Bie Jia鳖甲

• ·Avoid during pregnancy.
• ·Avoid in Spleen Deficiency Cold presenting with poor appetite and diarrhea.
• ·Avoid in Liver Deficiency without Heat.
• ·Avoid when an Exterior Invasion remains unresolved.
• ·Use cautiously in cases of impotence.
• ·Occasionally associated with allergic reactions.

Antagonistic with Alum Ming Fan.

• ·Calcined and ground into powder, this substance is used for Intestinal Abscesses and abdominal pain.
• ·Glue prepared from Bie Jia — Colla Carapax Trionycis Bie Jia Jiao — is richer and more cloying, and highly effective at tonifying Yin and Blood. It is most often used for consumptive disorders from Deficient or exhausted Yin and Blood accompanied by tidal fevers and internal stirring of Liver Wind, at a dosage of 3-9g, dissolved in hot water and added to the decoction.
• ·It is reported to resolve hard abdominal masses.
• ·Studies have shown it effective against Liver and Stomach cancers and lympholeukemia.
• ·It clears undigested food, hard abdominal masses, leukorrhagia, and Blood Stasis.
• ·In Japan, the whole turtle is decocted for treatment of various cancers.
• ·Bie Jia and Concha Ostreae Mu Li are both heavy substances that anchor floating Yang or subdue Yang that has risen; both are salty, soften hardened areas, and benefit Yin. Bie Jia has the stronger Yin-tonifying action and cools at a deeper level, addressing steaming bones and night sweats, while Mu Li more strongly anchors and subdues Yang and, being astringent, prevents the leakage of fluids such as sweat, seminal emissions, and vaginal discharge; it also calms the Spirit.
• ·Bie Jia and Plastrum Testudinis Gui Ban are both shells that enrich Yin, subdue Yang, and soften hardness. Bie Jia enters mainly the Liver channel, with a stronger ability to enrich Yin and soften hard areas, and is used for gynecological issues such as abdominal masses and flank clumping — being salty, cold, and green in nature, it enters the Liver and treats disorders at the Liver channel Blood level, and it travels the Chong channel. Gui Ban enters mainly the Kidneys, and being sweet, is superior at enriching Yin to anchor Yang while also opening the Ren channel, treating gynecological conditions such as continuous uterine bleeding — being black, it enters the Kidneys and treats disorders at the Kidney channel Blood level, and it also opens the Heart.
• ·Vinegar-fried Soft-Shell Turtle Shell Cu Chao Bie Jia enters the Liver with a stronger ability to soften hardness and disperse clumping, excelling at breaking down hard masses without depleting Qi; it is used for abdominal masses and accumulations.