Cinnamon/Rehmannia

Cinnamon/Rehmannia is based on recent clinical experience in China treating ovarian cysts, a disorder that tends to respond rapidly to herbal treatments (often within one month). The traditional base formula frequently used for this condition is Cinnamon and Rehmannia Combination (Yanghe Tang), a prescription that warms the body to alleviate fluid accumulations. Cinnamon bark is a key warming herb; it is augmented here by herbs that disperse the accumulated fluid, such as sinapis, fritillaria, and laminaria, and herbs that remove stagnated blood, including persica, sparganium, and zedoaria. Rehmannia and antler gelatin are yin and blood nourishing agents included to balance the spicy and and warming cinnamon and psoralea. This formula can be applied for other types of abdominal masses or even masses under the skin elsewhere (e.g., lipomas), so long as the disorder fits the traditional pattern of etiology (namely: cold). The Chinese concept is that coldness of the kidney permits fluids to thicken and accumulate; they can form a soft mass, such as an ovarian cyst. The formula, taken daily, gently by persistently warms up the kidney and, like the warming sun in early spring that melts the snow, melts away the mass. The modern addition to this approach is treatment of blood stasis, a condition that would arise if the coldness was not treated in a timely manner; coldness can lead to blood stasis. While blood circulation will be restored by the warming action of the formula, old static blood must be treated additionally (e.g., use Sparganium 12, Myrrh Tablets or Lower Palace Tablets). For follow-up therapy, consider using Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan (Pine Mountain) to warm the kidney or Lindera 15 to improve circulation of qi and blood with gentle warming.