Gui Ban - 龟板 - Plastrum Testudinis - Tortoise Plastron
| Pharmaceutical Latin: | Plastrum Testudinis |
| Common English: | Chinemys Fresh-Water Turtle Plastron / Tortoise plastron (ventral side) Testudinis Tortoise Plastron |
Category
Herbs that Tonify the YinRelated Herbs (Secondary Source Material)
Properties
| Taste | Temperature | Entering Meridians | Dosage |
| Salty Sweet | Cold (Neutral) | Heart Kidney Liver (Lung) | 9-45g 15-45g (Secondary source) Crush, and cook 30 minutes longer than the other herbs. |
Actions And Indications
| Actions | Indications/Syndromes |
Nourishes Yin and anchors Yang | Yin Deficiency with Yang Rising with fever, night sweats, dizziness, tinnitus and steaming bone disorder Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency generating Internal Wind with facial spasms and tremors of the hands and feet |
Benefits the Kidneys and strengthens the bones | Kidney Yin Deficiency with soreness of the lower back, weakness in the legs, retarded skeletal development in children or failure of the fontanel to close |
Nourishes the Blood, enriches Yin and stabilizes the Chong and Ren channels | Red and white vaginal discharge or uterine bleeding |
Cools the Blood and stops uterine bleeding | Blood Heat causing excessive menstruation or uterine bleeding |
Nourishes the Blood and tonifies the Heart | Heart Yin and/or Blood Deficiencies with anxiety, insomnia and forgetfulness |
Treats non-healing sores and ulcerations | Non-healing sores and ulcerations |
Contraindications, Incompatibilities And Herb/Drug Interactions
| CONTRAINDICATIONS |
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| INCOMPATIBILITIES |
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| HERB/DRUG INTERACTIONS |
Major Combinations
| Rz. Anemarrhenae | Carapax Trionycis | Rx. Rehmanniae Preparata |
Afternoon fever, night sweats, and steaming bone disorder due to Yin Deficiency. | Low grade afternoon fever and night sweats due to Yin Deficiency with ascendant Yang. | Vertigo, tinnitus, a sore and weak lower back and legs and night sweats from severe Kidney Deficiency. |
| Flos Chrysanthemi | Rx. Paeoniae Alba | Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum |
Light-headedness and vertigo due to Liver Yang Rising. | Yin Deficiency with Yang Rising with dizziness, malar flush and irritability. | Weakness and debility due to Kidney Deficiency. |
| Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum | Rx. Achyranthis Bidentatae | Rx. Ginseng |
Retarded development in children or failure of the fontanel to close. | Retarded development in children, and weakness and wasting of the lower extremities with impaired locomotion due to Deficiency of the Liver and Kidneys. | Hemiplegia as a sequela of stroke in the debilitated. |
Cx. Phellodendri | Concha Ostreae | Rx. Rehmanniae |
Red and white vaginal discharge with lower back soreness and abdominal pain due to Unstable Chong and Ren Channels and Damp-Heat. | Irregular uterine bleeding. | Excessive uterine bleeding due to Hot Blood. |
Fossilia Ossis Mastodi | Spina Gleditsiae | Carapax Trionycis |
Anxiety and insomnia due to Heart Deficiency. | Chronic non-healing sores and ulcerations. | Steaming bones and night sweats due to Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency with Heat Rising. Calms the Liver, subdues Yang and extinguishes Wind to treat vertigo and tinnitus associated with Yin Deficiency with Yang Rising and deficient Wind moving internally. |
Rx. Paeoniae Alba | Sm. Cassiae | Rx. Rehmanniae Preparata |
Liver Yang Rising. | Red and painful eyes. | Steaming bone sensations, tidal fevers night sweats and nocturnal emissions. |
Rx. Paeoniae Alba | Rx. Rehmanniae Preparata | Rx. Rehmanniae Preparata |
Liver Wind. | Weakness and soreness of the low back and knees. | Yin Deficient Heat. |
Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum | Rx. Rehmanniae | |
Kidney Yin and Yang Deficiency with weak bones, spermatorrhea or nocturnal emissions, weight loss and blurred vision. | Uterine bleeding or hypermenorrhea. |
Notes
- Gui Ban Jiao, the glue made from Gui Ban, is richer and more cloying and almost exclusively tonifies Yin and nourishes Blood. The dosage is 3-9 gm, dissolved in wine or in the decoction.
- Its importance lies in assisting the upward flow of Qi from the Lower Jiao (treating prolapse and weakness of the low back and legs) while simultaneously moistening the Yin and settling rising Yang (Internal Wind and Deficiency Fire).
- It enriches Yin, strengthens resolve, and treats insufficiency of Yin and Blood, consumptive Heat, steaming bones, long-term cough, malarial disorder, mobile and fixed masses, continuous uterine bleeding, the five types of hemorrhoids, difficult labor, and patterns of Yin Deficiency with frail Blood.
- Gui Ban and Carapax Trionycis Bie Jia are both shells that enrich Yin, subdue Yang and soften areas of hardness. Bie Jia mainly enters the Liver channel and is stronger at enriching Yin and softening areas of hardness; it is used for gynecological conditions such as abdominal masses and clumping around the flanks. Being salty, cold and green, it enters the Liver and treats illnesses of the Liver channel Blood level. It travels the Chong channel. Gui Ban mainly enters the Kidneys; being sweet, it is superior at enriching the Yin to anchor the Yang, and it also unblocks the Ren channel to treat gynecological problems such as continuous uterine bleeding. Being black, it enters the Kidneys and treats all illnesses of the Kidney channel Blood level. It also unblocks the Heart.
- Gui Ban strongly tonifies Jue Yin and fills the Ren channel to reduce Heat and expel steaming bone disorder, but it cannot tonify Yang within Yin. Colla Corii Asini E Jiao nourishes the Blood, moistens Dryness and expels Heat. Rx. Polygoni Multiflori He Shou Wu enters the Liver, tonifying Blood to expel Wind and blacken the hair and beard, but it cannot moisten Dryness or settle wheezing. Colla Cornus Cervi Lu Jiao Jiao warms the Du channel and the Chong channel to augment Blood, but it cannot clear Lung channel Heat or stop coughing.
- Gui Ban and Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum Lu Rong both augment the Kidneys, fortify the bones and treat atrophy and weakness of the sinews and bones. Gui Ban augments Kidney Yin, unblocks the Ren Channel, subdues the Yang, tonifies the Blood and stops bleeding; it is best for continuous uterine bleeding from Yin Deficiency Heat or Blood Heat. Lu Rong reinforces Kidney Yang, generates Jing and augments the marrow, and it treats uterine bleeding from Yang Deficiency. Because Gui Ban tonifies the Yin and Lu Rong tonifies the Yang, they are frequently combined for Deficiencies of both Yin and Yang.
- Vinegar-fried Turtle Plastron Cu Chao Gui Ban enters the Liver channel and is better able to subdue Yang. It treats Liver Yin Deficiency with Liver Yang Rising, as well as uterine bleeding when the Liver fails to store Blood.
- Wine-fried Turtle Plastron Jiu Chao Gui Ban both tonifies and moves, treating atrophy and weakness of the sinews and bones.
- Turtle Plastron Glue, Colla Plastri Testudinis Gui Ban Jiao, is richer and more cloying and nourishes the Yin almost exclusively. The dosage is 3-9g, dissolved in wine or decoction before it is taken.
- Carapax Testudinis Gui Jia is salty and cold, enters the Liver and Kidney channels and affects the thoughts. It nourishes the Yin and the Kidneys and strengthens the bones. It is used to treat intermittent fever from Yin Deficiency, night sweating, dizziness, Internal movement of Liver Wind from Deficiency, physical atrophy, fear and forgetfulness.
From Class
- Gui Ban (tortoise plastron): Opening herb for the Ren Mai. (Yuen)
- Gui Ban (tortoiseshell) — key herb for Ren: Key opening herb for the Ren Mai. (Yuen)
- Yu Zhu, turtle shells (Bie Jia, Gui Ban): Yu Zhu generates fluid and releases external wind; turtle shells anchor yang, tonify, move a little blood; stomach yin needed to release exterior. (Shea)
- Parkinson's strategy: Parkinson's: nourish yin and marrow (Shu Di, Gui Ban) to nourish the brain, transform phlegm, settle wind and tremors; ST-36 and the nine points to return yang. (Gioioso)
- Ripening the baby: Bai Shao, turtle shells, Dan Shen; 'ripen the baby' formula: Tonify qi and blood to fatten the baby (Bai Shao) and make it 'slippery' (turtle shells, Dan Shen) — relatively contraindicated earlier for that reason. (Lewis)