Hai Piao Xiao: Chinese Herb Guide

Name

Hai Piao Xiao (Os Sepiae), from Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nong's Herbal)

Source and quality

The internal shell of the animal Sepiella maindroni de Rochebrune or Sepia esculenta Hoyle of the family Sepiidae. It is produced in coastal regions such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Liaoning provinces. The internal shell is collected, cleaned and dried.

It is used unprocessed.

Nature and action

Salty, astringent and slightly warm. It enters the kidney and liver meridians.

It secures essence and stops leukorrhagia, astringes to stop bleeding, restrains acidity and alleviates pain. Used externally, it dries dampness and cures sores and ulcers.

Indications

Seminal emission and leukorrhagia

It secures essence and stops leukorrhagia, and it is especially good at astringing leukorrhea.

• For leukorrhagia due to kidney deficiency with insecurity of the Dai Mai, it is combined with herbs that tonify the kidney and astringe, such as Shan Yao, Qian Shi and Lu Jiao Shuang.
• For vaginal discharge, it is combined with other herbs that stop leukorrhagia, such as Qian Shi and Bai Zhi.
• For seminal emission and spermatorrhea due to insecurity of the kidney, it is combined with herbs that tonify the kidney and secure essence, such as Shan Zhu Yu, Tu Si Zi and Sha Yuan Zi.

Hemorrhage syndromes

It astringes to stop bleeding and is applied to many kinds of bleeding.

• For metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, it is combined with herbs that stop bleeding, such as Qian Cao, Zong Lv Tan and Wu Bei Zi in Gu Chong Tang from Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu.
• For hematemesis and hematochezia, it may be smashed into a powder together with Bai Ji in a ratio of 1:1.
• For bloody stranguria, it may be smashed into a powder and taken with the juice of Sheng Di Huang.

Stomachache and acid regurgitation

It is a good herb for stomachache and acid regurgitation because it restrains acidity and alleviates pain. It is combined with Zhe Bei Mu, as in Wu Bei San, or with herbs that strengthen its ability to restrain acidity and relieve pain, such as Yan Hu Suo, Bie Jia and Wu Bei Zi.

Eczema, and sores and ulcers that will not heal

Used externally, it dries dampness and cures sores and ulcers.

• For eczema, it may be smashed into a powder for external use, combined with herbs such as Huang Bai, Qing Dai and calcined Shi Gao.
• For sores and ulcers that will not heal and produce a lot of pus, it may be smashed into a powder for external use on its own, or combined with calcined Shi Gao, Ku Fan and Bing Pian.

Dosage and administration

Decoct 6~20 g. As a powder, 0.5~1 g per dose. A proper dose is used for external application.