What it is:
This herb is therhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (family Umbelliferae)which is manly produ-ced in Sichuan Pro-vince. It is collectedin summer,washed cleanafter getting rid ofthe hairy rootlets,baked dry, slice,and used unprepared or stir- baked with wine.

Property:
P ungent in flavour,warm in property, acting on the liver,gallbladder and pericardium channels.

Effects:
Promotingblood circulation and the flow of qi and eliminating windto relieve pain.

Used for:
1. Irregularmens-truation, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, dystocia, postpartum lochiostasis, abdominal pain,etc. Due to the stagnation of qi and blood stasis, and alsopain in the hypochondrium, numbness and pain of the extremities, traumatic injuries, sores and other pyogenic skin infections,etc. It is always used together with Chinese angelica root, and on this basis,other herbss are added according to the syndromes. To regulate menstruation, red peony root and cyperus tuber are added; for dystocia, achyranthes root and tortoise plastron are added; in the treatment of post-partum abdominal pain, it is often used with motherwort, peach kernel and others; for hypochondriac pain, it is often used with bupleurum and cyperus tuber; for numb extremities or traumatic injuries, it can be used withred peony root and safflower; for slow festeringskin infections,astragalus root,honeysuckle flowerand honeylocuts thornare added.
2. Headache and rheumatic arthralgia. For headache due towind-cold, chuanxiongis prescribed with dahurian angelica, ledebouriella root and asarum root, as in Chuanxiong Mixture(Chuanxiong Chatiao San); for headache due to pathogenic wind-heat, chrysan-themum flower, gypsumand batryticated silk-worm are added, as in chuanxiong Powder(Chuanxiong San); forheadache due to wind-dampness, it can bematched with notop-terygium root,ligus-ticum root and lede-bouriella root, as in Dampness Removal Decoction of Notopte-rygium(QanghuoShengshiTang); for headache due to blood stasis,it can be given with red peony root ,safflower, red sage root and dahurian angelica root; for headache due to deficiency of the blood, it can be prescribed with Chinese angelica root,prepared rehmanniaroot, white peony root and chrysan-themum flower; for rheumatic arthralgia,it is often used with ledebouriella root, notopterygium root, large-leaf gentian root and mulberry mistletoe stem. Besides, in recent years, it hasbeen used to treat angina pectoris of coronary heart diseaseand ischemiccerebro-vascular diseases.

Dosage and admi-nistration: 3- 10g, decocted in water for an oral dose. Precautions: It is improper to use this herb in cases of deficiency of qi and yin, consumptivefever with profuse sweat, headache due to hyperactivity of the liver-yang, and profuse menstruation.