Product Primers: Ching Wan Hung (burn ointment)
Ching Wan Hung (also written Jing Wan Hong) is a Chinese herbal ointment that is considered especially helpful in the treatment of burns.
- It has been applied to chemical burns, radiation burns, and sunburns, as well as burns caused by fire, electricity, steam, or direct contact with a hot liquid.
- It is also utilized to treat hemorrhoids, poison oak/ivy dermatitis, and bedsores.
- It acts to relieve pain, decrease inflammation and infection, and aid in the regeneration of the damaged tissues.
- It is fast acting, alleviating burn pain almost immediately after application.
Directions
- Rub a generous amount of ointment directly into the affected area after it has been thoroughly cleaned.
- The area may be covered with gauze to further reduce possibility of infection and irritation. Gauze should be changed daily.
- Note that this ointment, like many Chinese ointments and liniments with a red color, can stain clothing.
Ingredients
The package labels, which have varied, gives this partial list of ingredients:
| Lobelia | 27.5% |
| Myrrh | 17.5% |
| Dang Gui | 12% |
| Borneol | 12% |
| Sanguisorba | 8.5% |
| Chaenomeles | 8.5% |
| Frankincense | 8.5% |
| Carthamus | 8.5% |
| Pistacia | 8.5% |
The red color of the ointment comes from several of the herbs, hence the name "Wan Hung" (meaning myriad red ingredients.
- An important ingredient, representative of those selected to treat burns, is Pistacia chinensis (below), with its distinctive red foliage.
- It is used to treat ulcerations and rashes, and is a common remedy for dermatitis caused by contact with poison oak and similar allergens.
- The active components include tannins, such as gallic acid, and simple flavonoids, such as fisetin, fustin, and quercetin.
- Another important ingredient is Sanguisorba officinalis (below), with its brilliant purplish-red flowers.
- This herb contains tannins and saponins.
- It is traditionally used topically to treat insect bites and scalds.
- Laboratory tests show that sanguisorba decreases the amount of exudation from a burn wound and helps drying out the wound, thus decreasing the rates of infection.
- Chaenomeles lagenaria (below), with its bright red-orange colored flowers (the fruits, used as the medicinal ingredient, are of similar color) is rich in organic acids that inhibit bacteria growth.
- The herb is used internally and topically to treat pain, especially arthralgia and spasms, but also for skin irritations and swellings.
History
Ching Wan Hung is made under the Great Wall Brand originated by the Tianjin Lerentang Pharmaceutical Factory, and produced at one of its divisions, the Tianjin Drug Manufactory (as translated on the package). This factory, its name more correctly translated as the Tianjin Traditional Chinese Medicine Manufactory, was founded in 1957. It has several production lines, yielding 84 products, of which 13 are made for export.
The factory has advanced production technology to yield stable quality of products and the technology staff employs chemical testing techniques to verify the content of main active ingredients in finished products. The Tianjin products are well-known in China and have been highly praised by patients all over the world.
