Lu Rong鹿茸
Cervi, Cornu Pantotrichum · Velvet Deer Antler
Overview
The young antler of the sika or red deer, taken while it is still soft and velvet-covered and before it calcifies — the strongest yang-and-essence tonic in the materia medica. Sweet, salty and warm, it fills Kidney yang and Kidney essence at the same time, which is why it is kept for the deepest cold-deficiency pictures: an icy, powerless lower back, impotence and infertility, and in children delayed growth and late closure of the fontanel. It is powdered and taken with water or made into pills — decocting wastes it — and it is started very small and raised slowly.
Nature & Flavor
Sweet, salty · WarmChannels
Kidney · LiverTypical Dosage
1–2 gActions
4 core actions
- Tonifies Kidney yang, fills essence and bloodDeep yang deficiency: cold limbs, an icy aching lower back and knees, impotence, absent libido, infertility, copious clear urination, exhaustion that rest does not touch.
- Strengthens sinew and boneWeak legs that will not carry weight; in children, late walking, late teeth and late closure of the fontanel.
- Regulates the Penetrating and Conception vesselsUterine bleeding and thin, cold, copious vaginal discharge arising from deficiency cold rather than heat.
- Supports sores that will not healChronic yin-type sores in a depleted patient — flat, pale, cold and slow to close.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Lu Rong
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Kidney-yang deficiency with cold limbs and an icy, weak lower back
- Impotence, low libido and infertility of deficiency cold
- Delayed growth and development in children
- Uterine bleeding and thin cold discharge from deficiency cold
- Chronic non-healing yin-type sores
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
The most heating tonic in ordinary use and the easiest to overdo. Start at the low end and build slowly: taken too fast or too high it brings on headache, red eyes, nosebleed, restlessness, a racing heart and a rise in blood pressure — all reasons to stop and reduce. It is wrong for anyone with yin deficiency and heat signs, an active fever or infection, a phlegm-heat cough, or Liver-yang rising with raised blood pressure. Keep to 2 g a day at the very most, and only on a practitioner's direction. It is animal-derived and unacceptable to patients avoiding animal products, who should say so before dispensing. Note also that deer antler velvet appears on anti-doping prohibited lists, which matters for anyone in competitive sport. Our dispensary data flags no toxicity and no allergy risk, but the narrow dose window makes supervision essential.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Not used in pregnancy without practitioner supervision — a tonic this warming is rarely appropriate then
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》 (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.