Inula Root

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Strengthens the Spleen and harmonizes the Stomach - Tu Mu Xiang is used for chronic weak digestion with poor appetite, abdominal fullness, and lingering discomfort after eating.
• Moves qi and relieves pain - official and regional use includes hypochondriac pain, chest-wall pain, intercostal discomfort, and epigastric pain when constraint and cold stagnation are involved.
• Calms the fetus - in Tibetan and Chinese reference use it may be chosen when qi stagnation and middle-burner disharmony contribute to restless pregnancy.

Secondary Actions

• The current official entry is under Zang Mu Xiang with Tu Mu Xiang as an accepted name, so this page preserves the queue wording while staying anchored to the Inula racemosa/Inula helenium root identity rather than to unrelated `Mu Xiang` look-alikes.
• It should not be confused with the aristolochia-linked `small-nan-muxiang` style names that carry very different safety implications.

Classic Formulas

• Tu Mu Xiang with Chen Pi or Sha Ren - middle-burner qi-stagnation strategy for poor appetite, fullness, and chronic gastritis-type discomfort.
• Tu Mu Xiang with Yan Hu Suo or Xiang Fu - pain-focused pairing when chest wall, flank, or epigastric pain reflects constraint and stagnation.
• Pregnancy-support combinations with Bai Zhu and Sha Ren - traditional logic when fetal restlessness coexists with weak digestion and qi constraint.

Classical References

• Official Chinese references describe Zang Mu Xiang, also called Tu Mu Xiang, as pungent, bitter, and warm, entering the Liver and Spleen to strengthen the Spleen, harmonize the Stomach, regulate qi, relieve depression, stop pain, and calm the fetus.
• The listed indications include chronic gastritis, gastrointestinal dysfunction, intercostal neuralgia, chest-wall contusion pain, and fetal restlessness.
• Its identity sits between aromatic qi-regulating root and Tibetan-style stomach-pain medicine rather than between heat-clearing or phlegm herbs.