Classic formula · Dispel dampness
Wu Ling San
五苓散 Five-Ingredient Powder with Poria
Five herbs that move stuck water. For swelling, scanty urine, a thirst where water comes straight back up, watery diarrhea, dizziness, and a heavy waterlogged feeling, in a person who is not deeply cold. The everyday water formula, gentle enough for a child's diarrhea.
Water that cannot find the drain. Four herbs open the drain, and one twig of cinnamon warms the pipe just enough for the water to flow.
Also sold as: Wu Ling Wan · Hoelen Five Formula · Poria Five Herb Formula
Who Wu Ling San is for
This formula is chosen for 2 patterns. Match your own picture before you match the name.
Signs it is classically given for
- Swelling of the legs, face, or belly
- Scanty, difficult urination
- Thirst with vomiting soon after drinking
- Watery diarrhea
- Dizziness and a heavy head from fluid
- Headache with fluid retention and a fever that lingers
- Hangover with a swollen face and nausea, when prescribed
- Tongue
- Pale with a white slippery coat.
- Pulse
- Floating, or soft and slippery.
What is in Wu Ling San
Amounts are the classic decoction range in grams. Patent pills use the same herbs in the same proportion, so read the box for these names.
| Herb | Amount | Role | Job in the formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ze Xie Rhizome of Oriental Waterplantain | 15 g | Chief | Water plantain drains water through the urine. |
| Fu Ling Poria | 9 g | Deputy | Poria drains damp and supports the Spleen. |
| Zhu Ling Polyporus Sclerotium | 9 g | Deputy | Polyporus drains water strongly. |
| Bai Zhu Rhizome of Largehead Atractylodes | 9 g | Assistant | Atractylodes strengthens the Spleen so it stops making damp. |
| Gui Zhi Cassia Twig Use caution | 6 g | Envoy | Cinnamon twig warms the bladder's qi so it can turn water into urine. |
How Wu Ling San works
Three drainers open the way out. Atractylodes fixes the Spleen that let the water pool. The small dose of cinnamon twig is the key: without a little warmth the bladder cannot transform water, which is why the person is thirsty and swollen at the same time.
Actions in classic terms
- Promotes urination and drains dampness
- Warms the yang and transforms water
Common changes to Wu Ling San
A practitioner rarely gives the bare formula. These are the classic additions for a specific picture.
- Heat with the water add Yin Chen Hao remove Gui Zhi Toward Yin Chen Wu Ling San for damp-heat jaundice.
- Deep cold with swelling add Fu Zi Toward Zhen Wu Tang.
Cautions with Wu Ling San
- Drying. Not for a dry person with scanty urine from yin deficiency.
- Short courses; long use drains the fluids.
- Swelling that is sudden or one-sided, or comes with breathlessness, needs its cause found.
Forms and typical dose
Sold as teapills, granules, powder, decoction.
- Teapills
- 8 pills, three times a day, the usual label dose
- Course
- A few days to two weeks.
Follow the label of the brand you buy. Pill sizes differ between makers.
Buying Wu Ling San
The box reads Wu Ling San or Wan with the characters 五苓. Five ingredients: Alisma, Poria, Polyporus, Atractylodes, and Cinnamon twig.
Brand comparisons for formulas live on Supplements Apothecary, the buying side of this library.
Formulas often confused with Wu Ling San
- Zhen Wu Tang 真武汤 Adds aconite for swelling with deep cold. Wu Ling San is the lighter, warmer-weather version.
- Ping Wei San 平胃散 Dries damp in the stomach for bloating and nausea, without draining water through the urine.
Conditions where Wu Ling San comes up
Sources
- Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition Composition, actions, indications, and cautions.
Important Note
Formula pages describe classic use so you can read a label, ask a better question, and find the right monographs. They are education, not a prescription. A formula that fits the wrong pattern can make things worse, so match the picture first.