In many people’s experience, sore throat, mouth ulcers, and constipation are self-medicated by buying some fire-cooling medicine at the pharmacy or at the hospital, and Niuhuang Jiedu Wan or Niuhuang Shangqing Wan have become their regular medication. Then, can these two drugs be taken arbitrarily for ‘easily getting overheated’? What is the difference between Huanglian Shangqing Wan and Huanglian Shangqing Pian?

In fact, since there are many reasons for ‘easily getting overheated’, including various kinds of real fire caused by wind-cold, wind-heat, and heat-toxin, as well as虚热 caused by Yin deficiency, it is necessary to go through the process of differential diagnosis and medication treatment. Moreover, both drugs contain Niuhuang Wan, which has a good occupying power. Elderly people, pregnant women, or patients with weak spleen and stomach and coldness are prone to diarrhea, damage to Qi, or miscarriage when taking it, so it should be avoided. If medication is taken randomly, it is easy to delay the improvement of the condition and cause pain, or even adverse reactions. Therefore, these two drugs should not be taken as common fire-cooling medicine.

In terms of composition: Niuhuang Shangqing Wan is composed of products such as Forsythia, Chrysanthemum, Peppermint, Schizonepeta, and White Peony to eliminate wind-cold and wind-heat in the upper part of the body, and drugs such as Niuhuang Wan, Scutellaria, Bupleurum, Phellodendron, Gardenia, Lotus Seed Heart, Coptis, and Gypsum Fumariae, as well as羌活, Chuanxiong, White Peony, Raw Rehmannia, Platycodon, Licorice, and Camphor to clear the fire in the triple energizer. Niuhuang Jiedu Wan is composed of drugs such as Niuhuang Wan, Camphor, Realgar, Platycodon, Bupleurum, Licorice, Coptis, and Gypsum Fumariae, which are harmful due to the harmful Realgar, and long-term or excessive consumption can lead to arsenic poisoning.

In treating common problems such as ‘easily getting overheated’ in ordinary people, Niuhuang Shangqing Wan has strong effects in clearing heat and detoxifying, and is good at treating wind-heat in the upper part of the body; it can also clear the excess fire in the triple energizer, relieve pain and inflammation, and mainly treat internal heat caused by heat-toxin, wind-heat swelling, headache and dizziness, red eyes and tinnitus, sore throat, mouth ulcers, gum swelling and pain, constipation. Niuhuang Jiedu Wan has a cold nature and focuses on detoxification and clearing the excess internal fire (different from wind-heat). It is used for toothache, gum swelling and pain, mouth ulcers, and sore throat. Although both drugs have the effect of ‘cooling the fire’, their applications have certain focuses, so it is very important to take medication according to the diagnosis, and fire-cooling medicine should not be used blindly.