Ai Fu Nuan Gong Wan艾附暖宫丸
Mugwort and Cyperus Pill to Warm the Womb
Ingredients10 herbs
Indications
Cold and deficiency of the uterus with qi constraint and blood deficiency. The Chong and Ren vessels are not warm enough to hold and move blood properly, so the cycle is late, scanty and painful.
Clinical Manifestations
- Menstrual cramps that ease with a hot water bottle
- Late or irregular periods with dark scanty flow
- A cold lower abdomen with low back ache
- Thin white vaginal discharge
- Long-standing difficulty conceiving with a cold pattern
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Severe cramping pain — add Yan Hu Suo 延胡索 and Xiao Hui Xiang 小茴香
- Marked blood deficiency with dizziness — increase Shu Di Huang 熟地黄 and Dang Gui 当归
- Kidney yang deficiency with frequent night urination — add Bu Gu Zhi 补骨脂 or Ba Ji Tian 巴戟天
- Clots and fixed stabbing pain — add a blood-moving pair such as Shi Xiao San for the days of the period only
Contraindications
Not for menstrual patterns of blood heat — early, heavy, bright red periods with a red tongue — where the warming herbs will make the bleeding worse. Not for yin deficiency with night sweats and a dry mouth. Persistent pelvic pain or infertility needs a gynaecological diagnosis alongside any herbal treatment.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Not for use in pregnancy without a practitioner's direction. Ai Ye and Xiang Fu are used in some pregnancy formulas at controlled doses, but this combination also carries Wu Zhu Yu, Rou Gui and Chuan Xiong, which warm and move strongly and are unsuitable once pregnancy is established. If the formula was being taken to help conception, stop it as soon as pregnancy is confirmed and ask the prescribing practitioner what to do next. Dang Gui and Chuan Xiong add modestly to the effect of anticoagulant medication.
References
Source Ren Zhai Zhi Zhi Fang 《仁斋直指方》 · Southern Song
- Classical source (public domain) — 《仁斋直指方》, Southern Song, Yang Shi-ying.
2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — composition & dosage cross-checked.
3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）— listed as the 附方 appended to 温经汤.
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.