Lychee

Dull, dragging pain in the groin or testicle that is worse with cold and relieved by warmth and pressure

Period pain that starts before the flow, with a tense lower abdomen, sighing, and breast tightness

Epigastric pain with a cold sensation, belching, and a tight feeling under the ribs after emotional upset

Overview. Litchi chinensis is the lychee, a long-lived evergreen tree of the soapberry family native to southern China and now grown in subtropical orchards worldwide. The sweet white aril is the fruit everyone knows; Chinese medicine uses the hard, glossy brown seed, dried and crushed, as li zhi he. It is a warm, qi-moving seed placed in the Liver and Kidney channels, and its classical work is cold pain in the lower burner: hernia, testicular pain, and painful periods. Modern Chinese practice has added a role in blood sugar management that is still being tested.

Clinical Notes. Reach for li zhi he when pain sits low and cold: a groin or testicular ache that drags, a scrotal swelling in a chilled patient, or period pain with a tense abdomen and a sighing, frustrated mood. It is a quiet qi-mover rather than a strong analgesic, so it is almost always combined.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: warm. Taste: sweet, slightly bitter, astringent. Channels: Liver, Kidney. Actions: Moves Liver qi and disperses cold to relieve pain; Disperses knotted qi in the lower burner, especially the testicles and groin; Warms the middle and settles cold pain in the stomach duct; Regulates qi and blood in the uterus to ease painful periods.