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Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell, Bie Jia 鳖甲

Terrapin
Bie Jia (TCM)

Soft-Shelled Turtle
Illustrated natural history of the animal kingdom, Goodrich, 1859

Soft-Shelled Turtle shell, Bie Jia

Zoological name:
Trionyx sinensis

Parts used:
Dorsal aspect of shell

Temperature & Taste:
Cool, Salty.

Uses:
1. Nourish the Yin, Calms the Rising Yang:
-night sweats, chronic low-grade and tidal fever.
-various joint diseases and calculi.
-Deficient Heat from Overwork, excess sex etc.

2. Moves the Blood and Clears Stasis:
-Swelling of the Liver or Spleen, abdominal masses
-chest pain
-amenorrhea from accumulation of blood.       
-excessive menstruation from heat.
-Tumors and Cancer (in Japan the whole Turtle, including the Meat and Shell has been decocted for Cancer).

DOSE:
9–30 grams in Decoction
1–3 grams in Powder

Main Combinations:
1. Liver and Kidney Yin deficiency with Night-sweats, lower back pain, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Turtle Shell (Gui Ban)
2. Low grade Fever, Night sweats, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Lycium bark (Di Gu Pi), Artemeisa Qing Hao
3. Internal Wind from Yin deficiency, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Paeonia Bai Shao, Donkey hide glue (E Jiao), Fossil bones (Long Gu)
4. Hard and immobile masses of the abdomen, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Zedoary, Green Citrus peel (Qing Pi)
5. Amenorrhea with abdominal masses, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Rhubarb and Amber
6. Excess menstruation, Uterine Bleeding, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Donkey hide glue (E Jiao), Chinese Mugwort (Ai Ye), Dang Gui
7. Chronic Malarial disorder, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Bupleurum Chai Hu, Wingless Cockroach (Tu Bie Chong)
8. Chronic sores and ulcers, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Astragalus Huang Qi.

Major Formulas:
Da Ding Feng Zhu
Qing Gu San
Qiang Hao Bie Jia Tang
Rou Fu Bao Yuan Tang
San Jia Fu Mai Tang

Cautions:
1. Avoid during Pregnancy
2. Avoid in Cold and weak Stomach

Main Preparations used:

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Research

1. [Comparison studies on pharmacodynamics of three kind of Carapax trionycis].
2. Protective effect of Trionyx carapax on CCl4-induced hepatic injury is mediated by uracil.
3. Oral Administration of a Hot Water Extract of the Softshell Turtle (Trionyx sinensis) Improves Exercise Performance.
4. A combination of soft-shell turtle powder and essential oil of a unicellular chorophyte prevents bone loss and decreased bone strength in ovariectomized rats.