Treating External Symptoms

Humans have developed a variety of ways to cope with diseases. In traditional Chinese medicine, problems such as skin abscesses, sores, boils, incision wounds, ulcerated sores, orthopedic traumas, burns and frostbite fall under "external medicine" because the symptoms are manifested externally and are often visible or palpable. The texts presented in this section include Liu Juanzi Zhi Yongju Shenxian Yilun (Liu Juanzi's Abscess Treatment Formulas Bequeathed by Immortals), Weiji Baoshu (The Treasured Book of Health Promotion), Jiyan Beiju Fang (Collection of Proven Formulas for Abscesses of the Back), and Yuzuan Yizong Jinjian (Imperial Edition of the Golden Standard of Medicine). They provide an overview of how people in ancient times treated external symptoms using medicine, acupuncture and anesthetics, as well as surgical procedures such as scraping, cutting, puncturing and bone-setting.