There are differences between ripened and raw Dihuang in terms of flavor, efficacy and indications.
Cooked dihuang is made from raw dihuang through the processing of concoctions. In terms of flavor, cooked Dihuang is sweet, slightly warm, and goes to the liver and kidney meridians; raw Dihuang is sweet and cold, and goes to the heart, liver and kidney meridians. In terms of efficacy, cooked Dihuang has the effect of nourishing yin and tonifying blood, filling in the marrow and benefiting the essence, while raw Dihuang has the effect of cooling the blood and clearing heat, generating fluids and nourishing the yin.
In terms of indications, Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata can be used in treating palpitations, blood deficiency with yellowish color, blood leakage (excessive menstrual flow or dripping) and menstrual irregularities.
It can also be used for liver and kidney yin deficiency, seminal emission and night sweating (abnormal sweating after going to sleep and stopping after waking up), bone vapor and hot flashes (a burst of heat, feeling that the heat is coming from inside the bones to the outside), soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, internal heat and thirst (internal fever accompanied by symptoms such as eating more, drinking more and urinating more); deficiency of essence and blood, insufficiency of the liver and kidneys, tinnitus and dizziness, premature whitening of the beard and hair and other conditions.
Sheng Di Huang can be used for the following conditions: heat entering the camp and blood (the degree of heat invading the body is deep and the symptoms are more serious), warm poisonous spots (warm and hot poison invading the body resulting in spots and plaques on the skin); bleeding from blood-heat; heat disease injuring the yin, internal heat, thirst, and irritable thirst with reddish tongue.
The adverse effects of the two are not yet clear. It is not recommended to use Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata for those with abdominal fullness and loose stools (thin and unformed feces), spleen deficiency and dampness stagnation, and avoid Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata for those with stagnation of qi and phlegm, loose stools with little food, and dampness in the middle (too much dampness leading to fullness of discomfort in the spleen and stomach). Please use the above medicines under the guidance of a doctor, do not use medicines without authorization, so as not to delay the condition of the medicine is not appropriate.