Whether it is suitable to take dry ginger or raw ginger needs to be decided according to the indications, not according to the season, and the medicine should be used according to the doctor’s prescription.
The effects of dry ginger are dispersing cold and warming the middle, warming the lungs and resolving fluid (promoting the flow of stagnant fluid by warming the lungs), and restoring yang and opening the veins. It is used in treating cold limbs and weak pulse, cold pain in the stomach and abdomen (cold pain in the stomach and abdomen), wheezing and coughing with cold drinks, vomiting and diarrhea. Dried ginger should not be taken by people with blood heat (heat evil causing blood to go out abnormally) and internal heat due to Yin deficiency.
Ginger is effective in resolving phlegm and relieving cough, warming and stopping vomiting (treating vomiting caused by stomach cold by warming the spleen and stomach), relieving the surface and dispersing cold (removing cold from the surface of the muscle), and relieving the toxicity of fishes and crabs. It is used for coughing with cold phlegm, vomiting with cold stomach, fish and crab poisoning, wind-cold cold. It should not be used for solid heat and internal heat of yin deficiency.
Dried ginger is different from ginger in that ginger has slower medicinal power, going to the surface and inside, the surface can be sweating to dispel cold, treating wind-cold cold and light evidence, going to the inside can be warmed to stop vomiting, warming the lungs to stop coughing. Dry ginger is stronger, specializing in going inside, good at treating Yang deficiency in cold, phlegm (water metabolism disorders formed by the pathological products) coughing and wheezing.
Therefore, the choice of ginger and dry ginger need to be identified by the doctor according to the indications of the choice, and has nothing to do with the season, should follow the doctor’s instructions for the use of drugs.