Sang Piao Xiao San桑螵蛸散
Mantis Egg-Case Powder
Ingredients8 herbs
Indications
Heart and Kidney both depleted, with water and fire no longer meeting. The Kidney cannot hold urine or essence and the Heart is left unhoused, so restraint below and quieting above belong in the same prescription.
Clinical Manifestations
- Frequent urination, pale cloudy urine
- Bedwetting in children and in the elderly
- Incontinence or dribbling after illness
- Nocturnal emission with fatigue
- Distractedness and forgetfulness alongside the above
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Marked Kidney yang deficiency with cold limbs — add Bu Gu Zhi 补骨脂 and Yi Zhi Ren 益智仁
- Childhood bedwetting — add Fu Pen Zi 覆盆子 and Jin Ying Zi 金樱子
- Nocturnal emission predominant — add Qian Shi 芡实 and Mu Li 牡蛎
- Palpitations and insomnia to the fore — add Suan Zao Ren 酸枣仁 and Bai Zi Ren 柏子仁
Contraindications
Not for frequency or urgency from damp-heat in the lower burner — scanty dark urine that burns, with a yellow greasy coating, needs clearing rather than astringing, and securing an unresolved pathogen in place makes it worse.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Not a routine pregnancy formula. It contains Gui Ban and Long Gu — a shell and a mineral conventionally avoided in pregnancy — and urinary frequency during pregnancy usually has a different cause, so it should only be considered under a practitioner's supervision after proper assessment.
Related Formulas
References
Source Ben Cao Yan Yi 《本草衍义》 · Northern Song
「安神魂，定心志，治健忘，小便数，补心气。」
- Classical source (public domain), cited in the source-quote section.
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）— pattern analysis cross-checked.
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.