Knowledge Base/Herbs/Rush Pith
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利水渗湿药（利尿通淋） · Damp-draining; strangury-relieving

Rush Pith dēng xīn cǎo · 灯心草

Junci Medulla (Juncus effusus L.)

Nature and flavour. Sweet, bland, slightly cold; Heart, Lung and Small Intestine systems.

The drug is the dried pith of a rush. Classically described as promoting urination, relieving strangury, and clearing Heart fire to calm restlessness; the classical texts record it for difficult painful urination together with irritability, insomnia and mouth ulcers, and in older paediatric writing for night crying in infants.

性味归经。甘、淡，微寒；归心、肺、小肠经。

用药部位是灯心草的干燥茎髓。传统记载为利尿通淋、清心除烦，古籍用于小便不利、淋沥涩痛而兼心烦不眠、口舌生疮者，儿科古籍亦用于小儿夜啼。

Classical category · no formulas, no dosages, no herb-drug combinations are given.
Safety. Slightly cold in nature; classically avoided where there is cold deficiency or where urination is uncontrolled from qi deficiency, since its action is to drain. Avoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding — reliable human safety data are lacking. Persistent insomnia, or painful urination with fever, should be assessed medically rather than attributed to Heart fire.

性微寒，传统列为虚寒者及气虚小便不禁者不宜 —— 因其以通利为用。孕期与哺乳期避免使用 —— 人体安全性数据不充分。持续失眠或伴发热的排尿疼痛应当就医评估，不宜一概归为心火。

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