Zhi Mu has the effect of nourishing yin and moistening dryness (nourishing yin essence and removing heat), clearing heat and diarrhea (removing heat and fire from the body), which can improve the effect of external heat illness, lung-heat and dry cough, internal heat and thirst (internal fever accompanied by symptoms such as overeating and excessive urination), and intestinal dryness and constipation. Zhi Mu is cold in nature, moist in texture, bitter and sweet in taste, not only good at clearing heat and fire, but also nourishing yin and moistening dryness, often used clinically in combination with Bei Mu for the treatment of lung-heat and dry cough; lung dryness and prolonged coughing with shortness of breath, but also can be used in combination with almonds and Lycopodium; Zhi Mu and Gypsum can be used in combination for the treatment of externally-induced febrile illnesses, high fever and thirst. Zhi Mu also enters the lung, stomach and kidney meridians, and can be combined with Phellodendron Bark and Radix et Rhizoma Dioscoreae to alleviate bone vaporization and tidal fever (a burst of heat, feeling that the heat comes from inside the bones to the outside) caused by yin deficiency and fire exuberance (deficiency of yin essence in the body, resulting in hyperactivity of the deficiency fire). Zhi Mu is also used in combination with Maidong, Dihuang and Xuan Shen to treat constipation caused by intestinal dryness in yin deficiency. Combined with smallpox pollen and Pueraria lobata, it can cure thirst caused by yin deficiency and internal heat. Zhi Mu has the effect of sliding the intestines, so it is contraindicated for people with loose stools and coldness in the spleen and stomach (spleen and stomach weakness and cold). As a traditional Chinese medicine, Zhi Mu should not be used indiscriminately and must be guided by a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.