Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan — Invigorate the Channels Effective Pill

On this page

1. Overview
2. TCM pattern
3. Key herbs
4. Formula actions
5. Conditions treated
6. Cautions

Overview

Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan — the “Invigorate the Channels Effective Pill” (sometimes translated “Magic Pill”) — is from Zhang Xichun’s early-twentieth-century Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu (Records of Heart-Felt Experiences in Medicine with Reference to the West). It is a small, focused four-herb formula for Blood-stasis pain in any location. Zhang famously combined two pairs — Dang Gui plus Dan Shen (move Blood, nourish Blood) and Ru Xiang plus Mo Yao (move Qi and Blood, relieve fixed pain) — producing a versatile remedy that can be added to many formulas to enhance Blood-moving and pain-relieving action.

I prescribe Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan as part of bespoke herbal formulas from pharmaceutical-grade granules sourced from Sun Ten in Taiwan.

TCM pattern

Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan is prescribed for Blood stasis with pain:

• Fixed, stabbing or boring pain
• Worse at night or with rest
• Possibly with palpable hardness or nodules
• Possible mild to moderate purplish tongue or sublingual veins
• Tongue — possibly purplish or with stasis marks
• Pulse — possibly choppy or wiry

Key herbs

1. Dang Gui — nourishes and moves Blood
2. Dan Shen — moves Blood; clears mild Heat; benefits the Heart
3. Ru Xiang (frankincense) — moves Qi and Blood; specifically relieves fixed pain
4. Mo Yao (myrrh) — moves Blood; specifically dissolves swellings and relieves pain

Formula actions

1. Moves Blood; resolves stasis
2. Moves Qi; relieves pain
3. Dissipates swelling and nodules

Conditions treated

1. Chronic musculoskeletal pain with Blood-stasis features
2. Post-traumatic pain with persisting stasis
3. Angina pectoris with Blood-stasis pattern (adjunctive with conventional cardiology)
4. Dysmenorrhoea with clotted dark blood — see period pain
5. Frozen shoulder with stagnation pain
6. Post-surgical pain with adhesions and stasis
7. Chronic prostatitis pain with Blood stasis
8. Old fracture site pain
9. Phantom limb pain with stasis pattern
10. Endometriosis pain — see endometriosis

Cautions

Contraindicated in pregnancy — strong Blood-movers.

Caution in bleeding disorders or with anticoagulant medication — may potentiate bleeding risk.

Severe acute chest pain may indicate myocardial infarction or pulmonary embolism — call 999.

Acute severe trauma needs surgical assessment.

Always consult a qualified Chinese herbalist registered with the RCHM.

Prefer to be treated from home? Chinese herbal medicine online consultations are available throughout the UK and worldwide.