Li Dan Pian
(Benefiting the Gall-Bladder Tablet)
Huang Qin Radix Scutellariae baicalensis
Mu Xiang Radix Saussureae
Jin Qian Cao Herba Desmodii styracifolii
Jin Yin Hua Flos Lonicerae japonicae
Yin Chen Hao Herba Artemisiae capillaris
Chai Hu Radix Bupleuri
Da Qing Ye Folium Isatidis seu Baphicacanthi
Da Huang Rhizoma RheiExplanation
This tablet drains Damp-Heat from the Gall-Bladder and is used for acute or chronic
cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. It can help to expel gall-bladder stones if they are under 1 cm in
diameter.
It should be noted that this remedy contains Da Huang which moves downwards and should
therefore not be used continuously for more than 2-3 months.
The tongue presentation appropriate to this remedy would be a very sticky-yellow coating which
is thicker on the right side.
Notes on Acupuncture Treatment
Acupuncture can be used to facilitate the expulsion of gall stones and either set of points from
the above two patterns may be used. It is important, however, to obtain the needling sensation
and manipulate the needle with a reducing method very strongly. The needles should be retained
for over 40 minutes and be manipulated at intervals. Treatment should be given every day for 10
days. Electricity can be used with high frequency and dense-sparse wave, connecting a local and
a distal point, for example G.B.-24 and Dannangxue on the right side only. It is important to
retain the needles for more than 40 minutes as cholecystography performed during acupuncture
treatments has shown that acupuncture stimulates contractions of the gall-bladder reaching a
peak after 30 minutes. During the first 30 minutes large amounts of bile are accumulated in the
gall-bladder. Then the contractions stop for about 10 minutes and suddenly, after 40 minutes, the
gall-bladder orifice opens and the bile flows out.
If the stone is in the gall-bladder it can only be expelled if it is under 1 cm in diameter. If it is in
the cystic duct, it can only be expelled if it is under 1.5 cm in diameter. Large, single stones are
painful but relatively easy to excrete, whereas sand-like stones are less painful but more difficult