Wu Ling San五苓散
Five-Ingredient Powder with Poria
Ingredients5 herbs
Indications
Taiyang water amassment: an exterior pattern has moved inward to the Bladder and arrested its qi transformation, so fluid collects instead of circulating. The same strategy is applied more broadly to damp accumulation and thin-fluidpatterns wherever urination is scant.
Clinical Manifestations
- Scanty urination with thirst that drinking does not relieve
- Edema, puffiness and heavy limbs
- Watery diarrhea with reduced urine output
- Water vomited straight back up
- Dizziness with throbbing below the navel
- Fluid retained after an incompletely resolved exterior pattern
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Damp-heat jaundice — add Yin Chen 茵陈 — Yin Chen Wu Ling San
- Damp diarrhea with epigastric fullness — combine with Ping Wei San — Wei Ling Tang
- Exterior still unresolved, chills without sweating — keep Gui Zhi 桂枝 at full weight and follow the classical instruction to drink warm water and encourage a light sweat
- Interior cold with cold limbs — add warming herbs such as Gan Jiang 干姜, or substitute Rou Gui 肉桂 for Gui Zhi when there is no exterior left to release
- Burning painful urination of damp-heat — bland draining alone is not enough; pair with heat-clearing damp-draining herbs
Contraindications
Bland draining consumes fluids: not appropriate when urination is scanty because yin and fluids are already exhausted, and not for damp-heat patterns that need cold clearing. It is a short-course formula — prolonged use without reassessment is not intended.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
There is no classical prohibition against it in pregnancy, and mild fluid retention in pregnancy is among its traditional uses; but Gui Zhi is acrid and warm and the draining herbs move fluid, so in pregnancy it is taken only under practitioner supervision and never as self-care. Swelling in pregnancy can also signal a condition that needs medical assessment.
Related Formulas
References
Source Shang Han Lun 《伤寒论》 · Eastern Han
「若脉浮，小便不利，微热消渴者，五苓散主之。」
- 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.