ge qiao

Name: ge qiao
Creator: Bencao Index

蛤壳·Concha Meretricis seu Cyclinae

Clam Shell

About ge qiao

Ge Qiao (蛤壳) is the clam shell, recorded as Concha Meretricis seu Cyclinae. It is bitter and salty in flavour and cold in temperature, entering the Lung and Stomach channels. The catalogue files it among the substances that transform Phlegm and stop coughing.

Names

Pinyin	ge qiao
Chinese	蛤壳
Latin Name	Concha Meretricis seu Cyclinae·Meretricis
English Name	Clam Shell
Japanese	kaigokaku
Korean	hapgok

Classification

Category: Transform Phlegm Stop Coughing
Channels: Lung, Stomach
Flavour: Bitter, Salty
Temperature: Cold
Part used: Animal
Family: Veneridae
Tags: Chinese Herbs, Common

Actions and indications

Clears Lung Heat, transforms Phlegm and descends Lung Qi

Phlegm-Heat or Phlegm-Fire cough and wheezing: thick yellow sputum that is hard to cough up, with pain in the chest and ribs
Cough, asthma, bronchitis

Softens hardness and dissipates nodules

Goiter, thyroid nodules and scrofula from Phlegm-Fire

Promotes urination and drains Damp (mild)

Milky Lin: cloudy, painful urination, with vaginal discharge
Superficial edema with difficult urination
Phlegm-Damp (Tan Yin), and Phlegm that lingers or persists

Neutralises stomach acid and relieves pain (calcined and powdered)

Acid regurgitation and epigastric pain from too much stomach acid
Gastric and duodenal ulcers
Hemorrhoids and bloody dysentery

Combinations

huang qin + gua lou ren + jie geng
Phlegm-Heat blocking the Lungs: wheezing, a stifling chest, and cough bringing up sticky yellow sputum
gua lou + zhi mu + zhi zi + qing dai
Phlegm-Fire causing wheezing, cough and chest pain
qing dai
Lung Heat with bouts of coughing, sticky sputum that is hard to bring up, rib pain, a bitter taste and red eyes
fu shi + bai qian + sang bai pi
Phlegm-Fire blocking the Lungs, causing wheezing and cough
kun bu + hai zao + wa leng zi
Goiter and scrofula.
dong kui zi + mu tong
Painful urinary dysfunction.
huang bai
Vaginal discharge.
hai piao xiao + yan hu suo + gan cao
Excess stomach acid; duodenal and gastric ulcers
fu ling + zhu ling + hua shi
Urinary dysfunction with superficial edema
gua lou
Phlegm-Heat with Qi constrained and clumped, causing a stifling chest and cough with thick yellow sputum; on its own as a complete formula, chest pain from Phlegm and thin mucus

Dosage

Age	Raw	Granule	Tincture	Concentrate	Frequency
Any Fresh, calcined or roasted: 3-16g place in a cheesecloth bag before decocting; Powders and Pills: 1-3g	3-16 g	—	—	—	—

Cautions

contraindication Cold from deficient Lung Qi
contraindication Yang deficiency
caution Made from a mollusc shell: not suitable for strict vegans, and anyone allergic to shellfish should be told its origin
caution Mostly calcium carbonate, so it adds a real calcium load: anyone with hypercalcaemia, kidney stones or poor kidney function, or who already takes calcium tablets or calcium antacids, should check with their prescriber
caution Surveys of market material rate this shell at high risk of cadmium contamination, and have found microplastics in marine-derived medicines including it
caution Has to be crushed and cooked first to yield much to a decoction; not suited to casual self-dosing

Interactions

Drug interactions

Medicines that need an acid stomach for absorption: like a calcium carbonate antacid, it raises gastric pH and may reduce their uptake (inferred from composition)
Levothyroxine, iron salts, bisphosphonates, and quinolone or tetracycline antibiotics: calcium can bind them in the gut so less is absorbed (inferred from composition, not measured for this herb)

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