Ligusticum chuanxiong, with the efficacy of activating blood circulation, promoting qi circulation, dispelling wind and relieving pain (dissipating wind evils and relieving pain in the muscles and bones), can be used for treating headache, menstrual disorders, and paralysis of wind-cold-dampness (paralysis of limbs caused by wind, cold, and dampness that invade the human body), and so on.
Ligusticum Chuanxiong is the rhizome of Rhizoma Ligusticum Chuanxiong in the genus Ligusticum of the family Umbelliferae. It is warm in nature, pungent in taste, and belongs to the Liver, Gallbladder and Pericardium meridians. It has the effects of invigorating blood stasis and removing stagnation of blood (to promote blood circulation and eliminate stagnation of blood in the body), promoting the flow of qi and opening up the depression and dispelling wind to relieve pain.
It can be used to treat menstrual disorders, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, post-partum abdominal pain caused by blood stasis and Qi stagnation, as well as treating masses, pain in the abdomen and ribs, headache and dizziness, and also treating wind-cold-dampness-paralysis, bruises, carbuncles (a kind of poisonous sores, acute suppurative diseases occurring on the surface of the body, the limbs, and the internal organs) sores and ulcers and so on.
Note that Chuanxiong is pungent and warm, and is contraindicated in headaches due to yin deficiency and hyperactivity (deficiency of yin fluid and hyperactivity of yang qi), and should not be used with caution in cases of excessive sweating or menorrhagia. If you want to use Chuanxiong, it is recommended to ask your doctor and use it under his/her supervision.