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The Qi and Blood of infants are not yet fully consolidated; the foundation of their life span's rise and decline lies entirely in early childhood. Parents who fail to provide diligent care may face severe consequences: premature death or lifelong disability. Therefore, while dietary regulation is appropriate, the administration of medicinal herbs (herbs) must be particularly cautious.

Parents today, upon seeing their children ill, naturally feel anxious. However, due to stinginess with money, they often refrain from hiring a physician for treatment. Instead, they go to a pharmacy (pharmacy), describe the symptoms, purchase medicines, and administer them to their children in hopes of recovery. Lacking medical knowledge and understanding of physiological principles, some act presumptuously, relying solely on folk prescriptions to treat their children based on symptoms. Such treatments cannot possibly yield satisfactory results. Moreover, diseases differ in nature—internal injury versus external contraction, deficiency versus excess, cold versus heat. To use a single type of pill to treat such diverse and complex conditions is something anyone with basic knowledge would recognize as ineffective and likely to exacerbate the illness.

When the correct medicine is used for the corresponding disease, the disease bears the therapeutic effect. However, when medicine is administered without a matching indication, it damages the Yuan Qi (primordial energy). Infants have weak Yuan Qi and limited resistance capacity. Unjustified damage can lead to unpredictable complications. Even if parents later regret their actions, it cannot undo the harm done.

The following examples illustrate the errors of self-medicating children without professional diagnosis, serving as a warning to parents to protect their children's lives inadvertently through caution.

It is common for loving parents, concerned about a child's sallow complexion and emaciation, to frequently administer Fei'er Wan (Fattening Infant Pill, a formula for resolving food stagnation and expelling parasites) or Baohe Wan (Harmonizing Preservation Pill, a formula for harmonizing the stomach and resolving food stagnation). They fail to realize that Fei'er Wan contains many bitter-cold substances that drain and digest. Long-term use damages Yuan Yang (primordial yang) and impairs Stomach Qi (Stomach energy). The intention to fatten the child instead leads to further emaciation; the intention to harmonize instead disrupts harmony.

Similarly, Baolong Wan (Embrace Dragon Pill, a formula for calming fright and resolving phlegm) and other phlegm-resolving and heat-clearing formulas should not be taken lightly or repeatedly. Consider a wealthy family's child who suffered from excessive phlegm-fluids and occasional frightened crying. Whenever the child was ill, regardless of the specific condition, this pill was administered once, resulting in apparent recovery. Regarded as a miraculous elixir, it was given dozens of times consecutively. Upon growing up, the child exhibited intellectual disability, appearing dull and unresponsive. Was this not due to the hidden damage of the Yuan Shen (primordial spirit) caused by cold-natured herbs entering the sensory nerves via aromatic carriers?

Furthermore, commercially available Baochi San (Protect Infant Powder) and Jiujis San (Emergency Rescue Powder) should absolutely not be administered rashly. Both formulas use Baiduoshuang (Croton Seed Frost, processed Croton seed powder) as the sovereign herb, with wind-expelling and phlegm-resolving herbs as assistants. Their nature is extremely fierce; ingestion can induce immediate vomiting if the pathogen is upper, or immediate purgation if lower. Used occasionally for infant food stagnation and phlegm accumulation, they clear pathogens rapidly with minimal harm. However, frequent use causes even greater detriment than previously mentioned formulas. For exogenous febrile diseases transmitted seasonally, such as Sha, Dou, Zhen, and Rhen (various eruptive febrile diseases caused by warm toxins), these are strictly contraindicated. Misuse causes the warm toxin and exogenous pathogen to sink inward immediately, leading to untreatable conditions. No subsequent "miracle drug" can reverse the inward sinking of the pathogen.

Baochi San and Jiujis San are suitable for internal injuries, acute Jing Feng (acute convulsions), or phlegm-fire excess syndromes, utilizing their fierce purgative power to cleanse the body. However, in cases of deficiency syndromes or slow Jing Feng (chronic convulsions), where Spleen and Kidney are severely depleted, the body cannot withstand such harsh medications. The result is that the disease remains while the Yuan Qi collapses first.

Therefore, once a child is diagnosed with an illness, parents must proceed with extreme caution. They must not compromise or hesitate due to cost. A renowned physician must be consulted for targeted treatment. Even if the disease reaches a terminal stage and cannot be cured, the parents will have no regrets. Otherwise, this foolish love assumes all medicines cure all diseases, leading to indiscriminate administration and poor outcomes. When a child is already injured by illness, further medication attacks the body; what is intended as protection becomes harm.