Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
*Corresponding author: Xiaoya Wei
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
Email ID: 63040316@qq.com
Received: Dec 27, 2024
Accepted: Jan 16, 2025
Published Online: Jan 23, 2025
Journal: Annals of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Copyright: Wei X et al. © All rights are reserved
Citation: Wei X, Xia X, Ma S, Liu R, Wang H, et al. Exploration of the historical inheritance and modern application of Chinese medicinal bathing. Ann Tradit Chin Med. 2025; 2(1): 1005.
This paper discusses in depth the historical evolution, modern research and application of herbal medicinal baths. The development history of herbal medicinal baths is sorted out, the mechanism of action of herbal medicinal baths is elaborated, and its application in the field of modern medical treatment and the characteristics of medicinal baths of various ethnic groups are analyzed. The Chinese herbal medicinal baths have been developing and progressing in the historical evolution, and have shown a broad application prospect in modern medicine.
Keywords: Chinese herbal medicinal bath; Modern application; Historical heritage.
As one of the treasures of China’s traditional medicine, Chinese herbal medicinal baths have undergone thousands of years of development, evolved continuously in the long river of history and demonstrated unique application value in modern medicine. In this paper, we will discuss the historical evolution of Chinese herbal medicinal baths and the modern application areas, in order to provide reference for its further research and development.
Chinese herbal baths, a traditional therapy with a long history, play an indispensable role in the prevention and treatment of diseases. The medicinal bath is a key means of external treatment, rehabilitation therapy and nursing care, and belongs to the category of external therapy of traditional Chinese medicine. Under the guidance of the basic theory of Chinese medicine, the Chinese medicine bath analyzes the function of Chinese medicine, changes in the natural environment, the operation of life and other aspects of the characteristics of the problem from a dialectical point of view, according to the course of disease occurrence and development of the selection of traditional Chinese medicines, and to match and formulate a formula, after appropriate immersion and decoction made of medicinal broth for the whole body or a local bath, or the use of the steam produced by boiling the whole body of the patient or a local fumigation in order to achieve the purpose of body care and disease prevention and treatment. The purpose of prevention and treatment. The medicinal bath has the advantages of simple medication, good patient compliance, and a wide range of indications, and is favored by patients. It is worth noting that in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, due to different regional climatic and environmental conditions, these local residents present different types of diseases. These ethnic minorities have explored the culture of medicinal bath with national characteristics by combining local natural herbal resources. At the same time, there has been significant development in the formulation and compounding of medicinal baths, their clinical application and modern preparation techniques, which play a key role in the treatment of a wide range of diseases, especially skin diseases.
The origin of Chinese medicine bath therapy can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period, when fragrant soup was an early form of medicinal baths, which were mainly used for treating sores and swollen poisons. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Book of Rites suggested that if there were sores on the head of the human body, tonics could be used to wash the head; and if there were sores on the body, tonics could be used to bathe the body. The “Formulas for Fifty-two Diseases” also contained a number of medicinal baths, utilizing lei pills to treat epilepsy and bamboo leaves boiled in water to fumigate burn scars for the treatment of corresponding diseases. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine suggests that abnormalities arising from external environmental influences and the invasion of pathogenic organisms within the body can be treated by bathing in tonics, thereby opening the pores of the body and using sweating to combat disease and increase immunity. And based on this inheritance and development, the hot water into the container, placed in a specific part of the body, which can make the local skin and muscle tissue heating, play a role in improving local circulation, this method is called “soup ironing”. Zhang Zhongjing’s “Treatise on Typhoid Miscellaneous Diseases” of the Eastern Han Dynasty expanded the scope of the use of Chinese herbal medicinal baths, and innovated a variety of methods such as sitz baths, foot baths, and fumigation on the basis of bathing, soup ironing, fumigation, and drenching. In traditional medicine, the indications of traditional Chinese medicine bath method are mostly seen in the external treatment of sores and poisons, and the decoction of mistletoe bark is also used in the treatment of multiple surgical diseases in the “Post-elbow Preparation for Emergencies” written by Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, there were new developments in medicinal bathing, with many prescriptions for medicinal bathing in Taiping Shenghui Fang, and new treatments for gynecology, pediatrics, and ophthalmology were added, expanding clinical applications and health care thinking. Sun Simiao also recorded medicinal baths in Qianjin Yaofang and Qianjin Yifang, as well as Wang To’s Waidai Mysteries, advancing the development of the types, formulas, and clinical applications of Chinese medicinal baths. The General Record of Sheng Ji suggests that in the process of skin disease treatment, the external means of treatment should be combined with the internal functioning of the internal organs in the process of tissue treatment from the outside. Hua Tuo “Secret Biography of the Divine Physician” suggests that sores and poisons generated on the skin surface can be extracted from xionghuang, fengfeng, jingzhi, bitter ginseng and boiled into a soup for external cleansing to treat the disease. Jin Yuan period, the development of Chinese medicine bath method also involves the field of beauty care. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a large number of works containing medicinal baths for the treatment of internal and external diseases appeared, including “Returning to Spring for Ten Thousand Diseases” and “Compendium of Materia Medica”. In the late Qing Dynasty, the famous doctor Wu Shiji’s “Li Bo Pian Wen”, a collection of external treatment of internal and external diseases in China, divided the Chinese medicine bath method into fumigation, immersion, bathing, scrubbing, drenching, sitting baths and other therapeutic methods. Chinese medicine surgical disease treatment and Chinese medicine internal disease treatment learn from each other, combining internal and external treatment of diseases, and laying a theoretical foundation for further expanding the application of Chinese medicine medicated bathing method. On the basis of traditional medication, Chinese herbal medicinal baths are involved in the fields of cosmetology, prevention, medical treatment and health care, such as the clinical treatment of acne with the aid of heat-clearing Chinese medicines such as Maoduozuan and Zihuadidian; they can also be combined with sauna and massage to relieve fatigue and improve sleep.
Mechanism of action of Chinese herbal baths
Chinese medicine in the process of using Chinese medicine bath, the drug will be absorbed into the body through the skin pores with the help of skin surface, with the help of body fluid circulation and blood circulation on the surface of the body acupuncture points and meridians with activation; at the same time, the process of medicinal baths makes the drug into the muscles, through the blood circulation to the whole body, and at the same time, can reach the body’s internal tissues and organs, so as to adjust the body’s system of running in a harmonious and orderly manner, and thus increase the body’s Vitality and immunity.
Modern medical research reveals that the natural ingredients in the medicinal solution not only play an antibacterial and antiinflammatory role on the skin surface, but also can be absorbed transdermally through the sweat glands, mucous membranes and capillaries, realizing local or systemic therapeutic effects. In addition, medicinal baths increase body temperature through passive means, and the increase in body temperature helps to strengthen immunity. For the nerve endings and receptors under the skin, after being stimulated by the medicinal liquid, they can reflexively regulate the functions of nerves, body fluids and circulation, thus improving the body’s ability to resist disease and repair. At the same time, under the hydration of the stratum corneum, the medicinal bath enhances the drug activity and penetration and diffusion and promotes the drug to enter the blood circulation, thus stimulating certain immunoglobulins of the body to increase and gather to the diseased area, accelerating the metabolism, thus enhancing the immunity of the organism, and achieving the therapeutic effect of internal and external co-treatment.
For the treatment of localized diseases, traditional Chinese medicine bath method in the treatment of localized diseases, often using external application or external washing treatment of the affected area. In this process, the drugs directly contact the skin, in the local lesions can be directly absorbed, and at the same time, the drug concentration can be effectively controlled, and the local skin diseases have obvious effects of dispelling wind and relieving itching, detoxifying and eliminating swelling, and dispelling decay and regenerating muscles. Chinese medicine medicinal bath can not only circulate the whole body through the meridian or blood circulation system, but also coordinate the various organs and improve the immunity of the body, especially in the overall rehabilitation of all kinds of diseases in the process of treatment and care is widely used. Chinese medicine foot bath therapy can stimulate the soles of the feet, promote vasodilation and accelerate the body’s metabolism. Herbal footbaths can also be combined with other Chinese medicine therapies, using a cocktail of therapies, so that significant therapeutic effects can occur. Chinese medicine foot bath with acupuncture treatment of insomnia efficacy; Zhuang medicine line acupoint moxibustion combined with Yao medicine foot bath helps maternal postpartum recovery and better results; Mongolian medicine bath yin and blood circulation method for the treatment of diabetic peripheral vascular lesions, the results show that the total effective rate of the therapeutic group, the quality of life is higher than that of the control group; Tibetan medicine five flavors of manna medicinal bath particles for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, found to be through the multi-constituent, multi-targeted, multi-pathway synergistic In the treatment of rheumatic diseases, it was found that it was involved in the regulation of immunity, inflammation and apoptosis through multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway synergy.
Clinical applications of Chinese herbal medicated baths
Chinese herbal medicinal baths are widely used in clinical practice in their diverse forms, including drenching, scrubbing, rinsing, immersion, sitz baths, fumigation and compresses. Foot bath, as a common form, is often supplemented with herbs such as dried ginger, saflower, peppercorns and mugwort leaves to achieve the therapeutic effects of warming yang, dispersing cold and activating blood circulation. Some new dosage forms of medicinal bathing methods have also been reported in recent years. Li Huixia et al. studied the application of immersionfree medicinal bath method in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients and found that it had a better effect of body surface disinfection. In clinical application, firstly, the medicinal bath formula should be selected according to different seasons and patients’ physique and condition, and the corresponding medicinal bath method should be adopted. In the process of decocting the medicinal solution, there are strict requirements for the bath equipment, temperature and time, and the sensitization and irritation of the medicinal solution need to be strictly controlled.
The clinical application of Chinese medicine bath method is wide, with unique health care and therapeutic effects, widely used in surgery, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics and ophthalmology diseases, especially skin diseases (eczema, gray nails, rheumatoid diseases, etc.). Chinese medicine bath method to avoid the stimulation of the digestive tract of the oral administration of drugs, patient compliance is better, and its essence with the internal treatment method is to support the positive to eliminate evil, improve the body’s immunity, so also applies to the old and young weak body, attack and supplement difficult to give the time or refused to take medication. Because of its selection of drugs are often pungent and dispersing products, so it can promote the coupling, internal regulation of internal organs, not only for sores, ulcers, swollen poisons (“rash”, “ringworm”, “warts”, “scabies”), but also to promote the development of the body’s immune system, and to improve the body’s immune system. Scabies”), can also be used for diseases of the internal organs (cirrhosis ascites, renal edema, jaundice). In short, in the clinic of various acute and chronic diseases or beauty and health, Chinese medicine bath method have prevention and cure effect. The simplicity and ease of drug selection, gentleness and safety, and wide range of applications are the reasons why Chinese herbal medicinal baths have flourished and are still in use today.
Folk medicine bath
China, as a multi-ethnic country, has fifty-six ethnic groups, each of which, according to their own living environments and therapeutic habits, has derived distinctive medicinal bathing methods, which not only enrich the application of medicinal bathing, but also embody the progress of ethnomedicine. On the basis of enriching the application and research of medicinal bathing, the culture of ethnic minority medicinal bathing has provided reference for the application and resource development of Chinese medicine in various fields.
The formation of Tibetan medicinal baths is based on the five sources of Tibetan medicine and the theory of the three causes. The five sources of Tibetan medicine recognize the effects on life from the characteristics of land, water, fire, wind, and air, and at the same time analyze the forces that drive the body’s inner workings, gradually developing Tibetan medicinal bath therapy. The Tibetan medicinal bath borrows the idea that water can nourish life, and the combination of water and medicines can produce a variety of effects in the body, thus guiding the body into a state of harmony and health, and achieving harmony between the operation of life and the changes in the natural world. The practice of Tibetan medicinal baths produces natural hot springs, water baths, compress-type medicinal baths, fumigation baths and other methods. In the Tibetan medicinal bath, the commonly used basic formula is “Five-flavored Manna Bulk,” including ephedra, water cypress leaves, azalea leaves, cypress leaves, and the five natural plants of the bush yellow chrysanthemum, and on the basis of these five herbs, the combination of the drugs presents the functional attributes and clinical properties from the symptoms of the disease as well as the nodes in which they are located, so that the use of the drugs can be increased or decreased immediately. Tibetan medicinal bath is mainly used for the treatment of skin diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.
The development of Mongolian medicine inherits and carries forward the concepts of traditional Tibetan medicine, while combining the characteristics of the Mongolian people as nomadic herdsmen living in the alpine region. Mongolian medicinal baths are similar to Tibetan medicinal baths in terms of “five flavors of manna” and the concept of using medicines is also the same. The Mongolian medicinal bath is more strict on the selection standard of natural herbs and the processing and concocting of herbs, and is mainly used to treat sprains, spleen and stomach diseases, diabetes and other diseases.
The Yao people in China live in the mountains south of the Qinling Mountains, where the daily life is characterized by cold and high humidity; at the same time, Yao people often suffer from poisonous snake bites as well as insect bites, and the Yao medicinal baths are mainly for health care. Yao medicinal bath is characterized by convenient medicine collection, convenient operation, wide application and remarkable curative effect, and commonly used herbs such as cinnamon stick, mulberry stick, hook vine and chicken blood vine. After entering the body, the components of rattan and branches have the effect of raising body temperature, expanding blood vessels, dredging meridians, relaxing muscles and dispelling cold, and are commonly used to treat diseases caused by cold and dampness in the clinic.
Compared with the Yao people who also live in the south, the Zhuang people living around Guangxi are often affected by the high humidity and high heat environment, where high humidity and high heat currents will constantly attack the skin. The Zhuang medicinal bath method selects traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as sumac, turmeric, saffron dan, Haitongpi, etc. With the help of medicines that can stimulate cellular vitality, elevate body temperature, and open up the meridians and channels, thus accelerating the effect of blood circulation, it is suitable for pain in the waist and legs, rheumatic diseases and so on.
The Dai area in China is located in the tropical rainforest area with abundant produce and rainfall, and is rich in natural medicinal herbs. The formula of Dai bathing comes mainly from the Bayeijing, and the core of Dai bathing is “Dai Baixie”, which has the effect of preventing and treating many kinds of diseases. The Dai medicinal bath has requirements on bathing time and temperature, and by adjusting the bathing temperature, bathing time and concentration of medicines for many times, the expansion and contraction of blood vessels can be adjusted so as to achieve the prevention of various cardio-cerebral and cerebral vascular diseases, the elimination of toxins from the body, and the realization of the purpose of rehabilitation and care of the body.
Throughout the development history and rich clinical experience of Chinese medicine and various ethnic medicines in the field of medicinal bathing, medicinal bathing is undoubtedly an important part of the treasure trove of Chinese medicine, which is highly respected and loved by the public. Along with the development of modern medicine, the research of Chinese medicine on medicinal bathing has also made significant breakthroughs. The modern research on Chinese medicine medicinal bath has drawn on the transdermal absorption research means of modern pharmacology, conducted in-depth research on its mechanism of action, and combined the external treatment technology of Chinese medicine with modern medical technology to broaden the scope of application of medicinal bath. In the history of the development of medicinal bathing, ethnic minorities with different styles and different environments based on the ethnic medicinal bathing to fill the gaps and deficiencies in the culture of traditional Chinese medicine medicinal bathing, it is worthwhile to further in-depth study and inheritance and development.
Chinese herbal medicine bath has unique advantages. Its unique route of drug delivery avoids the first-pass effect of the liver and reduces toxic side effects, which is similar to internal treatment. The way of drug delivery in medicinal bath is more direct, and the drug can reach the lesion site faster and play a therapeutic role. The medicinal bath can also be used to treat systemic diseases and adjust the function of internal organs through local bathing, with the dual therapeutic effects of medicines and acupoints, and different medicines and formulas can be selected according to different types of diseases and conditions for personalized treatment. In addition, Chinese medicine bath is easy to use, no special equipment, drugs are cheap and easy to get, the therapeutic effect is remarkable, patients are happy to accept.
In conclusion, as a traditional Chinese medicine therapy, Chinese herbal medicinal bath has been developing and progressing in its historical evolution, and has shown a broad application prospect in modern medicine. With the in-depth research and continuous innovation of Chinese herbal medicinal bath, it is believed that it will make a greater contribution to the health of mankind.