Cnidium, She Chuang Zi 蛇床子

She Chuang Zi (TCM)
La la phud ser po  ལ་ལ་ཕུདསེར་པོ  (Tibetan Medicine)

Jacquin, Hortus botanicus Vindobonensis, (1770)

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Botanical name:
Cnidium monnieri (syn. Selinum monnieri)

Parts used:
Seed

Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Pungent, Sweet

Classifications:
T. External Medicines

Uses:
1. Warms the Kidneys, Tonifies Yang:
-Impotence, Frigidity, Lack of Sex drive
-Infertility (men or women)
-Lumbago

2. Clears Wind-Damp:
-Leukorrhea, especially with itching
-Back pain from Wind-Damp

3. Clears Wind-Cold, Stops Cough:
-allergy
-Cough, Asthma from Cold Phlegm

4. Externally:
-Weeping Eczema; Damp skin lesions
-Scabies, Tinea
-itching of the Vulva, Trichomonas

DOSE:
3–9 grams in Decoction;
1–3 grams in powder
Used as a wash or the powder is mixed with water to be applied externally

SUBSTITUTE:
1. In Tibetan Medicine, it is used the same as Fennel seed (Drungtso)
2. La la phud refers to Bishop's Weed seed. Cnidium is La la phud ser po, the yellow variety. This suggests similar use to Bishop's Weed.

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Main Combinations:
1. For itching, use as a wash with Alum
2. Trichomonas, as a douche Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Alum and Phellodendron Huang Bai
3. Weeping skin lesion, topically Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Sophora Ku Shen
4. Eczema, topically Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Calomel
5. Cold-Damp Leukorrhea, Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Dioscorea Shan Yao and Cornus Shan Zhu Yu
6. Lower Back pain from Cold-Damp and Kidney weakness, Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Mistletoe (Sang Ji Sheng), Eucommia Du Zhong
7. Infertility, Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Dodder seed (Tu Si Zi)
8. Impotence or Infertility, Cnidium She Chuang Zi with Cinnamon, Cistanche Rou Cong Rong and Morinda Ba Ji Tian

Cautions:
1. Not used in excess Heat conditions or Yin deficiency
2. Not used in Damp-Heat of the lower abdomen

Main Preparations used: