Ge Qiao - 蛤壳 - (Hai Ge Ke) - (海蛤殼) - Concha Meretricis/Cyclinae

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Concha Meretricis/Cyclinae
Common English:	Clam Shell Meretrex Meretrex

Properties

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Bitter Salty	Cold (Neutral)	Lung Stomach (Kidney)	Fresh, calcined or roasted: 3-16g place in a cheesecloth bag before decocting Powders and Pills: 1-3g 6-15g (Secondary source)

Actions	Indications/Syndromes
Clears Lung Heat, transforms Phlegm and descends Lung Qi	Cough and wheezing due to Phlegm-Heat or Phlegm-Fire with viscous, yellow, difficult to expectorate sputum with chest and rib pain Asthma, Bronchitis, Cough
Softens hardness and dissipates nodules	Phlegm-Fire goiter and scrofula
Promotes urination and expels Dampness	Milky Lin (turbid, painful urinary dysfunction and vaginal discharge) (mild effect) Superficial edema and urinary dysfunction Phlegm-Dampness (Tan Yin) Lingering Phlegm Persistent Phlegm
Controls acidity and stops pain (calcined and powdered)	Acid regurgitation and epigastric pain with Excess stomach acid, hemorrhoids, bloody dysentery and gastric and duodenal ulcers

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Contraindicated for those with Lung Qi Deficiency with Cold.
Contraindicated for those with Yang Deficiency.
Use caution with Spleen and Stomach Deficiency Cold, Cold-Phlegm or Damp-Phlegm.

INCOMPATIBILITIES

HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS

Rx. Scutellariae Huang Qin Sm. Trichosanthis Gua Lou Ren Rx. Platycodi Jie Geng	Fr. Trichosanthis Gua Lou Fr. Gardeniae Zhi Mu Or Fr. Trichosanthis Gua Lou Fr. Gardeniae Zhi Zi Indigo Naturalis Qing Dai	Indigo Naturalis Qing Dai
Phlegm-Heat Clogging the Lungs with a stifling sensation in the chest, wheezing, and coughing up of viscous, yellow sputum.	Phlegm-Fire with chest pains, cough and wheezing.	Red eyes, bitter taste, pain in the ribs, paroxysmal cough and viscous sputum that is difficult to expectorate due to Lung Heat.
Pumex Fu Shi Rz. Cynanchi Stauntonii Bai Qian Cx. Mori Sang Bai Pi	Thallus Eckloniae Kun Bu Sargassum Hai Zao (Concha Arcae) (Wa Leng Zi)	Fr. Malvae Dong Kui Zi Caulis Akebiae Mu Tong
Cough and wheezing due to Phlegm-Fire Obstructing the Lungs.	Goiter and scrofula.	Painful urinary dysfunction.
Cx. Phellodendri Huang Bai	Endoconcha Sepiae Hai Piao Xiao Rz. Corydalis Yan Hu Suo Rx. Glycyrrhizae Gan Cao	Poria Fu Ling Polyporus Zhu Ling Talcum Hua Shi
Vaginal discharge.	Stomach acid. Gastric and duodenal ulcers.	Superficial edema with urinary dysfunction.
Fr. Trichosanthis Gua Lou
Cough with thick, yellow sputum and a stifling sensation in the chest due to Phlegm-Heat with constrained, clumping of Qi. As a complete formula for chest pain due to Phlegm and thin mucus.

This herb promptly reduces clotting in women and also reduces fixed and mobile abdominal masses in men.
Research has shown that it inhibits the growth of cancer cells.
It is used for perspiration in exogenous disease, abdominal Blood Stasis, convulsions and paralysis of the limbs from apoplexy.
Its meat is used to treat menoxenia.
Ge Qiao and Pumex Fu Shi are both salty and cold; they clear the Lungs, transform viscous Phlegm and soften areas of hardness. Both treat cough due to Phlegm-Heat with Phlegm that is hard to expectorate, as well as scrofula and urinary difficulty. Ge Qiao is heavy and descends Qi, acting to reduce abdominal masses and eliminate Blood Stagnation. Fu Hai Shi is light and tends to rise into the Lung channel and Upper Jiao.
Ge Qiao and Concha Arcae Wa Leng Zi both transform sticky Phlegm and control gastric acid. Ge Qiao is cold and better suited to Lung Heat and Dryness with coughing of Blood; it also facilitates fluid metabolism and reduces edema. Wa Leng Zi is neutral and widely used for Phlegm Accumulation; it transforms Blood Stagnation and reduces abdominal and other masses.
Calcined Meretricis/Cyclinae Duan Hai Ge Qiao grinds more easily into a fine powder for burns and eczema. Internally, it is used for hyperacidity of the Stomach.
Also known as Hai Ge Fen.