Poria cocos has the efficacy of detoxification, removing dampness, and facilitating the joints, and is used to treat conditions such as limb contracture.
Poria cocos is the dried rhizome of Sarsaparilla glabra, family Liliaceae, which is sweet in flavor, light in taste, flat in nature, and belongs to the liver and stomach meridians. Poria has the effect of detoxification, dehumidification, joint facilitation, clinically used in the treatment of syphilis and mercury poisoning caused by contracture of the limbs, tendon and bone pain; damp-heat gonorrhea, bandicoot, carbuncle, scrofula (mainly refers to the cervical lymph nodes tuberculosis), scabies and so on.
Poria cocos is an important medicine for syphilis, and can be used with honeysuckle, Wei Ling Xian, Bai Xian Pi to treat syphilis; with Mutong, Polygonum, Psyllium, can be used to treat feverish drenching (burning and stinging pain in urination, accompanied by urinary frequency and urgency, abdominal traction discomfort); with Cangzhu, Phellodendron Bark, Bitter Ginseng and so on, to treat dampness and heat with subluxation, carbuncle and scrofula, and so on.
If you need to use the drug, it is recommended to use it under the guidance of a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner or pharmacist, and not blindly use it on your own to avoid adverse consequences.