Shenying Pill for Treating Lumbago

Shenying Pill comes from the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang. It consists of Weilingxian (Radix Clematidis), Danggui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis) and Rougui (Cortex Cinnamomi) in a 2:1:1 ratio (for self-preparation, use Weilingxian 100 g, Danggui 50 g, Rougui 50 g as one batch and commission the pharmacy to prepare it). Preparation: grind the three herbs into a fine powder and make pills with wine-cooked flour paste, the size of a parasol seed. Take 15-20 pills before meals with warm wine (cancer patients must not take with wine) or fennel decoction, 2-3 times daily; women may take with Cinnamon decoction. Do not drink tea while taking this formula; pregnant women should not take it.

This formula expels wind and scatters cold, activates blood and stops pain. It treats lumbago as if broken, with difficulty bending and turning, due to insufficient kidney channel with wind-cold attacking; or lumbago due to overstrain injuring the kidney, long lying in cold dampness, or falls and injuries.

This is a very simple formula for lumbago; among the many formulas for lumbago, it is one of the simplest. Such small formulas, with focused and refined medication, are often very effective, but the problems they solve are usually relatively limited.

The heavily used Weilingxian expels wind and dampness, unblocks the collaterals and stops pain; it is indicated for wind-damp impediment pain, limb numbness, tendon and vessel contracture, limited bending and stretching, beriberi swelling pain, and also treats phlegm-rheum accumulation. Weilingxian is also a specific TCM herb for gallstones; taking 60 g decocted alone can relieve gallstone pain. But it also induces labor, so pregnant women must not take herbs containing Weilingxian.

Weilingxian got its name from its instantaneous pain-relieving effect. Taking Weilingxian alone decocted or in pills also stops pain. But this formula assists Weilingxian with blood-activating channel-unblocking Danggui and meridian-warming cold-scattering Rougui, giving better analgesia than Weilingxian alone. Danggui activates blood and stops pain; Rougui moves qi and stops pain. Chronic lumbago mostly involves cold, stasis and dampness; using Weilingxian, Danggui and Rougui together treats both branch and root.

This formula can treat lumbago caused by lumbar disc herniation, lumbar muscle strain, and excessive epidural fat; it can also relieve lumbago from bone metastases of cancer, and has a relieving effect on lumbago due to urethral stricture.