Formulas · External Application 外用 · Yuchwi (類聚)

Relieve Suffering Plaster

Gugo-go

한글 구고고 · Pinyin Jiu Ku Gao

救苦膏

槐潤, locust-tree gum, and 瀝靑, pitch, have no entry in the herb database and are left out of the ingredient list; 瀝靑 is the largest single item in the formula at 8 nyang. 桃膠 is named only as a conditional substitute for 槐潤 and is therefore not entered as an ingredient. 白芨 is entered as 白及 and 白歛 as 白斂, the same drugs under their database names.

Composition 構成

Cheono Chuan Wu
川烏 천오 · Aconite Main Root

12 g
Chief 君

炮
Useul Niu Xi
牛膝 우슬 · Achyranthes

20 g
Deputy 臣
Hwangdan Huang Dan
黃丹 황단 · Red Lead (toxic)

20 g
Deputy 臣

黃丹, lead tetroxide
Yuhyang Ru Xiang
乳香 유향 · Frankincense

20 g
Deputy 臣

ground separately
Baekgyohyang Bai Jiao Xiang
白膠香 백교향 · Sweetgum Resin

120 g
Assistant 佐

ground separately
Haengin Xing Ren
杏仁 행인 · Apricot Kernel

120 g
Assistant 佐

杏仁泥, pounded to a paste
Danggwi Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

40 g
Assistant 佐
Moryak Mo Yao
沒藥 몰약 · Myrrh

28 g
Assistant 佐

ground separately
Baekji Bai Zhi
白芷 백지 · Dahurian Angelica

8 g
Assistant 佐
Paemo Bei Mu
貝母 패모 · Fritillaria

8 g
Assistant 佐
Baekgeup Bai Ji
白及 백급 · Bletilla

8 g
Assistant 佐

白芨
Baengnyeom Bai Lian
白斂 백렴 · Ampelopsis Root

8 g
Assistant 佐

白歛
Cheongyu Qing You
淸油 청유 · Clear Sesame Oil

—
Envoy 使

香油, half a cup, poured over to soften the mass

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 1 ingredient measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

Received this formula from your practitioner? Amounts shown here are classical reference values — granule and prepared products differ. Always follow your prescribed dosage and directions.

Actions 效能

Melted, spread on oiled paper and applied to the painful place for wind-damp aching

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

風濕痠疼 — wind-damp aching pain

Biomedical correlates

Musculoskeletal and joint pain — topical
Rheumatic pain — topical

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治風濕痠疼. 川烏(炮) 三錢, 牛膝ㆍ黃丹ㆍ乳香(另硏) 各五錢, 白芷ㆍ貝母ㆍ白芨ㆍ白歛各二錢, 槐潤一錢(無則代桃膠), 沒藥(另硏) 七錢, 白膠香(另硏)ㆍ杏仁泥各三兩, 當歸一兩, 瀝靑(另硏) 八兩, 香油半盞. 右末和勻, 以香油澆潤, 火上熔化, 每二兩作一貼, 攤油紙付患處. 《類聚》

Translation

Treats wind-damp aching pain. Aconite tuber 3 don, blast-fried; achyranthes, lead tetroxide and frankincense, the frankincense ground separately, 5 don each; angelica dahurica, fritillaria, bletilla and ampelopsis 2 don each; locust-tree gum 1 don — if there is none, substitute peach gum; myrrh ground separately 7 don; storax resin ground separately and apricot kernel pounded to a paste 3 nyang each; Korean angelica 1 nyang; pitch ground separately 8 nyang; sesame oil half a cup. Powder them and mix evenly, pour the sesame oil over to soften the mass, melt it over the fire, make one plaster from every 2 nyang, spread it on oiled paper and apply it to the affected place. — Yuchwi 類聚 (Donguibogam · Japbang)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A pain plaster rather than a wound plaster, and the composition shows it: aconite and achyranthes for the aching joint, resins and gums — storax, pitch, locust gum, frankincense, myrrh — for the mass, and apricot kernel paste and sesame oil to keep it pliable. It is melted and spread on oiled paper by the 2 nyang, which makes it a ready-made patch kept in stock rather than a thing compounded per patient. **It contains 川烏, aconite, which is toxic, and 黃丹, lead tetroxide (Pb3O4), which is what the lead plasters of this period are built on. Lead is absorbed through broken skin, the route that matters when a plaster is laid over a sore or an excoriated joint, and it accumulates in bone and soft tissue with no safe dose; aconitine is also absorbed through skin. This must not be prepared or used.** Set aside the lead and the aconite and what remains is a resin patch, which is close to what a modern adhesive medicated plaster still is. Warmth, occlusion and a counter-irritant sensation are a real if modest effect on musculoskeletal pain; nothing in the formula reaches an inflamed joint. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.