Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang
Classical TCM Formula Profile
Part of the HJMEDICAL TCM Discovery Center
身痛逐瘀汤 · Shēn Tòng Zhú Yū Tāng
One of Wang Qingren’s Blood-stasis formulas, designed for chronic body and joint pain due to Blood stasis with wind-damp obstruction. Pain is typically fixed and worse with weather change or at night.
Read the complete guide →Quick Facts
- Formula Category
- Blood-Invigorating Formulas
- Primary Pattern
- Blood Stasis
- Primary Function
- Invigorate Blood, move Qi, dispel wind-damp, stop pain
- Primary Therapeutic Principle
- Invigorate Blood, regulate Qi, expel wind-damp and unblock the channels
- Classical Source
- Yi Lin Gai Cuo (Wang Qingren, Qing dynasty, 1830)
- Available as Granules
- Yes
Formula Overview
One of Wang Qingren’s Blood-stasis formulas, designed for chronic body and joint pain due to Blood stasis with wind-damp obstruction. Pain is typically fixed and worse with weather change or at night.
Therapeutic Principle
Traditionally selected for chronic, fixed musculoskeletal pain with Blood-stasis signs, especially when wind-damp features are also present — the channel-pain counterpart to the visceral Blood-stasis formulas of the same family.
Composition: Sovereign, Minister, Assistant, Envoy
Every herb in the formula, grouped by the job it does in the classical hierarchy.
君SovereignTreats the main pattern
臣MinisterReinforces the sovereign
佐AssistantTreats accompanying patterns
羌活Qiang Huo9g
Notopterygium Root- dispels upper-body wind-damp
沒藥Mo Yao6g
Myrrh- supports the formula's treatment strategy in this position
當歸Dang Gui9g
Chinese Angelica Root- nourishes and and gently invigorates blood
五靈脂Wu Ling Zhi6g
Flying Squirrel Feces- invigorates blood and relieves stasis pain
香附Xiang Fu6g
Cyperus Rhizome- courses liver qi and regulates menstruation
牛膝Niu Xi9g
Achyranthes Root- invigorates blood
- guides downward and supplements liver and kidney
地龍Di Long6g
Earthworm- unblocks the channels and extinguishes wind
使EnvoyGuides and harmonises
Classical Composition
- Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae (Qin Jiao) 9g
- Rhizoma Chuanxiong (Chuan Xiong) 6g
- Semen Persicae (Tao Ren) 9g
- Flos Carthami (Hong Hua) 9g
- Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii (Qiang Huo) 9g
- Myrrha (Mo Yao) 6g
- Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Dang Gui) 9g
- Faeces Trogopterori (Wu Ling Zhi) 6g
- Rhizoma Cyperi (Xiang Fu) 6g
- Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (Niu Xi) 9g
- Pheretima (Di Long) 6g
- Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae (Gan Cao) 6g
Dosages follow the classical source and are shown for study, not as a prescription.
Related Conditions
Related Health Topics
Actions
- Invigorates blood
- moves qi
- unblocks the channels and relieves body pain.
Indications
- This formula is indicated for static blood obstructing the channels of the body.
- Signs and symptoms include fixed or wandering pain of the trunk and limbs, dark complexion, and a choppy pulse.
Tongue & pulseThe tongue may show stasis spots.
Traditional Pathogenesis
Cause & mechanism
- This pattern is due to static blood obstructing the vessels and channels.
- Static blood obstructing the channels throughout the body produces wandering or fixed pain of the trunk and limbs.
Clinical presentation
- Stasis produces fixed, stabbing pain that is worse with pressure, dark complexion or clotted menstrual flow, and a dark or spotted tongue.
Treatment strategy
- The correct method is to invigorate blood, dissolve stasis, and free the vessels.
- In this formula the emphasis is to invigorate Blood, regulate Qi, expel wind-damp and unblock the channels.
How does this formula compare?
Clinical Perspective
Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang targets whole-body and joint pain from Blood stasis with wind-damp. Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang focuses on lower abdominal cold-stasis pain. Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang addresses Blood stasis below the diaphragm. Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang is the chest and hypochondriac Blood-stasis formula.
Clinical Differentiation
- Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang is used for static blood obstructing the channels throughout the body.
- The pattern is fixed or wandering trunk and limb pain.
- It is the Wang Qingren formula directed at generalised body pain, distinguished from Xue Fu, Ge Xia and Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang by location.
Safety notes: This formula invigorates blood throughout the channels. It is not appropriate in pregnancy or for bi from exuberant damp-heat alone.
For educational reference only, based on traditional pattern differentiation — not a substitute for professional advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the actions of Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang?
Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang has the actions of invigorating Blood, dispelling Blood stasis, moving Qi, dispelling Wind-Damp, unblocking the channels and collaterals, and relieving pain. It is a classic formula from Wang Qingren’s *Yi Lin Gai Cuo* specifically designed for chronic body pain caused by Blood stasis obstructing the channels.
Which modern diseases is Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang suited to?
Modern TCM clinical practice commonly applies it to individuals whose pattern differentiation falls within Blood stasis obstructing the channels, including chronic musculoskeletal pain, rheumatoid or osteoarthritis with stasis signs, sciatica, lumbar disc herniation, frozen shoulder, post-traumatic or post-injury pain, and certain chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia with fixed, long-standing pain.
Is Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang suitable for improving chronic fixed body or joint pain?
For presentations of shoulder, arm, lower back, leg, or whole-body pain that is fixed in location, long-standing, and often worse at night or with pressure, accompanied by a dark tongue or stasis spots and a choppy or wiry pulse — in those whose pattern differentiation confirms Blood stasis in the channels — TCM commonly applies Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang as an adjunct. It cannot replace standard medical treatment.
Related Products
Nong's Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang (Drive Out Blood Stasis in Body Pain Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules
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Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang: Classic TCM Formula for Body Pain, Blood Stasis & Bi Syndrome
Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang: Classic TCM Formula for Blood Stasis Below the Diaphragm & Abdominal Pain
Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang: Classic TCM Formula for Blood Stasis, Chest Pain & Headache
Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang: Classic TCM Formula for Lower Abdominal Blood Stasis & Menstrual Pain
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Medical Disclaimer
For general TCM education only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified TCM practitioner or licensed healthcare provider before use, especially if pregnant, nursing, on medication, or managing a chronic condition.