Lianhan Pills for Treating Unstoppable Sweating
The Huoren Xintong contains a formula called "Lianhan Pills" (Sweat-Constricting Pills), composed as follows: Huangqi (Radix Astragali) 1 liang (30 g), Duan Muli (calcined Concha Ostreae) powder 1 liang (30 g), Rougui (Cortex Cinnamomi) 5 qian (15 g), Zhimu (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae) 1 liang (30 g, fried), Renshen (Radix Ginseng) 5 qian (15 g), Baizhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae) 1 liang (30 g), Qianshi (Semen Euryales) 100 pieces.
Pound the above into a powder, form pills with refined honey the size of a parasol-tree seed (patients making their own pills may use a pill-rolling board about 6 mm in diameter). Take 70 pills each time, washed down with an appropriate decoction of Fuxiaomai (Fructus Tritici Levis, light wheat), twice daily. This formula boosts qi and secures the exterior, and astringes yin to stop sweating. It is indicated for profuse spontaneous sweating or constant cold sweating.
This formula can be used to treat hyperhidrosis. The cause of hyperhidrosis is unclear; because of excessive sweating, the patient's quality of life is affected. Neither Chinese nor Western medicine currently has a clearly established treatment for hyperhidrosis, but since ancient times physicians have explored symptomatic approaches, and this formula is one of them.
The Huangqi and Baizhu used here also appear in another hyperhidrosis formula, Yupingfeng Powder; these two herbs fortify the spleen and boost qi. TCM holds that fortifying the spleen secures the exterior and drains dampness, so spleen-fortifying, qi-boosting herbs are used to treat sweating. TCM holds that profuse spontaneous sweating belongs to floating yang escaping outward. Zhimu and Rougui, one cold and one hot: Rougui warms kidney yang and conducts fire back to its source; Zhimu nourishes kidney yin and subdues the "thunder-dragon fire"; together they nourish yin and subdue yang, and stem the source of sweating. Renshen and Qianshi assist Huangqi and Baizhu in fortifying the spleen; Muli and Fuxiaomai are specific herbs for astringing sweat. Used together, these herbs stop sweating from multiple angles.