Guan Xin Su He Wan冠心苏合丸
Coronary Liquid Styrax Pill
Ingredients5 herbs
Indications
Chest bifrom cold congealing and qi stagnating in the heart vessels. Cold contracts, qi fails to move, and the chest becomes oppressed and painful — a pattern that worsens in cold weather and with emotional strain.
Clinical Manifestations
- Chest oppression with pain over the heart
- Angina-type pain brought on by cold or emotion
- Tightness in the chest with cold hands and feet
- Chest pain radiating to the back or shoulder
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Loss of consciousness with a clenched jaw — this formula is not built for that; the parent Su He Xiang Wan is the cold-closure formula, and heat closure calls for the cool-opening group
- Fixed stabbing pain with blood stasis signs — blood-invigorating herbs are added in an accompanying prescription; caution applies for anyone on anticoagulants such as warfarin
- The pain is burning, with a red tongue and rapid pulse — this is a heat pattern and the warm aromatics here are wrong for it
Contraindications
Not for heat patterns, yin deficiency with heat signs, or chest pain with a red tongue and rapid pulse — the formula is warm and dispersing. Not for collapse patterns. The aromatics are penetrating and are avoided in prolonged use; it is intended for episodes, not as a daily preventive. Ru Xiang moves blood, so caution applies with anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication. Most importantly, this formula does not treat coronary disease: chest pain that is new, more frequent, more severe, longer-lasting, or occurring at rest requires immediate emergency medical assessment, and using a herbal pill to delay that is dangerous.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Use in pregnancy is not advised. Ru Xiang invigorates the blood and is traditionally avoided while pregnant, and Bing Pian with Su He Xiang are strongly penetrating aromatics of the class avoided in pregnancy. It carries no cinnabar or musk, so it is less dangerous than the rest of this chapter, but chest pain in pregnancy is in any case a presentation for medical assessment rather than self-treatment. Avoid while breastfeeding unless a practitioner directs otherwise.
Related Formulas
References
Source 《中国药典》
- 《中华人民共和国药典》 (Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China) — composition of the modern preparation.
2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — listed as an associated formula of 苏合香丸.
3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）— appended formula (附方) to 苏合香丸.
4. Regulatory withdrawal of aristolochic-acid-containing 青木香 and its replacement by 土木香.
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.