DIY Herbal Plaster - Ru Yi Jin Huang San

Indications: Useful for red, hot swellings that have not come to an head. They often will be painful (burning) and itch. For example, it is useful for carbuncles, boils, insect bites,  poison oak/ivy, burns, herpes zoster, etc. (see complete list below).

Actions: Clears heat, resolves toxins, dispels dampness, transforms phlegm, eliminates blood stasis, and reduces swelling.

Ingredients of powdered formula (vacuum sealed):

Trichosanthis Radix (tian hua fen), Phellodendri Cortex (huang bai), Rhei Radix et Rhizoma (da huang), Curcumae longae Rhizoma (jiang huang), Angelicae dahuricae Radix (bai zhi), Magnoliae officinalis Cortex (hou po), Citri reticulatae Pericarpium (chen pi), Atractylodis Rhizoma (cang zhu), Arisaematis Rhizoma preparatum (zhi tian nan xing), and Glycyrrhizae Radix (gan cao).

 

Preparation tips: This formula is usually made into a paste or plaster using tea water, honey, fresh juice from Chrysanthemi indici Flos (ye ju hua), sesame oil, wine, petroleum jelly, etc.

• For hot swellings best with green tea and/or a tea from Chrysanthemi indici Flos (ye ju hua).
• Tea made from Chinese scallions can be used to make a paste for encouraging the outthrusting of pus.
• Yellow wine to soften carbuncles and expel pus
• Mix with black vinegar if infection is deeper.
• Sesame oil can be used for burns or lacquer sores or daubed on herpes sores

* If powder dries on skin one should spray a bit of warm water to rehydrate it.
* Depending on the type of condition it is recommended to to cover the head of the sore (e.g. as for boils) so as to help facilitate eruption.

Please see second picture (to the right). This is the back of the bag where there are instructions and a place for practitioners to write in additional notes.

Conditions to consider Jin Huang San for:

• Early stage boils or summer boils, presenting as red swelling, itching, burning pain, and a short root.
• Abscesses
• Contact dermatitis
• Herpes Zoster
• Trauma (such as sprains) 
• Deep-set toxic sores
• Furunculosis (multiple boils occurring at the same time or with repeated occurrences), which often occur on the neck, back, and hip.
• Furuncles
• Carbuncles
• Acute Phelgmon (especially with edema)
• Acute lymphangitis
• Acute lymphnoditis
• Acute pyogenic parotitis
• Acute mastitis
• Epididymitis
• Cold injury (e.g. with red-swelling, burning pain)
• Chronic ulcers (early stage with red-swelling, burning pain, or with fluid flowing out and itching.)
• Cyst of the sebaceous glands
• Folliculitis
• Swellings from trauma
• Erisipelas