What are the traditional Chinese medicine treatments for herpes?

Herpes is a common skin disease that has a great impact on our lives. Although it is not a major disease, we still need to treat it as soon as possible. There are many ways to treat herpes, and many people choose traditional Chinese medicine because it has fewer side effects than Western medicine.

Herpes zoster is an acute herpes skin disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The rash is mostly located in one place and is distributed in a band-like pattern along the peripheral nerves. It is common on the back, waist, abdomen, chest, face, and neck. It can also invade the nasal, oral, and perineal mucosa. The herpes causes local burning pain and discomfort, and the patient is allergic to the sensation. This disease belongs to the category of "snake herpes zoster" and "waist poison" in traditional Chinese medicine. Based on clinical observation and analysis, herpes zoster is mostly caused by imbalance of the body's vital energy and invasion of external pathogens, resulting in internal latent warm toxins accompanied by stagnation of fire in the Shaoyang meridian or damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder. Therefore, in the early stages of the disease, there are often symptoms such as fever, chills, and fatigue.

Therefore, the author clinically divides the disease into two types for diagnosis and treatment: 1. For those who suffer from Shaoyang depressed fire, herpes is mostly small papules, often occurring on the waist, abdomen, chest and flanks, and accompanied by fever, bitter taste in the mouth, fatigue, poor appetite, yellow tongue coating, stringy pulse, etc., and is given Xiao Chaihu Decoction with modifications: 15 grams each of Bupleurum and Scutellaria baicalensis, 10 grams each of stir-fried Gardenia and Forsythia suspensa, 30 grams each of whole Trichosanthes and Taraxacum, 3 grams of Safflower, and 6 grams of Licorice. Explanation of the prescription: Bupleurum, Scutellaria and Gardenia in the prescription can clear away the stagnant fire in Shaoyang; Forsythia and Taraxacum can clear away heat and detoxify; Trichosanthes can resolve phlegm and clear heat, moisten dryness and unclog the bowels, soothe the liver and relieve stagnation; Carthamus tinctorius can open up the meridians, disperse blood stasis and relieve pain; Licorice can harmonize the stomach and detoxify to coordinate all the medicines. The use of whole Trichosanthes kirilowii and safflower in this prescription benefited from the clinical experience of the famous Chinese medicine scientist Qin Boyi, who got it from the empirical prescription of Huang Gutan, the teacher of the famous Ming Dynasty physician Sun Yikui (see "Medical Aspects of the Complete Works of Chishui Xuanzhu" in "The Medical Aspects"). The original prescription was: 1 large Trichosanthes kirilowii, weighing 1 or 2 taels, mashed with the skin, 2 qian of licorice, and 5 fen of safflower. Syndrome differentiation and addition and subtraction: for those with aversion to cold and headache at the beginning, add Notopterygium wilfordii and Saposhnikovia divaricata; for those with wind-heat headache, add Bombyx batryticatus and mulberry leaves; for those with abdominal distension and constipation, add Citrus aurantium and Rhubarb; for those with cough, itchy or painful throat, add Platycodon grandiflorum and Arctium lappa. 2. For patients with damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder, the herpes is large and covers a wide area. The local area is red and painful, like a needle-like burning pain. It is accompanied by fever and dry mouth, irritability, red face and eyes, yellow and red urine, constipation, red tongue with yellow greasy coating, and a stringy and rapid pulse. Give Longdan Xiegan Decoction with modifications: 10 grams each of gentian, bupleurum, chuanmutong, light bamboo leaf, and moutan bark, 15 grams each of raw rehmannia, red peony root, scutellaria, stir-fried gardenia, and polygonum cuspidatum, and 6 grams of liquorice. Add or subtract based on syndrome differentiation: For those with severe dry and hard stools, add rhubarb and Glauber's salt; for those with short and red urine, add talc and Kochia scoparia; for those with herpes on the neck and face, add Cimicifuga and Bombyx batryticatus; for those with herpes below the navel, add Phellodendron amurense and Kochia scoparia; for those with headaches, add Chuanxiong, Bombyx batryticatus, chrysanthemum, etc.

The above is about the method of treating herpes with traditional Chinese medicine. Generally speaking, the effect of traditional Chinese medicine treatment is relatively slow, and we must have a certain amount of patience. However, if traditional Chinese medicine is ineffective in the long term, we can choose Western medicine treatment.