Stagnation of blood may result from trauma, stagnation of qi or congestion of liver qi, manifested as pain, abscesses and ulcers, tumors or swollen masses. Bleeding may be due to trauma, deficient yin, arrogant yang, heat in the blood or deficient spleen qi. Cause is the primary factor for choosing an appropriate formula.
Typically, non-animal substitutions biochemically similar to ox gallstone, musk gland and toad secretion will have been made while common domestic animal substitutions will have replaced exotic rhinoceros horn, tiger bone and bear gallbladder.