Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan: A Chinese Patent Pill for Many Skin Diseases

This summer and autumn, because of the heavy rain, many people developed common skin diseases such as eczema. Just after summer vacation began, my son went to military training and, because he sweated too much, developed eczema. Not long ago, my mother-in-law back in my hometown also developed skin eczema. I gave both of them Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan (Skin Disease Blood-Toxin Pills), with very good results: both were basically cured after only two doses.

In 2017 I traveled to Japan; a woman in my tour group had a son with years-long eczema who had taken many medicines without effect. I suggested she give her son Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan; after finishing one bottle, his years-long eczema was also cured.

This medicine was first taught to me by an elderly Western-medicine doctor I treated. She had lymphoma and came to me for prescriptions; whenever we were together she always taught me something, and once she recommended Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan, saying she often used it clinically for common skin diseases.

Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan was originally a folk secret formula. In the early years of the People's Republic, the state called on folk doctors to contribute their secret formulas, and this formula was contributed in that context. Because of its good clinical efficacy, the prescription for Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan was included in the PRC Drug Standards: Chinese Patent Medicine Formulations published by our health authorities. At present, the Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan sold by various manufacturers on the market are all made to this standard formula; most pharmacies in the north sell the one produced by Beijing Tongrentang.

This formula is very complex, composed of 39 herbs: Qian Cao (Madder) 30 g, Tao Ren (Peach Kernel) 30 g, Jing Jie Sui (Schizonepeta Spike, charcoal) 30 g, She Tui (Snake Slough, wine-fried) 15 g, Chi Shao (Red Peony) 30 g, Dang Gui (Angelica) 30 g, Bai Mao Gen (Imperata Root) 60 g, Di Fu Zi (Kochia Fruit) 30 g, Cang Er Zi (Xanthium, fried) 30 g, Di Huang (Rehmannia) 30 g, Lian Qiao (Forsythia) 30 g, Jin Yin Hua (Honeysuckle) 30 g, Ku Di Jin (Corydalis Bungeana) 30 g, Tu Fu Ling (Glabrous Greenbrier) 30, Huang Bai (Phellodendron) 30 g, Zao Jiao Ci (Gleditsia Thorn) 30 g, Jie Geng (Platycodon) 30 g, Yi Mu Cao (Motherwort) 30 g, Ku Xing Ren (Bitter Apricot Kernel, peeled and fried) 30 g, Fang Feng (Saposhnikovia) 15 g, Chi Fu Ling (Red Poria) 60 g, Bai Shao (White Peony) 30 g, Chan Tui (Cicada Slough) 15 g, Niu Bang Zi (Burdock, fried) 30 g, Mu Dan Pi (Moutan Bark) 30 g, Bai Xian Pi (Dictamnus Bark) 30 g, Shu Di Huang (Processed Rehmannia) 30 g, Da Huang (Rhubarb, wine-fried) 30 g, Ren Dong Teng (Honeysuckle Stem) 30 g, Zi Cao (Lithospermum) 15 g, Tu Bei Mu (Paniculate Bolbostemma) 30 g, Chuan Xiong (Sichuan Lovage, wine-fried) 15 g, Gan Cao (Licorice) 30 g, Bai Zhi (Angelica Dahurica) 15 g, Tian Kui Zi (Semiquile) 30 g, Zi Jing Pi (Redbud Bark) 15 g, Ji Xue Teng (Spatholobus) 30 g, Fu Ping (Duckweed) 15 g, and Hong Hua (Safflower) 15 g.

It is said that when this formula was first published, many people thought it ordinary, and some TCM physicians criticized it as too complex, holding that whoever created it did not understand TCM. But the formula's clinical efficacy soon left everyone speechless.

The main action of this formula is to clear blood and resolve toxin, reduce swelling and stop itching. It can be used for wind rash, eczema, skin itching, freckles and acne, a red face and rosacea, sores and toxic swellings, athlete's foot and scabies/tinea, dizziness, dry constipation, and scanty dark urine, caused by disharmony of the channels and collaterals and by damp-heat and blood dryness.

Modern pharmacological experiments confirm that Pi Fu Bing Xue Du Wan has a strong killing ability against the pathogenic microorganisms that cause human skin inflammation, so it can repair and treat infectious skin diseases. It stops itching rapidly and has marked efficacy against the skin pruritus caused by many skin diseases. It even has a notable therapeutic effect on psoriasis (leprosy cutis/niupi xuan), delaying the keratinization of epidermal cells at the lesion and the formation of scales.

Although many people explain the formula-composition principle of this pill using TCM theory, based on my own experience exploring anticancer formulas, this kind of large prescription could only have been worked out by the original researcher continually adding and subtracting in clinical practice; it simply cannot be rationally explained by traditional TCM theory.

This formula has a mild purgative effect, so it is especially suitable for skin-disease patients who also have constipation; but patients with loose stools may experience diarrhea as a side effect after taking it, and pregnant women should use it cautiously.