Wind Damp - Dispersing
Drugs which can eliminate pathogenic Wind and Dampness and relieve arthralgia are referred to as antirheumatics; drugs with an aroma and with the ability to invigorate the spleen and resolve dampness are called aromatic drugs for resolving dampness; drugs which can clear and regulate water passages and excrete Dampness are known as diuretics with dampness-eliminating action. Drugs with actions of removing, resolving or excreting Dampness are collectively nominated under the terms of drugs for eliminating dampness, for they all eliminate the pathogenic Dampness in the body in one way or another. Drugs for eliminating Dampness are indicated for arthralgia-syndrome due to Wind-Cold-Dampness, edema, stranguria, jaundice, lithiasis, and other syndromes such as retention of Dampness in the middle-jiao and dysfunction of the spleen in transport, but their warming and drying properties and diuretic action are apt to result in impairment of yin and blood, so they should be prescribed cautiously to those who have syndromes of deficiency of yin and blood and impairment of body fluid.