Soufeng Pill for Stroke Sequelae
Soufeng Wan (Wind-Searching Pill) comes from the Ming-dynasty Confucian physician Wu Min's Fushou Jingfang (Essential Longevity Formulas). Its composition: gastrodia tuber (tianma) 96g, scrophularia root (xuanshen) 93g, Dioscorea hypoglauca (bixie, ground into powder) 93g, Eucommia bark (duzhong, wine-fried to remove the threads) 105g, prepared aconite (fuzi, soaked in salt water, peeled) 15g, notopterygium root (qianghuo) 21g, Achyranthes (niuxi) and angelica pubescens (duhuo, wine-washed) each 99g, Chinese angelica (danggui, wine-washed) 15g, rehmannia root (shengdihuang, soaked in wine for one day and one night, mashed into a paste) 30g. All above doses have been converted into modern grams.
To prepare, grind the herbs together into a fine powder, refine with honey into pills the size of a parasol-tree seed (about 6mm in diameter). Take 80–100 pills each time with warm wine on an empty stomach, twice daily. TCM holds that this formula nourishes the liver and extinguishes wind, warms the channels and unblocks the network vessels. It is indicated for deviation of the mouth and eye, and left or right paralysis. By symptoms, this is stroke sequelae in modern medicine—a common aftereffect of stroke.
In this formula, gastrodia is both a food and a medicine; it lowers blood pressure and repairs cranial nerve injury. Traditional TCM holds that it pacifies liver yang, extinguishes wind, and unblocks the collaterals, and treats liver wind internal movement, convulsions and epilepsy, vertigo, headache, limb numbness, and hemiplegia, as well as rheumatic impediment pain. Scrophularia and rehmannia clear heat and cool blood; Dioscorea hypoglauca dispels dampness and promotes urination; Eucommia and Achyranthes supplement the liver and kidney and strengthen sinew and bone; aconite warms yang and frees the channels; notopterygium, angelica pubescens, and Chinese angelica all invigorate blood and unblock the vessels. Together, the herbs give some relief from the thrombotic problems and cranial nerve injury common in stroke sequelae, so long-term use treats these aftereffects of stroke.
The formula is made into a pill rather than a decoction because stroke sequelae are stubborn, difficult-to-treat conditions requiring long-term medication for satisfactory results; pills are more convenient and have fewer side effects. The earlier one starts after a stroke, the better; results are most ideal within half a year of the stroke. If supported by acupuncture, rehabilitative exercise, and calisthenics designed for stroke survivors, recovery is faster.