Abdominal cramping treated with TCM herb White Peony Root

What is Bai Shao Yao or White Peony Root?
It was recorded first in "Shen Nong’s Materia Medica", and classified into Bai and Chi Shao Yao since Tao Hongjing. Currently, in terms of medicinal purpose, the former is mostly cultivated while the latter mostly grows in the wild.

Also known as Paeonia sterniana Fletcher in Journ. in the west, the plant belongs to Paeonia genus of ranunculus family, which has been cultivated in China for a long time. It is a perennial herb or subshrub, 50 to 80cm in height, with thick cylinder-shaped, or spindle-shaped sometimes, tuberous root, erect glabrous stem, and sole big flower at the top of cauline branches.

It is collected in Summer and Autumn when it is 3 or 4 years old, rootstalk and fibril removed, washed clean, tertia peeled, slightly cooked in boiling water till turn soft, and dried in the sun. The dried one is cylindrical, straight, in uniform thickness, 10 to 20cm long, and 1 to 1.8cm in diameter. The surface is light reddish brown or pink, flat, or with obvious vertical wrinkles and fibril scars, visible darkbrown blackspot in remnant corkbark, and crosswise lenticels sometimes. Cross section is off-white or slightly brown, with chrysanthemum-heart shaped linear texture in xylem. It is odorless, slightly bitter and sour in taste. By the way, medicinally the preferred one is thick, even, solid, powdery, and clean.

Property and indications
From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is bitter, sour, sweet, and slightly cold and covers meridians of spleen and liver.

Main functions are to nourish blood and soothe liver, regulate menstrual problems, mitigate the severity to stop pain, preserve Yin to hold back sweating. Main usage and indications are pain and cramping in lower abdomen, chest, and flanks, abdominal pain due to dysentery, spontaneous perspiration, night sweat, fever caused by deficiency of Yin, menstrual dysfunction, uterine bleeding, and vaginal discharge, etc. Regular dosage is 10 to 15 grams in decoction.