Ge Qiao (Clam Shell) in TCM

Name

Ge Qiao (Concha Meretricis seu Cyclinae), recorded in the Shennong Bencao Jing.

Source and quality

Plant

The shell of the clam Meretrix meretrix Linnaeus or Cyclina sinensis Gmelin, family Veneridae.

Where it is grown

Coastal areas.

Harvest

Collected in summer and autumn.

Smell and taste

Faint smell and taste.

Better grade

Smooth texture with a clean surface.

Processing

Used unprocessed, smashed, or refined with water, or calcined.

Nature and action

Salty and cold; enters the lung and stomach channels. Clears the lung and resolves phlegm, softens hardness and dissipates nodules.

When it is used

Cough from phlegm-heat

Ge Qiao clears lung heat and resolves sticky phlegm. Where phlegm-heat accumulates in the lung, with cough, wheezing, fullness of the chest, and yellow, sticky sputum, it is often combined with herbs that clear the lung and resolve phlegm, together with antitussives and antasthmatics, such as Sang Bai Pi, Pi Pa Ye and Xing Ren in Ning Sou Gao from Zhong Guo Yao Wu Da Quan.

For pain in the chest and hypochondria and blood-flecked sputum, where exuberant liver fire with phlegm-heat scorches and damages the lung collaterals, it is combined with Qing Dai in Dai Ge San from Wei Sheng Hong Bao to clear liver fire, resolve phlegm-heat, stop bleeding and calm the collaterals.

Goiter and scrofula

It not only clears heat and resolves phlegm but also softens hardness and dissipates nodules. For goiter and scrofula from congealing of phlegm-fire it is often combined with other herbs that remove phlegm, soften hardness and dissipate nodules, such as Hai Zao, Kun Bu and Wa Ling Zi in Han Hua Wan from Zheng Zhi Zhun Sheng.

In long illness with a weakened body it is combined with tonics, treating both the excess and supporting the deficiency, as with Ren Shen and Hai Zao in Hai Ge San from Sheng Ji Zong Lu.

Separately, because it restrains acidity and relieves pain, it is used for stomachache with acid regurgitation.

Dose

Decoction 10~15 g; when powdered for use, wrap the packet. Grind into powder and use externally as appropriate. Used raw it is better at clearing heat and resolving phlegm; calcined it is better at restraining acidity and astringing.