Tangerine Peel and Dried Ginger Decoction

The first of the chapter's four warming formulas for hiccup, and the plainest: tangerine peel to bring the qi down, dried ginger and cinnamon to warm the stomach, ginseng and licorice to hold it. 3.22 sets out the discrimination it belongs to — 咳逆陰證 with a cold stomach, a fine pulse, a blue-green face and cold limbs, as against the yang pattern with fever, a bitter mouth and a rapid pulse, which goes to Sosigho-tang with bamboo shavings instead. Persistent hiccup of the kind the chapter calls 咳逆 is still difficult to treat, and the classical approach of warming and descending the stomach qi is the one Korean practice follows. **Intractable hiccup lasting more than a day or two needs investigation; it can be the first sign of disease in the chest, the abdomen or the brain.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.