The term “砂仁后下” refers to the fact that sand nuts need to be decocted after other medicines.
Sand nut is one of the common medicines for resolving dampness in clinical practice, which has the effects of resolving dampness and moving qi, warming the middle and stopping diarrhea, and settling the fetus, etc. It can be used for treating epigastric distension and pain (distension and pain in stomach and abdomen), vomiting, diarrhea, and restlessness of the fetus.
Sand nuts have an aromatic odor, and when the decoction time is too long, it will easily lead to the volatilization of its active ingredients and reduce the efficacy of the drug, thus it is necessary to put sand nuts into the Chinese medicine soup 5 to 10 minutes before the decoction is ready, so as not to affect the specific therapeutic effect of the drug.
Clinically, there are other common medicines such as peppermint, Elsholtzia, wood, nutmeg, artemisia, and so on. Chinese medicine should be used correctly under the guidance of a professional Chinese medicine practitioner, and should not be used by oneself to avoid adverse consequences.