Yu Zhen San玉真散
True Jade Powder
Ingredients6 herbs
Indications
Wind toxin entering through a break in the skinand travelling into the sinews, where it combines with phlegm to lock and rigidify them. The pattern is a tetanic one — spasm without loss of the pattern's excess character.
Clinical Manifestations
- Historical use for wound-induced tetanyas supportive care
- Clenched jaw and pursed lips after a wound
- Rigid body with arching of the back
- Muscle spasm and stiffness following a puncture wound
- Traditional adjunct after an animal bite, alongside emergency prophylaxis
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Any suspected tetanus or rabies exposure — the modification that matters is emergency medical treatment first — immunoglobulin, vaccination, wound care and intensive support; herbal treatment is adjunctive only
- Marked heat with a red tongue and high fever — the acrid warm drying herbs alone are unsuitable; heat-clearing and wind-extinguishing herbs are combined in
- Severe convulsion — Quan Xie 全蝎 and Wu Gong 蜈蚣 — the Zhi Jing San pair — are added, within their dose ceilings
- The patient is depleted, with a weak pulse — qi and blood support is given alongside; six dispersing herbs will exhaust a weak patient further
Contraindications
This formula must never delay emergency treatment for a wound infection, tetanus or an animal bite — those are medical emergencies with time-critical treatments. Contraindicated in pregnancy and while breastfeeding: Tian Nan Xing and Bai Fu Zi are toxic and are classical pregnancy prohibitions. Not for convulsion arising from internal wind of yin or blood deficiency, where drying acrid herbs deepen the depletion. Not to be taken with alcohol despite the classical instruction. Raw and Bai Fu Zi are for external use only; internal use is with the processed forms and within their dose ranges. Stop and seek care immediately for numbness or burning of the mouth and throat, drooling, nausea, dizziness or difficulty breathing.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Contraindicated in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. Tian Nan Xing and Bai Fu Zi are toxic and appear among the classical pregnancy prohibitions, and the remaining herbs are strongly acrid and dispersing. A wound, a bite or muscle spasm in a pregnant patient is handled as an emergency by the obstetric and emergency teams — tetanus vaccination in pregnancy is standard care and is not something to be replaced by a herbal powder.
References
Source Wai Ke Zheng Zong 《外科正宗》 · Ming
「治破伤风，牙关紧急，角弓反张，及疯犬咬伤。」
- 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.
4. Pharmacopoeial monographs on 制天南星 and 制白附子 — processing requirement, external-only status of the raw drugs, dose ranges.
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.