Health Concerns Formula H 90c

Hemorrhoids are a common affliction caused by a variety of factors. Biomedically, these include pregnancy, constipation, and straining during bowel movements. Individuals in professions that involve sitting for prolonged periods are also prone to hemorrhoids. In Chinese medicine, the presenting pattern is one of damp-heat sinking. Thus, the primary goal of this formula is to clear damp-heat.

The chief herb is pulsatilla (bai tou weng), which clears heat and relieves fire toxicity. Because bleeding is a common symptom of hemorrhoids, the herbs sanguisorba (di yu) and sophora (huai hua mi) are added to arrest bleeding. The latter herb is an especially important one for treating bleeding hemorrhoids because its actions are primarily directed at damp-heat patterns of the large intestine. Other herbs in this formula that address heat and damp-heat include rehmannia (sheng di huang), fraxinus (qin pi), phellodendron (huang bai), and lonicera (jin yin hua). Modern research has found that fraxinus has a strong anti-inflammatory effect.

Since heat consumes yin, and in cases of bleeding, there is a relative insufficiency of yin, it is necessary to nourish yin in order to effectively resolve such conditions as hemorrhoids. Thus, in this formula, herbs such as white peony (bai shao) and tang kuei (dang gui) are added.