Chinese Medicine

Dr.Huang Huang is a very popular master of classical formula and he develops his own constitutional types theory based on his clinical experience. From his theory perspective, the ambiguous TCM theory seems more clearly and orderly to us. If you are interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), you might probably be interested his book of The 10 Key Formula Families, in which he articulates his own unique finding through trial and error and try to demonstrate us the magic power of classical formulas.

Acne treatment case for secretion hyperfunction of sebaceous gland
The following is a standard case for acne treatment by Dr. Huang Huang. If you are reading this article, probably you are interested in how to treat acne. So learn something from this skilled practitioners and see how he would deal with this kind of ailment.

C/H, female, 28 years old
White complexion, medium size and oily face.
Recently acne was getting worse and it started from the jaw and now it spreaded to all the face. On Sep. 27th, 2007, she was diagnosed by Province Chinese Medicine Hospital with estradiol (E2) Follicular Phase 22, much lower than the normal value of 24-114ng/l. Acne improved after taking medicine of clearing heat-toxicity, but recur easily later. Also the patient was easy to suffer from cervicitis. It tended to lasted for long time after taking antibiotics, with excessive vaginal discharges.

The clinical manifestation:
        -Most of acne on the face, dark red with pus;
        -Oily face, need to wash by degrease lotion every day;
        -Dark red throat and lip, susceptible to oral ulcer;
        -Lower limbs skin not dry.

Then Dr. Huang Huang described the formula of Jing jie lian qiao tang as follows:
Huang lian 3g, Huang qin 12g, Huang bai 6g, Zhi zi 10g, Lian qiao 30g, Dang gui 10g, Bai shao 10g, Chi shao 10g, Chuan xiong 6g, Sheng di 15g, Chai hu 10g, Sheng gan cao 5g, Bai zhi 10g, Jie geng 10g, Jing jie 10g, Bo he 5g.

Half month later she returned to the hospital for a second visit. The acne on face decreased dramatically, and the color was dim now. Cervicitis was also controlled, only with a few vaginal discharges.

What works in this acne treatment?
Jing jie lian qiao tang, strictly speaking, is not a classical formula. It was from later generations of doctors, rather than from Zhang Zhong-Jing. However, if the formula does works and has specific signs and symptoms, we should promote and use them. Like Jing jie liao qiao tang, Fang feng tong sheng san, Wu ji san, Wen dan tang, Yang he tang and Xue fu zhu yue tang, they  are also the formulas Dr. Huang used very often. 

An experienced formula from Japanese Kampo medicine, Jing jie lian qiao tang mainly use to regulate the constitution of detoxification. This constitution includes signs and symptoms like:
        -Robust;
        -Flushed face with oil;
        -Red-eyed or plenty of eye secretion;
        -Red lip, congested throat;
        -Be afraid of heat;
        -Easy to suffer from folliculitis;
        -Irritable, worrisome.

Clinically this formula often uses to treat the young for the purulent inflammation, such as rhinitis, nose boil, tonsillitis, nose bleeding, acne and tympanitis etc.       

The patient was with white complexion, dark red with pus, dark red throat and lip, susceptible to oral ulcer and easily suffer from cervicitis. All those signs and symptoms indicated that the patient belongs to constitution of Yang heat. So the condition improved a litter bit after the use of medicine of clearing heat-toxicity. The patient with low estrogen level, however, prevent from a better result. So we have to consider using Jing jie liao qiao tang, in which Wen qing yin includes. And Wen qing yin is the right formula for treating patient with symptom of bleeding, congestion or incline of anemia.