Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell, Bie Jia 鳖甲

Terrapin
Bie Jia (TCM)

Soft-Shelled Turtle
Illustrated natural history of the animal kingdom, Goodrich, 1859

Soft-Shelled Turtle shell, Bie Jia
(Adam, 2017)

Zoological name:

Trionyx sinensis

Parts used:

Dorsal aspect of shell

Temperature & Taste:

Cool, Salty.

Uses:

1. Nourish the Yin, Calms the Rising Yang:

-night sweats, chronic low-grade and tidal fever.
-various joint diseases and calculi.
-Deficient Heat from Overwork, excess sex etc
-“They remove bone heat, and exhaustion heat in the region of bones and sinews”. (Zhen Quan)

2. Moves the Blood and Clears Stasis:

-Swelling of the Liver or Spleen, abdominal masses
-chest pain
-amenorrhea from accumulation of blood.
-excessive menstruation from heat.
-Tumors and Cancer (in Japan the whole Turtle, including the Meat and Shell has been decocted for Cancer).
-“stagnant blood resulting from injuries”. (Zhen Heng)
-“Hard acccumulations with alternating sensations of cold and heat” (Ben Jing)
-“Painful blood conglomeration illness [blood stasis] in the lower back, and hardenings of children below the ribs”. (Bie Lu)

Dose:

Decoction: 9–30 grams
Powder: 1–3 grams

Substitute:

Rehmannia Shu Di Huang with Rehmannia Sheng Di Huang and Paeonia Mu Dan Pi has been recommended as a herbal substitute.

Preparation:

1. Burned Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell:
The shell is cut into pieces and dry-fried until yellow.
This facilitates powdering, reduces smell and makes it easier to digest.
Sometimnes the shell is burned until scorched.
2. Vinegar-fried Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell:
Vinegar fried Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell can be prepared by stir-frying broken pieces of the shell with vinegar until yellowish.
This is better to resolve masses and blood stasis masses.
3. Urine-fried Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell:
When boy’s urine is used instead of vinegar above, it is better for exhaustion and deficienct Heat.

Main Combinations:

1. Liver and Kidney Yin deficiency with Night-sweats, lower back pain, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Turtle Shell (Gui Ban)
2. Low grade Fever, Night sweats, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Lycium bark (Di Gu Pi), Artemeisa Qing Hao
3. Internal Wind from Yin deficiency, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Paeonia Bai Shao, Donkey hide glue (E Jiao), Fossil bones (Long Gu)
4. Hard and immobile masses of the abdomen, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Zedoary, Green Citrus peel (Qing Pi)
5. Amenorrhea with abdominal masses, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Rhubarb and Amber
6. Excess menstruation, Uterine Bleeding:
i. Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Ginger and Chebula (He Zi) (equal parts). Powder, form small pills with wheat flour paste. Take 30 pills on an empty stomach twice daily.
ii. Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Donkey hide glue (E Jiao), Chinese Mugwort (Ai Ye), Dang Gui
7. Painful urination with Stones, roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) in vinegar, powder and take a small spoonful in wine, three times a day. (Zhou Hou Fang)
8. Spitting of Blood, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) and Clam shell powder (30 grams each) are roasted until yellow, Rehmannia Sheng Di Huang (45 grams). Powder and take 6 grams after food with tea. (Sheng Ji Lu)
9. Chronic Malarial disorder:
i. roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia), powder and take a spoonful with wine morning and night, and when the fever is coming. It is stronger if a little Realgar is added. “There is not a single case that does not end as a result”. (Zhou Hou)
ii. Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Bupleurum Chai Hu, Wingless Cockroach (Tu Bie Chong)
10. Childhood Epilepsy:
i. roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia), powder and take 3 grams with Mother’s Milk.
ii. roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia), powder and form Honey Pills. (Zi Mu Lu)
11. Sudden Lower Back pain with inability to raise the head, roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia), powder and take a small spoonful with wine. (Zhou Hou Fang)
12. Difficult Childbirth, roast Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia), powder and take a small spoonful with wine. (Mei Shi)
13. Chronic sores and ulcers, Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) with Astragalus Huang Qi.
14. Sores on the penis “that nobody has been able to cure”, grind burned Soft-shelled Turtle Shell (Bie Jia) to powder, mix with egg white and apply. (Qian Jin Yi)

Major Formulas:

Da Ding Feng Zhu
Qing Gu San
Qiang Hao Bie Jia Tang
Rou Fu Bao Yuan Tang
San Jia Fu Mai Tang

Cautions:

1. Avoid during Pregnancy. “They cause abortion”. (Zhen Heng)
2. Avoid in Cold and weak Stomach

1. [Comparison studies on pharmacodynamics of three kind of Carapax trionycis].
2. Protective effect of Trionyx carapax on CCl4-induced hepatic injury is mediated by uracil.
3. Oral Administration of a Hot Water Extract of the Softshell Turtle (Trionyx sinensis) Improves Exercise Performance.
4. A combination of soft-shell turtle powder and essential oil of a unicellular chorophyte prevents bone loss and decreased bone strength in ovariectomized rats.