Translated By: Laura Camus

Heat Sore (Herpes Simplex )

Doctor Huang Xiong’s case:  Cai mou mou, male, 51 years old, came in for his first exam on November 17, 1992.  Five days ago after eating pungent, fatty, sweet food all over the patient’s lips appeared many concentrated groups of varying sized blisters, the patient internally took 5 packets of sang ju yin modified without recovery.  Still all over the lips there are sores and papules, which itch and are painful accompanied by a burning feeling, there is difficulty opening the mouth, decreased appetite, tired limbs, bitter taste in the mouth, yellow urine, red tongue with a greasy yellow coat, and a soggy rapid pulse.  The cause of the pattern results from spleen and stomach damp heat.  Therefore give gan lu yin modified.

Formula: sheng di huang, and huang qin 15 grams each, zhi qiao 6 grams, zhi gan cao 5 grams, pi pa ye, tian (men) dong, and mai (men) dong 10 grams each, mian yin chen (yin chen hao), pu gong ying, and (zi hua) di ding 20 grams each.

The patient took one packet of herbs per day decocted in water, then decoct the herbs again and use the liquid as an external wash for the affected area.  The patient took 4 packets of herbs and the disease recovered.

Case Note: Herpes simplex belongs in Chinese medicine to the category of heat sore.  Normally it occurs due to the contraction of wind heat evil, yet in this example, the patient’s cause of the sores is due to eating pungent, fat, and sweet foods which damages the spleen and stomach, causing a loss of the normal transportation and transformation function of the spleen and stomach leading to damp heat internally generating.  The foot tai yin channel opens at the mouth, the foot yang ming channel goes to the cheeks and surrounds both sides of the mouth and lips.  Spleen and stomach damp heat follows up the channel and steams upwards to the mouth and lips and becomes this disease.  Give gan lu yin to clear and reduce the spleen and stomach damp heat, add pu gong ying, (zi hua) di ding to strengthening the action of clearing heat to resolve toxins.  This will cause the removal of damp heat and all symptoms will be eliminated if internal herbs are combined with an external wash there will be an even greater treatment effect.


Title: Wen Bing Ming Fang Yan An Shuo Ping
Editors: Chen Ming, & Guo Shu Li
Publisher: Xue Yuan Chu Ban She, 2001 p. 392