🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Rare Postpartum Conditions: Remarkable Treatments
Postpartum Head Shaking: A young woman has been shaking her head uncontrollably for half a year after childbirth, only able to rest when exhausted. At night, she dreams wildly and murmurs incessantly. Initially treated with Prescription A: 30 grams each of iron filings, calcined dragon bone, calcined oyster shell, and goat horn (boiled first), 30 grams of floating wheat, 15 grams of danshen, 6 grams of fried licorice, 6 jujubes, 1.5 grams of whole scorpion. Take one dose daily. Later switched to Prescription B: 12 grams raw rehmannia, 9 grams each of safflower and peach kernel, 9 grams red peony root, 6 grams angelica, 4.5 grams each of tangerine shell, bupleurum, platycodon, ligusticum, and achyranthes, 3 grams raw licorice. Alternate between the two prescriptions. Symptoms disappeared after 29 days.
Postpartum High Fever: A woman developed chills, rigors, and fever ranging from 39°C to 41°C 12 days after delivery. She also experienced restlessness, frequent urination, dysuria, poor appetite, lumbar and abdominal pain, and increased vaginal discharge. Treated with modified Xiao Chai Hu Tang: 15 grams each of coptis, codonopsis, *Andrographis paniculata*, gardenia, and plantago seed (wrapped), 10 grams each of bupleurum, ginger half, and fried licorice, 8 grams of *Akebia stem*, 5 jujubes, 3 slices of ginger. One dose daily. After two doses, fever subsided and symptoms like frequent urination and dysuria disappeared. Removed jujubes, ginger, *Akebia stem*, and plantago seed, added tangerine peel, fermented soybean, and white peony root. Continued for two more doses and recovered completely.
Postpartum Headache: A woman suffered severe headache after childbirth, unbearable to endure. Her scalp hair was even pulled out, and she kept banging her head with both hands, accompanied by alternating chills and fever. Treated with Xiao Chai Hu Tang plus 12 grams of *Ligusticum chuanxiong* and 10 grams of night-bright sand. Took one dose daily. Recovered after three doses.
Postpartum Shoulder and Arm Pain: After giving birth in extreme summer heat, a woman used an electric fan to cool herself for about half an hour. Since then, she felt icy cold and painful whenever exposed to wind or cold, with worsening numbness. Treated with Huang Qi Gui Zhi Wu Wu Tang plus modifications: 30 grams each of astragalus and *Spatholobus suberectus*, 15 grams each of cinnamon twig, white peony root, angelica, and *Clerodendrum trichotomum*, 6 slices of ginger, 6 jujubes. One dose daily. After two doses, pain and numbness improved. After another eight doses, she no longer felt cold when exposed to wind, and shoulder-arm pain and numbness were completely resolved.
Postpartum Joint Pain: A woman contracted wind-cold during the postpartum period, experiencing fever and cough, with pain in all limbs and joints. After taking Western medicine, fever and cough subsided, but joint pain persisted, especially severe in the right shoulder joint, limiting movement, accompanied by cold sensitivity. Treated with Yang He Tang with modifications: 30 grams astragalus, 20 grams each of rehmannia and *Chaenomeles speciosa*, 18 grams angelica, 15 grams each of deer antler glue and *Siler divaricata*, 12 grams each of dry ginger and turmeric, 10 grams white mustard seed, 9 grams cinnamon twig, 6 grams ephedra. One dose daily. After three doses, significant improvement. Continued for two more doses; pain disappeared.
Postpartum Abdominal Enlargement: A woman delivered a healthy boy after full term, but four months later her abdomen remained enlarged like pregnancy. She felt bloated and uncomfortable, with intermittent dull pain, especially in the lower abdomen, with tenderness below the navel. Treated with Da Huang Gan Sui Tang: 15 grams each of wine-processed rhubarb and donkey-hide gelatin (dissolved), 4.5 grams *Gan Sui*. One dose daily. After two doses, she had 3–4 bowel movements daily. During the night, she experienced paroxysmal abdominal pain resembling labor, vaginal bleeding with dark purple blood and a clot the size of an egg, along with multiple smaller clots. Her abdominal circumference decreased significantly, and her mental state improved. After stopping medication for one day, the dosage was adjusted: rhubarb reduced to 6 grams, donkey-hide gelatin to 10 grams, *Gan Sui* to 3 grams. After two more doses, abdominal circumference continued to shrink, bloating and tenderness vanished. Then treated with Wu Wei Yi Gong San with modifications and fully recovered.
Postpartum Urinary Retention: A young woman developed urinary retention after cesarean section, relying on catheter drainage. She had pale complexion, palpitations, shortness of breath, and profuse spontaneous sweating, lying down tiredly and speaking little. Treated with Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang with modifications: 30 grams raw astragalus, 15 grams talc, 12 grams codonopsis, 10 grams each of stir-fried white atractylodes, rhubarb, bupleurum, angelica, cinnamon twig, *Akebia stem*, fried licorice, and plantago seed (wrapped), 6 grams ginger, 3 jujubes. One dose daily. After three doses, she could void urine spontaneously, though not smoothly, with a feeling of distension in the lower abdomen. Added 10 grams of *Cyperus rotundus* and continued for three more doses until fully recovered.
Postpartum Constipation: A woman experienced difficulty defecating over a month after childbirth, sweating easily with exertion, dizziness, blurred vision, and fatigue. Treated with Gui Zhi Tang with modifications: 24 grams each of white peony root and angelica, 18 grams of hemp seed, 15 grams cinnamon twig, 10 grams fried licorice, 6 grams ginger, 12 jujubes. One dose daily. After three doses, bowel movements became smooth, and sweating ceased.
Postpartum Uterine Prolapse: A farmer’s wife developed uterine prolapse three months after childbirth, worsening with physical labor. She experienced dizziness, shortness of breath, weak waist and knees, and abundant clear leukorrhea. Treated with Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang with modifications: 30 grams fried astragalus, 15 grams each of dodder seed, stir-fried tangerine shell, and cuttlebone, 12 grams each of codonopsis and cooked rehmannia, 10 grams each of stir-fried white atractylodes, rhubarb, bupleurum, fried licorice, and angelica, 9 grams tangerine peel, 6 slices ginger, 5 jujubes. One dose daily. After four doses, dizziness, lower back pain, and uterine prolapse greatly improved. After another four doses, leukorrhea decreased, uterus returned to normal position, symptoms disappeared. Continued with Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan for three months to consolidate recovery.
<Rare Postpartum Conditions>