This year, I made traditional Sanfu patches for the treatment of cold asthma, carefully selecting medicinal herbs that fully meet the standards recorded in classical texts.
However, after applying them, I experienced exactly what the books described — extraordinary pain and itching. After two incense sticks’ worth of time, I peeled them off to find my skin dark red and black, untouchable, and acutely painful.
A day later, the skin remained dark red and untouchable, with small blisters appearing on some areas — the itching and pain were unbearable.
Two days later, the pain intensified and the color turned redder. I hurriedly applied Danpi phenol ointment, but it was essentially useless.
On the third day, the pain persisted and the skin remained untouchable — it looked alarming. I realized something was wrong: I needed burn ointment. I went out and bought Jingwanhong ointment, and after applying it, the pain eased.
Burn ointments are generally oily and emollient. After washing on the third day and letting it dry, I felt slightly better. On the fourth day, the skin began peeling, and the pain noticeably decreased — I could touch it again. This was a sign of recovery. It seems the skin damage caused by Sanfu patches is not much different from burns.
By the sixth day, there was no more pain and the skin felt normal, though a very visible mark remained — it looked as though I’d had cupping therapy done. It took over ten days for the marks to gradually fade, and even today, if you look closely, you can still see the difference.
This was my first time using Sanfu patches, and it left a deep impression. I’ve also shared this formula with classmates and friends around me — most of them experienced pain, blistering, and peeling, especially with freshly prepared patches, where the effects were particularly pronounced. If the prepared patches were left to sit for three or more days, blistering essentially did not occur.
From a Western medicine perspective, blistering significantly enhances the body’s immune response mechanism, which should be beneficial for conditions like asthma. Without blistering, theoretically speaking, there should be no therapeutic effect. The reason modern applications rarely cause blistering is primarily because drug selection and preparation methods have changed. Using herbs traditionally meant for oral administration and simply putting them into topical patches — can that really be the same thing? Hospitals and regulators simply don’t want to deal with the aftermath of blistering.
And that is why only the blistering method truly works.
中文原文 / Chinese Original
今年我自制了传统三伏贴，用于冷哮的治疗，精选了药材，完全可以达到古书记载的要求。
然而，我贴了之后确实如同书中所讲，痛痒异常，两柱香后揭下，皮肤红黑，不能触碰，十分疼痛。
一日之后，肤色依然红黑，依然不能触摸，部分皮肤有小水泡出现，痛痒难耐。
两日之后疼痛加剧，颜色发红，赶紧涂了丹皮酚软膏，基本无效。
第三天疼痛依然，不能触碰，其状骇人，我一想这不对了，必须要用烧伤膏，出去买了京万红软膏，涂上后疼痛减轻。
烧伤膏一般都是油润的，第三天洗完干燥之后稍觉好转，第四天开始掉皮，疼痛明显减轻，可以触摸，这是好转的现象，看来三伏贴对皮肤的损伤跟烧烫伤区别不大。
第六天已经没有疼痛，皮肤感觉正常，但是有很明显的痕迹，看上去就跟拔了个罐子一样，一直过了有十几天，痕迹才逐渐消去，今天如果仔细看看还是能看出来不一样的地方。
这是我第一次用三伏贴，感慨颇深，此方我也给周围的同学朋友用过，大部分都出现了疼痛水泡和掉皮，特别是刚刚制作好的膏剂，效果非常明显。如果做好的贴膏放置三天以上，基本上就不会出现发泡的情况。
从西医的角度讲，发泡能够明显增强体内的免疫应答机制，应该说对于哮喘这类疾病是有好处的，如果不发泡从理论上看是应该没有效果的。现在之所以都不会发泡，主要是因为药物的选择和制备的方法发生了改变，用中医传统的内服药物放到外用贴膏上去用，能是一回事么？医院和管理者无非是不愿意处理发泡这种后遗症罢了。
所以我才只有发泡的贴法才会有效。
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