hua shi

滑石·Talcum

Talcum

About hua shi

Hua Shi (滑石) is talc, a soft mineral, recorded as Talcum. It is sweet and bland in flavour and cold in temperature, entering the Stomach and Bladder channels. The catalogue files it among the substances that drain Dampness.

Names

Pinyin	hua shi
Chinese	滑石
Latin Name	Talcum
English Name	Talcum
Japanese	kasseki
Korean	hwalsok

Classification

Category: Drain Dampness
Channels: Stomach, Bladder
Flavour: Sweet, Bland
Temperature: Cold
Tags: Chinese Herbs, Common

Actions and indications

Promotes urination, drains Heat from the Bladder and expels Damp-Heat (helps pass gravel and stones)

Heat Lin: hot, burning, painful urination that is dark, scanty or dribbling, often with thirst
Diarrhea from Damp-Heat
Damp-Heat at the Qi level: a fever that will not break, a heavy body, thirst and a yellow tongue coat

Clears Summerheat and resolves Damp

Summerheat with Damp: fever and thirst, restlessness, watery stools, and urine that is scanty and hard to pass

Absorbs Damp and clears Heat (topical)

Eczema, damp sores, damp rashes and prickly heat, dusted on as a fine powder

Stops bleeding due to Heat

Bleeding of Heat type

Combinations

dong kui zi
Lower Jiao Damp-Heat with difficult, uncomfortable urination
fu ling + yi yi ren
Damp-Heat diarrhea.
zhi zi + mu tong
Lin syndrome with scanty, dark urine and hot, painful dribbling
shan yao
Upper Jiao Heat with thirst and diarrhea
hai jin sha + shi wei
Difficult and uncomfortable urination arising from Lower Jiao Damp-Heat
zhu ling + ze xie
Stone Lin.
gan cao
Summerheat with fever, thirst, irritability and painful, difficult urination
huang bai + ming fan
Eczema and skin lesions of the Damp-Heat type, applied topically as a powder
huang qin + tong cao
Damp-Warmth with Damp-Heat obstructing the Qi level
huang bai + duan shi gao
Eczema and other weeping skin lesions, dusted on as a powder
mu tong
Heat Lin.
che qian zi + zhi zi + mu tong
Damp-Heat with painful urination and turbid urine
da ji + ce bai ye + bai mao gen
Bloody Lin.
huo xiang + pei lan + zhu ru + zhi ban xia
Vomiting and diarrhea from heatstroke
duan shi gao
Skin disorders, applied topically as a powder

Dosage

Age	Raw	Granule	Tincture	Concentrate	Frequency
Any	9-18 g	—	—	—	—

Cautions

contraindication Spleen Qi deficiency with chronic diarrhea
contraindication Spermatorrhea
contraindication Fluids exhausted by a warm febrile disease
contraindication Excessive urination
pregnancy Use with caution in pregnancy, with professional guidance

Interactions

Drug interactions

Other medicines that affect fluid or electrolyte balance: a precaution only, given its diuretic action; no interaction is documented