Salvia & Safflower Activating-Blood Medicinal Wine
Ingredients
- Salvia (danshen) and safflower (honghua)—dose varies by version and use (see body; do not copy internal formulas unsupervised)
- Baijiu for maceration
Principle
Salvia dispels stasis, stops pain, and activates blood; safflower activates blood, unblocks menstruation, and disperses stasis. Wine carries the medicinals—main effect is activate blood and free collaterals to stop pain (syndrome differentiation required). **Medicinal wine is still medicine**; internal, external, and compound versions differ sharply.
Effects & uses
Public sources describe distinct versions for dysmenorrhea (internal), neck–shoulder–back external rub, a physician’s personal qi-blood formula, and vasculitis cold-stasis directions—**not interchangeable**. This page organizes sources and risks; **self-brewing for internal use is not encouraged**.
Method
- See version sections below; soak time and dose need a TCM physician by constitution and purpose.
How to use
- Without physician guidance: only consider low-dose, short-soak **external rub** on intact skin for stasis-type pain; **do not internally drink** salvia–safflower wine on your own.
Caution
Contraindicated in pregnancy (safflower may stimulate the uterus). Contraindicated with hypertension, heart disease, alcohol intolerance, or allergy. Avoid or get medical clearance with bleeding tendency or anticoagulants/antiplatelets (warfarin, aspirin)—salvia and safflower increase bleeding risk. Yin deficiency with internal heat often unsuitable for warming internal formulas (e.g. Gao Xiangfu’s warming blend). Versions with processed aconite and asarum are toxic and disease-specific—**do not self-prepare**. Not a substitute for standard treatment.
Source
Diet Therapy for Common Gynecological Diseases; TCM medicinal wine patents; Zhejiang Provincial Zhongshan Hospital Gao Xiangfu experience reports; public encyclopedia compilations. Pending manual verification.