Dahurian angelica

Frontal headache with a heavy, blocked sinus feeling and thin or thick white discharge, worse in cold wind

Pain along the cheek, brow or upper teeth on one side, with a cold, stuffy head and a pale tongue

A red, painful swelling that has not yet come to a head, in a patient who is chilly rather than feverish

Overview. Angelica dahurica, bai zhi, is a stout biennial or short-lived perennial of the family Apiaceae native to Siberia, northern China, Korea and Japan, and cultivated on a large scale in Sichuan, Henan and Zhejiang. The thick, cream-colored, powerfully fragrant root is dug in late summer, sliced and dried. Chinese medicine classes it with the warm, acrid herbs that release the exterior, and it is the leading remedy for headache and congestion along the Yangming channel: the forehead, brow, nose, cheeks and upper teeth. It is also a traditional surgical herb for boils and abscesses, and a drier of dampness in leukorrhea.

Clinical Notes. Bai zhi is the first herb to think of for frontal and sinus headache with congestion, whatever the cause, provided the picture is cold or neutral rather than hot. It combines with xin yi hua and cang er zi for blocked sinuses, with chuan xiong and fang feng for wind-cold headache, and with xi xin for toothache and facial neuralgia.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: warm. Taste: acrid. Channels: Lung, Stomach, Spleen. Actions: Expels wind and dispels cold from the Yangming channel; Opens the nasal passages and relieves frontal headache and toothache; Dries dampness and stops leukorrhea; Reduces swelling, expels pus and relieves pain in sores and abscesses.