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Knowledge baseHerbs

Jin Yin Hua金银花

Flos LoniceraeHoneysuckle Flower

Also known asLonicera · Woodbine

Category
Herbs that Clear Heat and Resolve Toxicity; Target Warm and Heat Disease
Nature
cold
Taste
sweet
Channels entered
Large Intestine, Lung, Stomach
Secondary channels
Heart
Dosage
6–20 g

Usual doses

Dosage
6–20 g
Tincture
2–5 ml

Actions & indications

Clears Heat and resolves Fire toxicity
  • Hot, painful sores and skin eruptions in various stages of development, especially breast, throat and eyes, infections, herpes simplex
  • Intestinal abscesses, boils, carbuncles, abscesses, pimples, Chuang Yung
Vents and disperses External Wind-Heat
  • Early-Stage Wind-Heat Warm-Heat pathogen with fever, chills, slight aversion to Wind, sore throat and headache
  • External Summerheat
Clears Damp-Heat from the Lower *Jiao*
Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with dysentery or Lin Syndrome
Cools the Blood and stops bleeding (charred)
Blood Heat dysentery

Contraindications

  • Contraindicated for diarrhea caused by Spleen and Stomach Deficiency Cold.
  • Use cautiously in those who are Cold.
  • Contraindicated for sores caused by Qi Deficiency.
  • Contraindicated for Yin-type ulcers.
  • Once pus has come to a head, use only small doses.
  • Do not store in iron containers.

Combinations

Notes

  • Avoid storing in iron containers.
  • A sweet tea made from this herb is drunk in summer to guard against the effects of Heat.
  • It suits cases dominated by fever, inflammation, and purulence — that is, Fire toxin.
  • Indications include severe summer fevers in children, sudden and violent illness of unclear origin, pyogenic infections, rheumatism, carbuncles, cellulitis, tinea, malignant boils, syphilitic skin lesions, and poisoning.
  • Studies have shown it inhibits cancer cell growth.
  • It is beneficial for Wind-caused disorders, including abdominal fullness accompanied by diarrhea and swelling.
  • A decoction of 250g Jin Yin Hua with 60g Rx. Angelicae Sinensis Dang Gui is used for carbuncles and cellulitis.
  • European herbal tradition used the expressed juice for snakebite.
  • Though secondary to its main uses, it also tonifies Deficiency, nourishes the Blood, and eases thirst.
  • It further resolves toxicity and expels pus.
  • It applies at every stage of a Warm pathogen disease, from the superficial Wei Stage through to the deep Xue Stage.
  • Where toxin has not yet formed it disperses it; where toxin has already formed it can perforate it.
  • Classical use also credits it with tonifying Deficiency, enriching the Blood, and relieving thirst.
  • It has been shown to inhibit ascites carcinoma.
  • Flos Lonicerae Jin Yin Hua and Fr. Forsythiae Lian Qiao are both cooling herbs that relieve toxicity and vent Heat outward while cooling from within. Lian Qiao cools Heart Fire, disperses stagnant Qi at the Blood level, addresses Lin syndrome, and is effective against shigella and staphylococcus, whereas Jin Yin Hua disperses surface Heat, is sweet and cold enough to spare the Stomach, and is effective against salmonella and streptococcus.
  • Charred Honeysuckle Flower Jin Yin Hua Tan enters the Blood level, where it cools Heat, resolves toxicity, cools the Blood, and settles dysenteric disorders — treating Heat toxin that has collected in the Intestines, damaged the Blood collaterals, and produced dysenteric disorder with blood in the stool. It is also used for irregular uterine bleeding.
  • Honeysuckle Flower Dew Jin Yin Hua Lu clears Summerheat gently, without taxing the Stomach, and works well for children's Heat rash and toxic sores.
  • Honeysuckle Leaves Jin Yin Hua Ye are weaker in action and serve as a substitute when the flowers are unavailable.
  • Honeysuckle Fruit Jin Yin Hua Zi is cooling, resolves toxicity, and settles dysenteric disorders; it treats toxic sores and residual Heat in the later stages of measles. (Some sources consider the fruit toxic.)
  • Breast cancer and fibrocystic breast disease have both shown good response to this herb.

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