Interior Warming Chinese Medicinal Herbs
Any medicinal herb that has the ability to warm up the interior and dispel cold to act on internal conditions is known as the interior warming Chinese medicinal herbs.

The category of medicinal herbs are warm and heat in nature, and can expel interior cold and invigorate yang-qi. They are indicated for syndrome due to invasion of cold into the interior which affects yang-qi; or cold conditions in the interior due to yang weakness manifested as cold and pain in the chest and epigastric abdomen, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and dysentery, chillness with cold limbs, and clear and profuse urine, etc.. Some of them can recuperate the depleted yang and rescue the patient from collapse, and are indicated for syndrome of yang exhaustion. In addition, some can warm the lung to resolve retention of phlegm, warm the liver to treat colic, lower the adverse-rising qi to relieve hiccup, and can be used for cough due to lung-cold, colic and vomiting due to stomach-cold, cold and pain in the epigastric abdomen.

They must be used in proper combination according to different syndromes. For yang deficiency with interior cold, they should be combined with yang tonifying medicinal herbs; for syndrome of yang exhaustion and collapse of qi, combined with Renshen (Radix Ginseng) to tonify qi and treat collapse of qi; for cold accumulation and qi stagnation, combined with qi circulating medicinal herbs; for water retention due to yang deficiency, combined with the medicinal herbs for inducing diuresis and eliminating the dampness.
They are pungent, hot and dry in property and can help fire injure yin if they are used improperly, therefore they are contraindicated for heat syndrome and yin-deficiency syndrome, and used with caution in yin deficient and bleeding patients and pregnant women.