Bo He (Herba Menthae) is from the branch and leaf of Mentha haplocalyx Briqi, family Labiata. The medicinal material is collected in the summer and autumn, dried in the shade and cut into pieces. It is used either unprocessed or in fresh form.
Category: Exterior Releasing – Heat Clearing.
Common Name: Field Mint; Mentha.
Channels Entered: Lung and Liver.
Properties and Functions: Bo He is pungent in flavour and cool in nature. Its functions include:
- Expelling Wind and Heat.
- Clearing Heat from the head and eyes.
- Benefits the throat.
- Vents rashes.
- Soothes and relieves Liver-Qi stagnation.
Indications: The clinical applications for Bo He are as follows:
- Seasonal febrile disease or exterior Wind-Heat syndrome manifesting as fever and lack of sweating, mild aversion to wind and cold with headache.
- Wind-Heat syndrome attacking upwards manifesting as headache, redness of the eyes with swollen and painful throat.
- Stagnation of Liver-Qi with feeling of oppression in the chest and hypochondirac pain, or painful swelling of the breasts with irregular menstruation.
- Early stage of measles or rubella, and other rashes accompanied by itching. In these cases it is used to induce the rash to move to the surface which expels wind and heat.
Dosage: 3 – 6g
Cautions and Contra-Indications: Not suitable in cases with spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency or those cases with rising Liver-Yang.