Danggui Niantong Tang has the effects of diuresis, clearing heat, dispersing wind, and relieving pain. Indicating dampness heat pulse, external wind evil syndrome. Pain and discomfort in all limbs, heavy shoulders and back, swollen and painful athlete's foot, sores on the knees and feet, white and greasy yellowish tongue coating, and numerous pulse strings. Commonly used in clinical practice for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis belongs to the category of damp heat accumulation and rheumatic surface syndrome.

Volume 2 of "Medical Origins": "Treating dampness and heat as a disease, limb pain, heavy shoulders and back, unfavorable chest and diaphragm, body soreness and pain, placing an injection on the tibia, unbearable swelling and pain."
Before telling today's recipe, let's first tell a small story.
In ancient times, there was a southerner who first came to the north as an official. Because he was not accustomed to the cold climate in the north, he had to drink some wine every day to ward off the cold, and gradually developed a habit.
After a year and a half, suddenly one day his feet began to swell and the pain was unbearable. It was okay during the day, especially at night, and it was so painful that he couldn't fall asleep. So, he quickly sent someone to invite Li Dongyuan, the most famous figure in the capital at that time. Li Dongyuan looked at him and found that he was wide and fat. After a detailed examination, he concluded that he was suffering from "beriberi" due to drinking too much alcohol.
Note that the athlete's foot here is not the type of fungal infection, but a disease mainly characterized by joint swelling and pain, similar to what we now call gout.
This disease may seem to be on the feet, but it is actually on the spleen and stomach. What is the relationship between foot problems and spleen and stomach? Originally, the spleen was responsible for transportation and transformation, and had the function of transporting water and dampness. Under the action of the spleen, a portion of the water in the body needs to be transformed into fluid, which is transported upwards to the heart, lungs, and even the whole body; The other part is metabolized and excreted downwards through the bladder.
If the spleen is deficient, its ability to move and transform water will decrease, gradually leading to dampness. If dampness accumulates for a long time, it will turn into heat. When dampness and heat combine, they become damp and hot, with a heavy and turbid nature. Dampness and heat are the things that prefer to move downwards, which is like a tank of mud. After stirring it up, after a period of time, those turbid things will sink down.
Where is the easiest place for dampness and heat to accumulate in the body? Of course, it's the joints. These areas with thin skin and less flesh are the easiest to accumulate dirt and grime. So for those who suffer from gout, you can go see that each joint is red, swollen, hot, and painful, but in fact, it is full of dampness and heat evil inside.
In the Inner Canon, it is also said that the transformation of sorghum gave birth to a large number of offspring. It can be seen that gout is closely related to the spleen and stomach, as well as eating. In this regard, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine coincide. Western medicine believes that a high purine and high uric acid diet, such as seafood, alcohol, meat, etc., is the culprit of high incidence of gout. Therefore, in order to completely cure gout, efforts must be made in the mouth.
Understanding this point, let's go back to the story. The person was already obese, which means that his diet had already harmed the function of the spleen and stomach. In addition, drinking a lot of alcohol is the most likely thing to cause dampness. Dampness evil trapped the spleen, making the spleen and stomach unable to lift their spirits, leading to a vicious cycle where dampness added to dampness.
After understanding his condition, Li Dongyuan prescribed a prescription for him, and the person only drank two doses, and the disease was mostly cured.
What prescription did you prescribe? Danggui Niantong Tang.
twoAlthough Danggui Niantong Tang is not Li Dongyuan's prescription, it has some connection with Li Dongyuan. This prescription was created by the famous physician Zhang Yuanyuan of the Jin Dynasty, who happened to be Li Dongyuan's master.
Qianghuo 15g, licorice 15g, Yinchen 15g, Fangfeng 9g, Atractylodes macrocephala 9g, Angelica sinensis 9g, Zhimu 9g, Zhuling 9g, Zexie 9g, Cima 3g, Atractylodes macrocephala 3g, Scutellaria baicalensis 3g, Pueraria lobata 6g, Ginseng 6g, and Sophora flavescens 6g.
Danggui Niantong Tang, as the name suggests, relieves pain like taking it from hand to hand. Isn't the pain the most unbearable thing about gout? This kind of pain, as described by ancient people, is like a tiger tearing and biting its joints, so gout is also known as the White Tiger Festival.
The most important medicine in the formula is Qianghuo, which is a wind medicine and a fierce general in wind medicine. What is the effect of wind medicine? Wind energy surpasses dampness. For example, when you hang a damp piece of clothing indoors, it dries slowly, but when you hang it outdoors in a well ventilated area, does the wind quickly become light and floating? Similarly, wind medicine can blow dry the water in the body.
Fangfeng, Cimicifuga, and Kudzu root are three medicines that can relieve external heat. Removing external heat means opening pores, making you sweat, and taking out moisture from your body through sweating.
Poria cocos and Alisma orientalis are diuretic and can allow water to flow away from the urine. These two medicines have basically no taste, and the boiled water is also light. However, after drinking them, they can gradually dilute some of the cloudy things in your body. You will find that the frequency of urination becomes more and more frequent. As the cloudy urine becomes clearer and clearer, the body also becomes clearer. This is the effect of Poria cocos and Alisma orientalis on reducing diuresis.
Scutellaria baicalensis, Sophora flavescens, and Artemisia scoparia are all bitter cold medicines with unparalleled abilities in clearing heat and purging fire.
After driving away the evil energy, we also need to use some cicadas to nourish yin. On the one hand, excessive heat damages yin. Look at the scorching sun in summer, not only will the land dry up and crack, but people will also feel thirsty and thirsty; Secondly, bitterness and dryness can also harm yin, which means that when using medicine, one must consider balance. If there are too many bitter and cold medicines in a prescription, add some warm tonifying medicine to make the cold and heat balance; There are too many medicines for warming and tonifying, so add some clearing medicine to make the tonifying and relieving balance, so as to maximize the effect.
Atractylodes macrocephala and Atractylodes macrocephala are two brothers and commonly used medicines in traditional Chinese medicine to treat spleen and stomach diseases. The difference is that Atractylodes macrocephala has a mild nature, while Atractylodes macrocephala has a dry and intense nature. When used together, the power of strengthening the spleen becomes even stronger. If the medicine above is responsible for draining the generated moisture, then Atractylodes macrocephala and Atractylodes macrocephala are equivalent to cutting off the source of moisture from the roots.
Ginseng nourishes qi, Angelica sinensis nourishes blood, and qi and blood are the righteous qi. When the righteous qi is strong, it has the ability to automatically expel toxins and evil.
Finally, mix the herbs with a single licorice.
Danggui Niantong Tang is a commonly used prescription in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of gout. Although it has been a hundred years, it has not been lost in the long river of history due to the passage of time. Today, I have written it down for those who are deeply troubled by gout, which can be used as a reference.
The content of the article is for clinical reference only. Non professionals in traditional Chinese medicine are not allowed to try medication.