and simmers it with the tribulus.

Formula for Nasal Obstruction

Nasal obstruction means that the nasal passages are blocked, making it difficult to breathe. Grind equal amounts of tetrapanax pith, Asarum, and aconite into a powder and mix it with honey. Wrap a little in cotton and place it in the nose.

Another formula: Grind equal amounts of kansui, tetrapanax pith, Asarum, and aconite into a powder. Mix it with the bile of a white male dog and form it into pills the size of date pits. Wrap a pill in cotton and place it in the nose. It is said that the medicine’s acrid, hot nature will cause a large amount of nasal discharge. After about four or five sheng have flowed out, the symptoms should improve. This may also be used to treat nasal polyps.

Another formula: Roast Chinese honeylocust pods and grind them into a powder. Take a pea-sized amount and blow it into the nose through a bamboo tube.

Another formula: Grind dried ginger into a powder, mix it with honey, and insert it into the nose, or blow it in through a tube.

Another formula: Rub an iron lock against a stone to collect iron filings. Mix them with pork fat, wrap the mixture in cotton, and place it in the nose. After a day, the fleshy growth in the nose will come out and the symptoms should improve.

Another formula: Take the juice of fresh horse manure. Tilt your head back, fill your mouth with it, and then pour it into the nose.

Another formula: Bend forward over the edge of a bed and pour freshly drawn cold water over the back of the neck at the Jade Pillow point. Then wrap melon-stem powder in cotton and insert it into the nose.

Formula for Nasal Obstruction with Polyps and Loss of Smell

Grind equal amounts of melon stem and Asarum into a powder. Wrap a bean-sized amount in cotton and insert it into the nose. The nose should clear after a short while.

Tetrapanax Powder: A formula used to treat nasal polyps and blocked nasal passages.

Use half a liang of tongcao, and one liang each of alum and pearl. Grind these three ingredients into a fine powder. Roll a small piece of medicinal cotton into the shape and size of a jujube pit, dip it in a pea-sized amount of the powder, and insert it into the nostril. Replace it three times a day. Another formula adds one liang each of cinnamon heartwood and asarum. Pound them with the ingredients in the first formula, mix well, and use in the same way.

A formula for nasal congestion and nasal polyps that obstruct breathing:

Use six zhu each of alum and veratrum, fourteen melon stems, and twelve zhu of aconite. Pound and sift each of the four ingredients separately, then mix them together. Use a small bamboo tube to blow a pea-sized amount of the powder into the nostril, then plug the nose with cotton. Use twice a day until the illness is cured. The Records of Remedies Ancient and Modern says to add half a liang of lepidium seed to this formula.

A formula for nasal polyps:

Grind roasted hedgehog skin into powder, wrap it in cotton, and insert it into the nostril. Remove it after three days.

Another formula: Sift soot from the bottom of a cooking pot until it is very fine, and swallow it with water for three to five days.

A formula for nasal polyps that prevent the sense of smell:

Burn alum and grind it into powder. Mix it with facial ointment, wrap it in cotton, and insert it into the nostril. After several days, the polyps will shrink and fall away with the medicine.

Another formula: Grind melon stem into powder and blow a pea-sized amount into the nostril; the polyps will shrink. Repeating this three or four times is more effective.

Another formula: Use equal parts asarum and soot from the bottom of a cooking pot. Grind them into powder and take one square-inch spoonful, mixed with water. (A square-inch spoonful is an ancient unit of dosage, meaning the amount held by a small square spoon.)

Another formula: Wrap melon stem powder in cotton and insert it into the nostril.

Sheep Lung Powder, a formula for raised nasal polyps:

Use one whole sheep lung, dried in the sun; four liang of atractylodes; and two liang each of cistanche, tongcao, dried ginger, and chuanxiong. Grind these six ingredients into powder. After meals, take five fen-spoonfuls with rice water, gradually increasing the dose to one square-inch spoonful.

Another formula: Use twelve zhu of tongcao, six zhu of pearl, and one liang each of alum and asarum. Grind these four ingredients into powder. Roll a small piece of cotton into the shape and size of a jujube pit, dip it in a black bean-sized amount of the powder, and insert both the cotton and powder into the nostril two or three times a day.

A formula for nasal polyps:

Apply 200 moxa cones to the Shangxing acupoint. Shangxing lies directly above the bridge of the nose, on the midline of the head, one cun within the hairline.

A formula for sores inside the nose:

Burn rice that has been used in an offering to the Kitchen God until it becomes ash. Grind it into powder and apply it inside the nose.

Another formula: Burn an old horse bridle to ash, grind it into powder, and apply it inside the nose.

Another formula: Take a filial son’s hat and rub it on the affected area.

Another remedy: Apply the earwax from a black ox’s ear to the affected area.

Another remedy: Take the fluid from an ox’s nostril and apply it to the affected area.

Another remedy: Crush almonds, collect their milky juice, and apply it; alternatively, heat the almond kernels and press out the oil for application.

Another remedy: Burn ox bones and dog bones to ash, mix the ash with lard made in the twelfth lunar month, and apply it.

A method for treating nasal sores caused by parasitic worms: Heat the tip of a copper chopstick, then quench it in vinegar several times. Apply the vinegar to the affected area. Alternatively, burn human feces to ash and apply it; this is said to bring a cure.

A method for treating nasal pain: Regularly apply oil inside and outside the nose. Butter may also be used.

A method for treating food accidentally inhaled through the nose and lodged in the brain, causing sharp pain and being impossible to expel: Take ox fat or mutton fat, roll it into a piece the size of a finger, and place it in the nose. Then inhale through the nose. After a while, the fat will melt, and the foreign matter will come out with it.

Discussion: If the tip of the nose is slightly pale, this indicates blood loss. If it is faintly red when it should not be, the condition is dangerous. A patient whose complexion is pale also shows signs of blood loss. In cases of nosebleed caused by an epidemic disease, one should not hastily stop the bleeding. If more than one or two sheng have already flowed and there is concern about excessive blood loss, the bleeding may be stopped by blowing powdered dragon bone into the nose. Bleeding from any of the nine orifices may be treated by blowing in medicinal powder.

A method for treating bloody stools, bleeding from both the mouth and nose, blood and Qi surging upward into the chest, and rapid breathing: This is caused by taxing heat. Take eight liang of fresh Rehmannia root, one sheng of cattail pollen, five liang of wolfberry root bark, and three liang each of baical skullcap root, peony, and fresh bamboo shavings. Coarsely cut the six ingredients. Boil them in eight sheng of water until two sheng and seven ge remain. Divide into three doses and take warm.

Discussion: Vomiting blood, nosebleeds, and blood in the urine are usually caused by weakness of the Qi in the internal organs, injury to the Qi in the chest and diaphragm, or fright that causes palpitations. A prescription for treatment: one sheng of fresh bamboo bark; two liang each of peony and baical skullcap root; and one liang each of Sichuan lovage rhizome, Chinese angelica root, cassia bark, and licorice. Coarsely cut the seven ingredients. First boil the bamboo bark in one dou of water until three sheng have boiled away. Add the remaining ingredients and continue boiling until two sheng remain. Divide into three doses.

A method for treating nosebleeds: Six liang of fresh Rehmannia root, one liang of Sichuan lovage rhizome, six zhu of asarum, two pieces of dragon’s hearth earth (each about the size of an egg), and three liang each of cassia bark, angelica dahurica root, dried ginger, peony, licorice, and Evodia fruit.

The preceding prescription uses ten ingredients, cut into small pieces and decocted with three sheng of water and seven sheng of wine. Reduce the liquid to three sheng and divide it into three doses.

Shengdi Huang Decoction: A Prescription for Nosebleeds

Eight liang of fresh rehmannia root, one liang of Scutellaria root, two liang each of donkey-hide gelatin and licorice, and one handful of arborvitae leaves.

Cut the five ingredients into small pieces and decoct them in seven sheng of water. Reduce the liquid to three sheng and strain out the dregs. Add the donkey-hide gelatin and continue decocting until the liquid is reduced to two and a half sheng. Divide into three doses.

Other Prescriptions

• Take three jin of fresh rehmannia root, sliced, two liang of donkey-hide gelatin, and six ge of cattail pollen. Decoect in five sheng of water, reduce to three sheng, and divide into three doses.
• Take five he of fresh rehmannia root juice and simmer until reduced to four he. Take on an empty stomach. Avoid wine and roasted meat, and drink rice broth.
• Take juice from field thistle; it works well.
• Rinse the mouth with cold water, hold a mouthful of water, then blow air into the nostrils through a reed tube.
• Burn five liang of tangled hair to ash and blow it into the nostrils through a tube, using an amount about the size of a date pit. If the nosebleed continues, keep blowing until it stops. At the same time, take one square-inch spoonful of the ash with water, three times a day; in severe cases, take two additional doses at night. It may also be taken by someone so dazed they cannot recognize others.
• Burn the pointed end of human feces to ash. Take it with water and blow a little into the nose to stop the bleeding.
• On the fifth day of the fifth month, burn human feces to ash and take five fen-spoonfuls with cold water; it works well.
• Place donkey-hide gelatin on the tip of the nose, extending upward to a point three cun below the hairline.
• Pour fresh horse manure juice into the nose; it may also be drunk. It works well.
• Gently place a damp cloth on the chest.
• Mix strong vinegar with earth and apply it to the scrotum. Replace the mixture when it dries.
• Pound leek roots and scallion roots to extract their juice. With the head tilted back, place about a date-sized amount of the juice in the nose. Wait briefly, then repeat two or three times; this should cure the condition. Scallion white juice can also be pounded and used.

A Prescription for Unstoppable Bleeding from the Nose

Take equal parts dried rehmannia root, gardenia fruit, and licorice, and grind them into a fine powder. Take one square-inch spoonful with wine three times a day. If the nose hurts, add one he of fermented black beans. If there is wind-heat in the nose, mix the powder with scallion juice, form five pills the size of wutong seeds, and take them.

Another prescription: pound paper mulberry leaves to extract their juice, and take three sheng. This works very well.

Moxibustion Method

Lay a bow horizontally with its string facing upward. Have the sick child lie on their back with the bowstring under the head, and let the limbs rest naturally extended, as in an ordinary supine position.

If the inside of the nose feels itchy during a nosebleed, apply moxibustion at the transverse crease of the joint of the big toe, midway between the three hairs, for ten cones. A “cone” is a unit used to measure moxibustion, usually referring to one moxa cone burned once.

For severe symptoms, apply moxibustion for one hundred cones. This method may also be used if the nosebleed continues. It can also treat swelling of the scrotum.

Alternatively, apply moxibustion at Fengfu for four cones. If the bleeding still does not stop, apply one hundred cones at each of the two Yongquan points, on the left and right.

— Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold for Emergencies by Master Sun, scroll sixteen.