Zhi Jing San止痉散
Stop Spasms Powder
Ingredients2 herbs
Indications
Internal wind stirring with convulsion, and wind-stasis obstruction of the collaterals producing pain that has become fixed and stubborn. The pattern is one of force, not deficiency — a depleted patient needs a supporting formula alongside.
Clinical Manifestations
- Convulsion and twitching of the limbs from wind
- Chronic, obstinate headache unrelieved by ordinary treatment
- One-sided facial pain of the shooting, electric type
- Entrenched joint or limb pain in long-standing painful obstruction
- Persistent facial twitching or spasm
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Convulsion with high fever — this is heat generating wind and is treated with the cool wind-extinguishing formulas of the second half of the chapter, with emergency care first
- Convulsion in a depleted patient with a thin, weak pulse — yin- and blood-nourishing formulas are the base, with this pair added only as a small adjunct
- Headache with clear blood stasis — fixed, stabbing, worse at night — blood-invigorating herbs such as Chuan Xiong 川芎 and Dan Shen 丹参 are combined in; anticoagulant use must be weighed by the prescriber
- Painful obstruction with cold signs — warming channel herbs are added, but not aconite alongside insect toxins without a practitioner's close supervision
Contraindications
Contraindicated in pregnancy and while breastfeeding — both herbs are toxic and both are classical pregnancy prohibitions. Not for convulsion from blood or yin deficiency without a nourishing base, and not for a weak, depleted patient given alone. Not for anyone with a known allergy to insect medicinals; rash, itching, swelling or breathlessness after a dose means stopping immediately. The dose ceiling is not a formality — overdose of scorpion or centipede can cause numbness, vomiting, palpitations, collapse and respiratory depression. Seizures are treated as an emergency: a first-ever seizure, one lasting over five minutes, or repeated seizures without full recovery between them requires an ambulance, not a powder.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Contraindicated in pregnancy. Quan Xie and Wu Gong are both toxic and both appear on the classical list of substances prohibited in pregnancy; Wu Gong in particular is regarded as capable of causing miscarriage. It is not taken while breastfeeding either. Convulsions in pregnancy may signal eclampsia and are an obstetric emergency.
Related Formulas
References
Source 《流行性乙型脑炎中医治疗法》
- An empirical modern formula; no reliable classical source is claimed here.
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 an appended formula to 牵正散.
4. Pharmacopoeial monographs on 全蝎 Scorpio and 蜈蚣 Scolopendra — toxicity and dose ceilings.
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.