Q: What is the medical principle of plaster ?

A: Plaster therapy is one of the most commonly used external treatment methods in traditional Chinese medicine. It follows the principle of TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment and the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, main treatment and meridian treatment. It fully mobilizes the effectiveness of drug coordination and forms the compound of multi flavor drugs to play the good effect of the medicine. As the plaster is directly applied to the body surface, most of the medications make the plaster with strong smell, and then spice is added to the very strong channeling drugs, through infiltrating into the skin, passing through the meridians and viscera, playing the role of regulating qi and blood, through the meridian, the cold dampness, and the swelling and pain. According to modern pharmacological research, black plaster is superior to rubber ointment in absorption and curative effect. However, due to the complexity of the manufacturing process of the black plaster, there is no uniform standard, and it is not easy to carry out quality control, resulting in poor quality of black plasters. Because the production of black plaster is time-consuming and laborious, traditional Chinese medicine hospitals carry out the external application of traditional Chinese medicine, that is, after the Chinese herbal medicine is crushed into honey, vaseline and other substrates, it is fixed with cotton paper and bandage after it is applied in the form of ointment. It is changed every 24 hours, and the cost is high. Black plaster can be used for each 3 to 15 days. Once it is removed, it can be applied again. It will not affect the curative effect, so the cost is low. The traditional Chinese medicine plaster is the application of traditional Chinese medicine to the principle of meridian, the use of drugs to coordinate with each other for the effectiveness of the composition of the large compound of multiple drugs, to play a good effect of the drug. Because the plaster is used for the thin patch of the muscle surface, the thick medicine is taken from the plaster, and the medicine is taken to lead the group of drugs. Therefore, it can permeate the skin to produce anti-inflammatory, analgesic, activating blood circulation, dispersing stasis, dredging meridians, clearing bones, dispelling wind and dispersing cold. The plaster on the body surface stimulates the nerve endings, expands the blood vessels through reflection, promotes the circulation of the local blood, improves the nutrition of the surrounding tissue, and achieves the purpose of eliminating swelling, anti-inflammatory and analgesic. At the same time, the drug penetrated the skin through the skin to subcutaneous tissue and produced the relative advantage of the drug concentration locally, thereby playing a strong pharmacological role. In addition, due to some strong stimulant drugs in the plaster, strong stimulation through the nerve reflex can regulate the function of the body, promote the formation of antibodies, and enhance the immunity of human body. After passing through the skin and mucous membrane, the drug can enter systemic circulation through blood vessels or lymphatic vessels, and can also produce systemic drug action.