II. A Word about TCM Proprietary Medicine

Besides getting a prescription of Chinese herbs that you would make into a decoction as listed above, there are many Chinese proprietary medicines on today's market that contain a myriad of ingredients. Generally speaking these drugs may be classified into three categories:

1. The superior category is considered to be mineral or chemical products; they are potent and can exert an instantaneous effect on sexual response.
   

2. Spotted deer is one of the most renowned and popular sexual tonics in TCM.

   The second category includes animal products such as dried organs or insects, which are believed to possess some hormonal effects. Drugs in this category are less effective than the above one and may be made from endangered species.
   
3. The third category includes general herbs with tonifying properties. These drugs provide an extensive effect on sexual enhancement and can either invigorate the sexual organs, replenish essence or promote recovery . They are mild in side effects and may take time to see their effects.

Today most of the popular pills belong to the first category and work by strengthening yang as a way of boosting the kidney function. This means they can accelerate the exhaustion of kidney essence and can make an impotence problem worse in the long run if they are used improperly.

Some examples of proprietary medicines sold are:

1. Yang Enhancing Pill (§§¶§ÀtÄÖ¤Y)
Indication : Impotence due to a kidney deficiency.

Rhizoma Rehmanniae Praeparate	Rhemannia root (processed)	Shu di
Fructus Lycii	Chinese wolfberry fruit	Gou qi chi
Radix Polygonia	Fleeceflower root	He shou wu
Fructus Rosae Laevigatae	Cherokee Rose Fruit	Jin ying zi
Herba Epimedii	Epimedium	Xian Ling Pi
Fructus Cnidii	Common Cnidium fruit	She chuang zi
Ca2(Mg, Fe)5Si8O22(OH)2	Actinolite	Yang qi shi
Semen Cuscutae	Dodder seed	Tu si zi
Rhizoma Cibotii	Cibot Rhizome	Gou ji
Herba Cynomorii	Songaria cynomorium herb	Suo yang
Syngnathus	Pipe fish	Hai long
Radix Morindae Officinalis	Morinda Root	Ba ji tian
Semen Astragali Complanati	Flatstem Milkvetch seed	Sha yuan zi
Cortex Eucommiae	Eucommia bark	Du zhong
Rhizoma Dioscoreae	Fresh Chinese yam	Shen Shan yao
Radix Codonopsis	Pilose asiabell root	Dang shen
Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparata	Liquorice root (processed with honey)	Jiu gan cao

Preparation: The above ingredients are ground and mixed with honey and made into pills of 9g each. Take one pill twice daily, in the morning and evening.

In the prescription, rhemannia, wolfberry and fleeceflower nourish the kidney yin. Cherokee rose helps the kidneys to consolidate essence. Epimedium, cnidium fruit, actinolite, dodder seed, cibot, cynomorium, pipe fish, morinda root, flatstem milkvetch seed and eucommia bark tonify the kidney yang. Chinese yam, asiabell root and liquorice root benefit qi (vital energy) and enhance the middle burner. The whole combination acts together to replenish the essence contained in the kidneys. It is suitable for impotence due to a kidney deficiency.

2. Black Dragon Pill (¯QÀs¤Y)
Indication : Psychogenic impotence.

Aspongopus	Jiuxiang bug	Jiu xiang chong
Cortex Eucommiae	Eucommia bark	Du zhong
Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae	Dried tangerine peel	Chen pi
Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae	Large head atractylodes root	Bai shu
Semen Plantaginis	Plantain seed	Che qian zi

Preparation: The above ingredients are ground and mixed with honey and made into pills of 5g each. Take one pill twice daily with soup or salty wine before meals or sleep.