Herbs That Clear Heat And Drain Dampness

Herbs That Clear Heat and Dry Dampness:

  • For damp-heat patterns with dysenteric disorders, urinary difficulty or pain, jaundice, furuncles, eczema.
  • Bitter and cold - clear heat and drain dampness; Avoid in cases of stomach and/or spleen deficiency.
  • Often combined with herbs that drain fire and those that clear heat and relieve toxicity.

Section Herbal Summary:

  • Huang Qin, Huang Lian, Huang Bai - similar.
    • Huang Qin - most effective in treating upper jiao, but also is used to calm restless fetus and liver yang rising.
    • Huang Lian - for middle jiao issues.
    • Huang Bai - for lower jiao issues.
  • Hu Huang Lian:
    • Inexpensive substitute for Huang Lian.
    • Commonly used for fever due to yin deficiency and for childhood nutritional impairment.
    • Clears damp-heat.
    • Drains fire and is used for steaming bone disorder due to lingering heat.

Chinese Herbsort icon Functions and Usage
Chao Huang Bai (Dry Fried Amur Cork Tree Bark)
  • The is the dry fried version of Huang Bai.  For general indications see the Huang Bai page.  Dry frying helps to moderate the bitter and cold properties of this herb.
Hu Huang Lian (Pierorhizae Rhizome)
  • Drains damp-heat - dysentery, sores.
  • Clears deficient heat - yin deficiency heat symptoms.
  • Clears heat and reduces childhood nutritional impairment - abdominal distention, afternoon fever, dysentery.
Huang Bai (Amur Cork Tree Bark, Phellodendron)
  • Drains damp heat from the lower jiao - thick-yellow leukorrhea, foul-smelling diarrhea, dysentery; damp-heat pouring downward or hot leg qi - red, swollen, painful knees, legs, and/or feet; damp-heat jaundice.
  • Drains kidney fire with signs of yin deficiency - steaming bone disorder, night sweats, afternoon fever and sweating, nocturnal emissions, spermatorrhea.
  • Drains fire, relieves toxicity - sores and lesions of the skin.
Huang Lian (Coptis Rhizome)
  • Drains fire, relieves toxicity - high fever, irritability, disorientation, delirium, painful, red eyes, red tongue, sore throat, boils, carbuncles, abscesses.
  • Clears heat, drains dampness - for damp-heat in the stomach or intestine, diarrhea or dysenteric disorder, vomiting and/or acid regurgitation due to stomach heat.
  • Clears heart fire - irritability, insomnia.
  • Clears heat and stops bleeding - nosebleed, blood in the urine, stool, vomiting due to hot blood.
  • Topically for red, painful eyes and ulcerations of the tongue and mouth.
Huang Qin (Baical Skullcap Root, Scutellaria)
  • Clears heat, drains fire, especially from the upper warmer - heat patterns with fever, irritability, thirst, cough, thick, yellow sputum, hot sores and swellings.
  • Clears heat, dries dampness - damp-heat in the stomach or intestines, diarrhea, dysentery; damp warm-febrile disease with fever, stifling sensation in the chest, thirst with no desire to drink; damp-heat in the lower jiao - lin syndrome; damp-heat jaundice.
  • Clears heat, stops bleeding - vomiting and/or coughing of blood, nosebleed, blood in the stool.
  • Clears heat, calms the fetus - restless fetus due to heat.
  • Sedates liver yang rising - headache, irritability, red eyes, bitter taste, flushed face.
Ku Shen (Sophora Root)
  • Clears heat, dries dampness - dysentery, leukorrhea, jaundice, sores.
  • Expels wind, kills parasites, stops itching - for damp toxin skin lesions or infestations with chronic itching, seepage, and bleeding; genital itching and vaginal discharge.
  • Clears heat, promotes urination - for damp-heat in the small intestine, lin syndrome, hot edema.
Long Dan Cao (Chinese Gentian Root, Gentiana)
  • Drains damp-heat from the liver and gallbladder channels - red, swollen, sore throat, eyes, and/or ears, sudden deafness, jaundice, pain, swelling or dampness in the genital region, or foul smelling vaginal discharge and itching.
  • Clears ascending liver fire - headache, red eyes; liver wind-heat with fever, spasms, convulsions, flank pain.
Qin Pi (Bark of Korean Ash Branch)
  • Drains damp-heat - dysentery (bloody).
  • Drains liver fire - eyes with redness, swelling, pain, or the formation of superficial visual obstruction.
  • Clears wind-damp - painful hot obstruction.