With the development of the economy and the increasing importance of people’s health claims, the use of poultices in clinical practice is increasing. And there are quite a few problems that need to be faced by doctors and cream takers during the period of cream taking. Here, based on my own clinical experience of cream prescriptions for many years, combined with relevant information, I would like to propose the following precautions for your reference. (a) Preservation of the cream formula As the cream formula does not contain preservatives, it must be properly stored. It can be put in the refrigerator or a cool and dry place, not in a warm and humid environment, for example, it is not suitable to put it in the kitchen and the bedroom with air conditioning on. Generally speaking, if the cream is kept as a bottle of honey bottle size, if boiled out in 10 bottles or less, put it in the refrigerator freezer or a cool and dry place, but if more than 10 bottles, it is recommended to put half in the refrigerator freezer and half in the freezer. Take the ones in the freezer first, and if there are only 2-3 bottles left in the freezer, you can take out 4-5 bottles in the freezer to the freezer. In this way, the quality of the poultice can be guaranteed, but also the time of taking. (B) How should the cream be taken The amount of cream to be taken at a time is one tablespoon (usually with the traditional porcelain spoon, not the modern stainless steel spoon), which can be brewed, blended, or held. To take the formula in a cup, put it in a cup of boiled water and stir it well to dissolve. Tune, that is, add yellow wine or water to the cream, stewed in a bowl or cup over hot water, mix well and then take; if the cream is sticky and difficult to melt, use boiling water to stew and melt before taking. Holding, also known as containing, the cream in the mouth, slowly dissolve in the mouth after swallowing. Here are a few reminders: 1. It is best to keep the spoon for taking the cream in a dry state and not to change it around, that is, to fix a spoon for taking the cream. This will prevent the cream from getting damp and deteriorating due to the spoons. 2, as for the brewed or mixed take, can depend on the interest of the recipient. But the holding method is more suitable for chronic throat diseases and esophageal diseases, so that the cream can be in full contact with the lesion. 3, there are many friends may want to see quick results, often do not comply with medical advice, often overdose, such as a dose of two tablespoons, or even three tablespoons, in fact, this is a misconception. Because the dosage form of the cream decided that it can not take effect too fast, that is, there is no soup form of fast effect. Moreover, it is often aimed at the stabilization of chronic diseases, or certain diseases that require long-term use, or for sub-health, physical weakness, etc. Moreover, it is not advisable to take too much at one time because of the high amount of medicine it contains, which will lead to waste, and will also lead to increased gastrointestinal burden and even indigestion. Therefore, it is still recommended to take it in regular doses. (3) The time to take the cream The specific time to take the cream is to take it on an empty stomach, before meals, after meals, before bed, etc. For those who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases or poor spleen and stomach function, as well as those who are sick in the lower jiao and want to make the medicine reach down quickly, it is advisable to take it one hour before meals. For heart and lung diseases and those who are sick in the upper jiao and want to make the medicine stay in the upper jiao for a longer time, it is advisable to take the medicine within half an hour after meals; drugs to nourish the heart and spleen, calm the mind, and sedate sleep are advisable to take 2-3 hours before bedtime. These are conventional situations, but there are many friends with special work nature, such as often on the night shift, or three shifts, or often overtime, etc., there is no need to be too rigid, according to their own situation, flexible control of taking time, but in general, it is recommended to take cream and eating time staggered at least half an hour or so, to avoid indigestion. (D) the problem of avoidance of food during the taking of the cream formula As the cream formula is mainly nourishing, a few to cure the disease, and nourishing cream formula, there are often a large number of nourishing Yin and blood drugs, plus the cream formula and gum, tortoise board gum, even walnuts, red dates, black sesame and other nourishing food, easy to nourish and hinder the stomach, that is, easy to increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract (of course, in general, not. Because when we prescribe according to the cream recipe, we will add a lot of drugs to regulate the qi and stomach to help digestion such as mucuna pruriens, atractylodes, sand, jiao hawthorn, Shen Qu, fried grain buds, fried wheat buds, chicken internal gold, etc.), so, during the period of taking the cream recipe, there are bound to be some problems of avoiding the mouth. Generally speaking, during the period of taking the cream should pay attention to a reasonable diet, avoid cold, greasy, spicy, indigestible and stimulating food (including tea and coffee, especially avoid strong tea). Pay particular attention to avoid sticky food. Speaking of sticky food, many friends do not know much. In fact, sticky food is often related to glutinous rice. Such as the common daily life of siu mai, glutinous rice, eight rice, eight porridge, rice cakes, patties, dumplings, etc., and other such as dumplings are not suitable. That said, but the cream is taken more in winter, and soon to be the New Year, during the New Year, inevitably friends and family often get together, big fish and meat is inevitable, this time my advice is: in the two days of the dinner, the cream is suspended. In addition, a few of the poultices that are mainly for treating diseases also have related taboo issues. This involves two aspects. One is the disease itself, for example, diabetes would have to control sweets, hypertension patients should also pay attention to less salt, less oil and less meat, eczema patients should avoid spicy and irritating food, then these patients should also maintain the corresponding dietary taboos while taking the cream. Secondly, the drugs in the creams for these diseases also have corresponding requirements for diet. For example, the treatment of eczema cream, there are often more heat detoxification and dampness cooling drugs, so, during the taking cream, the diet should be especially light, easy to digest, especially avoid fried nuts food. (E) Can women take poultices during the physiological period or not? Traditional Chinese medicine often recommends that those who take creams should stop taking them during women’s physiological period. In fact, for this issue should be divided into two to see. If a woman’s menstrual cycle, volume and color are normal, then it is better to suspend the cream formula during the physiological period; and if a woman has dysmenorrhea, blood clots, dark menstrual color, etc., the cream formula itself contains drugs to promote blood circulation and eliminate blood stasis, or the cream formula itself takes into account women’s menstrual problems, then there is no need to adhere to the rule that the cream formula should not be taken during menstruation. Of course, for details, please consult your own physician. (6) Under what circumstances should I suspend the prescription? In case of acute infections (e.g. pneumonia, urinary tract infection, cholecystitis, etc.) while taking poultices, it is necessary to temporarily stop taking them. For mild colds with only nasal congestion and sneezing and no systemic symptoms, you can stop taking it or not. If you have a severe cold, headache, sore throat, cough, cold, even fever and other systemic symptoms, you must stop taking it, treat the cold first, and continue to take it only after the systemic symptoms are eliminated. When gastritis and diarrhea occur, it is necessary to stop taking it temporarily. Women who experience excessive menstrual flow or a sudden decrease in menstrual flow should stop taking it temporarily. (Many people like to stay up late watching TV, surfing the Internet, or playing cards during winter, especially during the Chinese New Year. Especially after taking the tonic formula, they think that they have the “tonic” anyway, so they don’t need to pay too much attention to sleep. In fact, this is a wrong view. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine has this to say when it comes to winter: “In March, this is called closed …… early to sleep and late to rise, must wait for daylight”, whether we must wait until the sun comes out and then get up, it varies from person to person, but winter is the season when our body collects qi and blood. It is also for this reason that creams are used more in winter to receive the effect of “winter tonic, come spring tiger”. And early to bed in winter, is also to play a similar role, so do not think that taking the cream, you can stay up late, it is best to go to bed early, so that the effect of taking the cream better. (H) How to deal with the following situation during taking the cream? Even after paying attention to some of the above situations, there will still be a lot of friends due to physical differences, or other reasons, there will be some of the following situations, and if they occur, how should we deal with them? 1. Fire. For example, gum swelling and pain, mouth and tongue sores, eye swelling and red eyes. In this case, you can use a few chrysanthemums, cassia seeds 5 grams, make water as tea, if the symptoms are obvious, you can also add lotus seeds core 3 grams, Chuan Niu Kne 5 grams, honeysuckle 5 grams, you can also use Huang Lian Shang Qing Wan, half a bag each time, for two or three days. Or directly ask a Chinese medicine practitioner for symptomatic treatment. 2. Stomach distension and stomach pain, loss of appetite, belching and acidity, thick and greasy tongue coating, etc. When this happens, look at your tongue in the mirror first. If your tongue is red and your tongue is yellow, then you can use Gastrointestinal Health Capsules. If your tongue is white and your tongue is not red, then you can take Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Soft Capsules, Xiang Sha Liu Jun Wan, Xiang Sha Yang Gastric Pills, or Bao He Wan or Gastric Su Granules. Diet, drink more radish soup, eat some radish skin, or buy some Chen Pi plum, etc., will help. 3, loose stools appear in this case, it is best to eat less fruit, you can eat more yam, especially iron stick yam. Millet porridge, coix rice porridge can be eaten with. If there is a burnt potpourri, broken and brewed, it will also help. 4, body fever feeling, but the body temperature is normal, and do not want to sleep, barely sleep can not sleep Appears in this case, you can use green tea, you can also use: 30 grams of rhizome, dendrobium 10 grams, Danpi 10 grams, Danshen 10 grams, boil water to drink. 5, women increased menstruation, early menstruation This situation, often excessive nourishment, blood has heat, you can try: 30 grams of raw earth, 30 grams of Xianhecao, Dampi 15 grams, red and white peony 15 grams each. Boil water to drink for two days. Also avoid barbecue fried food and hot pot. 6, increased blood pressure, increased blood sugar, increased uric acid, increased blood lipids, etc. In this case, pay attention to whether antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic drugs (including insulin), lipid-lowering drugs are not taken normally? If so, please take them normally immediately! Because creams are not a substitute for these basic therapeutic drugs. Also, check your diet structure for any problems. Of course, when the above 6 conditions occur, firstly we should suspend the cream, secondly, you can follow my suggestion slightly, if the situation is relieved in two days, the cream can still continue to be taken, but the dosage can be reduced.