Formulas · Invigorate Blood 活血祛瘀 · Dongwon (東垣)

Earthworm Powder

Jiryong-san

한글 지룡산 · Pinyin Di Long San

地龍散

Cut and made into one packet, decocted in water and taken. **Note on modern practice: ephedra (麻黃) is a regulated medicinal, restricted or prohibited for general sale in many jurisdictions and requiring professional prescription.**

Composition 構成

Ganghwal Qiang Huo
羌活 강활 · Notopterygium

8 g
Chief 君
Jiryong Di Long
地龍 지룡 · Earthworm

1.6 g
Chief 君
Dokhwal Du Huo
獨活 독활 · Aralia

4 g
Deputy 臣
Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

0.8 g
Deputy 臣 tail (梢)
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

4 g
Assistant 佐 salt-wine-fried
Somok Su Mu
蘇木 소목 · Sappan Wood

2.4 g
Assistant 佐
Mahwang Ma Huang
麻黃 마황 · Ephedra

2 g
Assistant 佐
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

1.6 g
Assistant 佐
Doin Tao Ren
桃仁 도인 · Peach Kernel

1.4 g
Assistant 佐 6 kernels
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

4 g
Envoy 使

Total 29.8 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts.

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

Frees static blood in the greater-Yang channel
Opens the back with ephedra and earthworm together

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Static blood in the greater-Yang channel causing pain of lumbus and spine (瘀血在太陽經令腰脊痛)
Fixed pain along the spine
Stasis with obstruction

Biomedical correlates

Low back pain along the spinal line
Stasis-type pain with stiffness
Chronic pain with obstruction

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治瘀血在太陽經, 令腰脊痛. 羌活二錢, 獨活ㆍ黃柏(鹽酒炒)ㆍ甘草各一錢, 蘇木六分, 麻黃五分, 地龍ㆍ中桂各四分, 當歸梢二分, 桃仁六箇. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服. 《東垣》

Translation

Treats static blood in the greater-Yang channel, causing pain of the lumbus and spine. Notopterygium 2 don; pubescent angelica, salt-wine-fried phellodendron, and licorice, 1 don each; sappan wood 6 fun; ephedra 5 fun; earthworm and middle-grade cinnamon, 4 fun each; angelica tail 2 fun; peach kernel, 6 kernels. Cut the above, make one packet, decoct in water and take. — Dongwon 東垣 (Donguibogam · Yo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Earthworm gives the formula its name and its logic: it burrows and opens, which is what the tradition wanted for blood lodged along the spine. The ephedra is the surprise — a small measure of it in a back-pain formula, present to open the greater-Yang channel at the surface where notopterygium alone would not reach. The two together, boring from within and opening from without, describe the strategy exactly. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.