Xu Duan Tang 續斷湯

Xu Duan Tang™ is a Si Jin Bao proprietary concentrated decoction formulated in 1999 and named for its principal herb — Xù Duàn (續斷), literally “to reconnect what has been severed.” The herb’s classical reputation in Chinese medicine is unmatched for fractures, torn ligaments, dislocations, and the broader category of injuries where bone, sinew, and connective tissue need to knit back together. Built around this herb and reinforced with the classical trauma pair of Frankincense and Myrrh, two thousand years of orthopedic Chinese medicine sits in a single bottle.

The formula is taken internally. Where topical preparations like Trauma Paste™ and Revive™ work from the outside in — reaching the injured tissue through the skin — Xu Duan Tang™ works from the inside out. It tonifies the Liver and Kidneys (the classical anatomical home of bone and sinew), invigorates Blood to clear stagnation at the injury site, generates new flesh and tissue, and reconnects the architecture of the body where trauma, surgery, age, or chronic overuse has compromised it.

This is the formula clinicians reach for when an injury requires constitutional support — not just symptom relief. Used alone for internal trauma work, or paired with topical Trauma Paste™ for high-velocity injuries and acute trauma, or with Revive™ for chronic joint and tendon presentations. The internal work and the topical work amplify each other; the protocol depends on the case.

The TCM pattern Xu Duan Tang™ addresses spans the full orthopedic spectrum: traumatic injury with Blood stasis in the acute phase, incomplete healing with Liver-Kidney deficiency in the subacute phase, and chronic Bi syndrome with sinew-and-bone weakness in the constitutional phase. The same formula meets all three because the underlying architecture — bone, sinew, and the Liver-Kidney axis that nourishes them — needs the same support at every phase of healing.

In Chinese medicine, the Kidneys govern the bones and the Liver governs the sinews (the tendons, ligaments, fascia, and connective tissue). When these organ systems are deficient, injuries heal slowly or incompletely; tissue weakens with age; old injuries reactivate as chronic pain. When Blood stasis is present from trauma, the local circulation that healing requires cannot establish itself. Xu Duan Tang™ addresses both layers in one formula.

Xu Duan Tang™ works through three integrated layers that together address the full course of orthopedic and trauma healing.

The reconnection layer — Xù Duàn (Dipsacus Root) — is the namesake and architectural core of the formula. Classical Chinese medicine identifies it as the foremost herb for fractures, torn sinews, and any injury where the structural integrity of bone or connective tissue has been compromised. It tonifies the Liver and Kidneys (the organ systems responsible for sinew and bone) and provides the constitutional foundation from which physical reconnection happens. Huáng Qí (Astragalus Root) reinforces this layer by tonifying the Spleen and Lung Qi that generates Blood, promotes flesh growth, and supports the tissue regeneration phase of healing.

The Blood-moving layer — Mò Yào (Myrrh) and Rǔ Xiāng (Frankincense) — is the classical Chinese medicine trauma pair, prescribed together since the Tang dynasty for injuries of any kind. Together they invigorate Blood, remove Blood stasis, alleviate pain, and reduce localized swelling. Dà Huáng (Rhubarb Root) reinforces this layer with a downward-draining action that clears stasis through the bowel — particularly important in acute trauma where blood and inflammatory byproducts can accumulate without a clear exit route. Bái Sháo (White Peony Root) nourishes Blood, softens the Liver, and releases the muscle spasms and cramping that almost always accompany orthopedic injury.

The guide layer — Bīng Piàn (Borneol) — is used in classical micro-doses as an aromatic guide herb. Its volatile compounds open the channels and direct the actions of the other herbs to the site of injury. Without Bing Pian, the formula’s tonifying and Blood-moving work would disperse generally through the body; with it, the formula concentrates where the patient needs it most.

The result is a single internal formula that addresses reconnection, circulation, and constitutional support — calibrated for the full arc of orthopedic healing from acute injury through chronic remodeling.