Foxtail Sophora Root

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Clears heat and resolves toxin ... regional use of Ku Gan Cao centers on bitter-cold root material for damp-heat and toxic patterns showing inflamed skin, sore throat, or dysenteric bowel complaints.
• Dries dampness and reduces itchy or weeping eruptions ... the root is used in folk and regional medicine for eczema, recurrent dermatitis, and other hot irritated lesions rather than as a gentle tonic.
• Relieves painful swelling in hot obstructive states ... traditional use extends to sore lesions, inflamed tissue, and pain conditions where heat, toxin, or infection-like presentation dominates.

Secondary Actions

• This page stays root-forward even though older indexing often mixes root, whole-herb, seed, and isolated-alkaloid literature under Sophora alopecuroides.
• Ku Gan Cao should not be flattened into Ku Shen ... Sophora flavescens is a separate medicinal with a stronger standard TCM identity and a better-defined pharmacopoeial track.

Classic Formulas

• Regional decoctions pairing Ku Gan Cao with Huang Qin, Pu Gong Ying, or similar bitter detoxifying herbs ... used when damp-heat skin or throat inflammation is prominent.
• Topical wash logic with other heat-clearing herbs ... a practical folk lane for eczema, recurrent dermatitis, or infected-looking skin lesions.
• Heat-toxic dysentery pairings with herbs such as Huang Lian or Qin Pi ... a conservative regional strategy rather than a famous textbook formula.

Classical References

• Modern ethnopharmacology summaries note that multiple parts of Sophora alopecuroides have been used medicinally, but regional root use repeatedly clusters around dysentery, eczema, recurrent dermatitis, and furuncle-type lesions.
• Because the indexed literature often pools root, aerial parts, seeds, and alkaloids together, conservative root-specific wording is more accurate than pretending the modern evidence is perfectly standardized.