Skip to content
Cura x Cura

Jiang Huang姜黄

Curcumae Longae Rhizoma · Turmeric Rhizome · Turmeric

Herbs that Invigorate the Blood 活血化瘀药《新修本草》

Overview

The rhizome of turmeric, acrid and bitter with a warm, penetrating quality: it breaks up blood stasis and moves qi at the same time, so pain that is both fixed and distending is its natural target. Practitioners reach for it in particular when stasis has settled in the shoulder and arm, and it is also ground and applied externally to bruises and swellings.

Nature & Flavor

Acrid, bitter · Warm

Channels

Liver · Spleen

Typical Dosage

3–10 g in decoction
姜黄Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

3 core actions

  • Breaks up blood stasis, moves qiStabbing chest and flank pain, amenorrhea and postpartum abdominal pain where stasis and qi stagnation are tangled together.
  • Frees the channels, stops painWind-damp painful obstruction, above all of the shoulder and arm — the reach into the upper limb is what separates it from Yu Jin 郁金, the cold, descending tuber of the same plant.
  • Reduces traumatic swellingPowdered and applied to bruising, sprains and inflamed sores.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Jiang Huang

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Fixed stabbing pain in the chest and flanks from blood stasis
    - Shoulder and arm pain of wind-damp obstruction
    - Amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea and postpartum stasis pain
    - Bruising, sprain and swelling (external application)

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

Frozen shoulderOsteoarthritisDysmenorrheaContusion

Contraindications

Cautions

Strongly blood-moving: avoid where there is active bleeding, and use caution alongside anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication such as warfarin — tell the prescribing physician. Not appropriate for blood deficiency without stasis, and its warm dryness can aggravate yin deficiency with heat.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: Contraindicated in pregnancy — it breaks up blood stasis and may stimulate the uterus.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Xin Xiu Ben Cao《新修本草》(classical source, public domain).
    2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    3. 《中华人民共和国药典》.

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.