Library

The *Yuan Bing Shi* (Treatise on the Original Causes of Disease) states: When a person initially feels the onset of a carbuncle on the back, and the swelling is about to form but has not yet fully consolidated, presenting with redness, heat, swelling, and pain, first cover the affected area with wet paper and observe immediately. The place where the paper dries first indicates the site of consolidation, which is the head of the abscess. Take garlic, slice it to a thickness equivalent to three stacked copper coins, place it on the head of the abscess, and moxibustion with a large moxa cone for three *zhuang*. Then replace with a new garlic slice. If the patient feels pain, continue moxibustion until the pain ceases; if there is no pain, continue until pain is felt, then stop. It is most crucial to detect and treat early. If treated within one or two days of onset, seven out of ten cases can be saved; within three or four days, six or seven out of ten; within five or six days, three or four out of ten. After seven days, moxibustion is no longer effective. If several heads of the abscess grow together in one area, grind garlic into a paste, make it into a thin cake, spread it over the area, and gather moxa on top of the garlic cake to burn. This can also save the patient. If the back initially presents as a patch of redness and swelling with a depression in the center. It is also said: For painful lesions, moxibustion should be continued until the pain stops. This means treating the un-ulcerated area first, which causes pain; then treating the area about to ulcerate, which does not cause pain. For non-painful lesions, moxibustion should be continued until pain is felt. This means treating the necrotic area first, which does not cause pain; then treating the healthy flesh, which causes pain. This is the treatment method for the initial stage of carbuncles and sores.

If various sores have persisted for a long time and formed fistulas, with continuous discharge of pus that is odorless and without internal necrotic tissue, it is particularly suitable to use *Fuzi* (Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata) soaked thoroughly, sliced into large pieces of 2-3 fen thickness, placed on the sore for moxibustion, while simultaneously administering internal supportive herbs (*Neituo* medicine). Repeat moxibustion every two or three days. Within five to seven sessions, the flesh will naturally fill in and heal. In cases with foul-smelling pus and deep-rooted progressive ulceration, Guo's treatment method involves pounding together white flour, sulfur, and garlic. Based on the size of the sore, shape this mixture into a cake approximately 3 fen thick, place it on the sore, and perform twenty-one *zhuang* of moxibustion. Replace the cake after each session. After four or five days, apply *Cuixia Dingzi* (Emerald Cloud Pill) and *Xinxiao Dingzi* (Faithful Efficacy Pill) alternately, inserting them into the sore to remove all necrotic tissue until healthy flesh grows flat. Then, apply external astringent medicines externally and administer internal remedies corresponding to the disease condition. With proper regulation, the patient will recover.