It’s time for another Daily Herb Fact!

I hope you’re itching to learn more about herbs…

HERB FACT:

Jing Jie (schizonepetae herba) is Japanese catnip. It vents rashes and alleviates itching.

EXPLANATION:

Jing Jie belongs to the category Warm Acrid Herbs that Release the Exterior, and it has three major functions:

1. Releases the exterior (for both wind-cold and wind-heat)
2. Vents rashes and alleviates itching
3. Stops bleeding

Jing Jie is Japanese catnip (the word “nepeta” is latin for catnip).

Now I’m not entirely sure how Japanese catnip differs from regular catnip, but to remember Jing Jie’s functions, I just think of cats:

1. Cats tend to be hot and cold (personality-wise); so Jing Jie is good for both wind-heat and wind-cold
2. Cats like to scratch things, which can easily cause bleeding. Jing Jie stops bleeding.
3. Some people are allergic to cats, and they break out in an itchy rash. Jing Jie vents rashes and alleviates itching.

OTHER HERBS FOR ITCHING:

Rash is usually considered a heat condition, so there are other herbs from the Cool Acrid Herbs that Release the Exterior category that also have a reliable action of venting rashes.

Niu Bang Zi

One is Niu Bang Zi (arctii fructus), which is burdock seed. It both vents wind-heat outwards and drains heat toxicity internally.

Chan Tui

Another is Chan Tui (cicadae periostracum) or cicada molting.

You can think that Chan Tui is the skin of a cicada, so it’s good for the skin of your body.

Chan Tui also has an action of brightening the eyes; for red eyes, painful and swollen eyes, or blurry vision due to wind heat.

If you put these together, Chan Tui can be used to prevent chicken pox from going into the eyes.

I remember my Chinese teacher telling a story about the time his daughter got chicken pox. It was the weekend and the herb shops were closed, so he couldn’t use Chinese medicine. Several of his American friends suggested using oatmeal, but that didn’t work. Once the shops opened on Monday, he went and got Chan Tui, made a concentrated decoction, and added it to bathwater. That helped to alleviate itching.

So now I just think of bathing with cicadas to alleviate itching.

In fact, these herbs all come together in the formula Xiao Feng San (eliminate wind powder), which treats rash due to wind-heat or wind-dampness.

(It also has herbs like Cang Zhu, Ku Shen, and Mu Tong to deal with dampness.)

It can be taken internally or applied topically.

VENTING MEASLES:

Similar in action, we have some herbs that are used for venting early-stage measles: Sheng Ma (cimicifugae rhizoma) and Ge Gen (peurariae radix).

They come together to create the formulas Sheng Ma Ge Gen Tang (very original).

This is a children’s formula from the 1100s that focuses on venting heat outwards to treat incomplete expression of rashes.

However, when Ye Tian-Shi came along in the 1700s and invented Wen Bing theory, he advised against this. He believed that the macules and papules present in measles were a sign that heat had penetrated to the Ying and Xue levels. In this situation, it is inappropriate to vent the heat outwards using ascending medicinals like Sheng Ma and Ge Gen.

Personally, I’ve never actually treated measles, so I’m not going to take sides.

ACUPUNCTURE POINTS FOR RASH:

According to the Ling Shu, He-Sea points on the yang channels can be used for skin problems.

When the disease is at the yang within yang [skin], needle the He-Sea point of the yang channels.

However, this really only applies to LI-11 (Quchi) and BL-40 (Weizhong). These are the two most important points for treating skin disorders.

You can also probably throw in SP-10 (Xuehai). It’s more for cooling the blood, but it can also treat itching due to wind.

I hope you don’t think I was being too rash by discussing these herbs in this much detail. See you in the next one!

(Click the "Complete and Continue" button to go on to the next fact.)

Bensky, D. (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press. pp. 14-15, 50, 53

Scheid, V. (2009). Formulas & Strategies 2nd Edition. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press. pp. 42, 636-637