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Sammotsuogonto

Traditionally used for: Hot, burning palms and soles with dry skin. Burning hands and feet; Dry, itchy skin in people who feel hot.

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What is Sammotsuogonto? Sammotsuogonto (also romanised Sanmotsu-ogon-to) is a three-herb Japanese Kampo formula taken as a bitter tea or granule powder. It is best known for one narrow, distinctive complaint: a hot, burning feeling in the palms and soles, classically in women after childbirth. Some practitioners also use it for dry, itchy skin in people who feel hot and restless. It is one of the 148 Kampo formulas approved for reimbursement by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), so in Japan it is usually supplied on prescription by a doctor rather than bought off a shelf. The honest evidence position: this formula has centuries of documented traditional use, but we could not identify a published controlled human trial of it. Long traditional use tells you a remedy has been valued and observed; it is not proof that it works. Treat the two things as separate questions throughout this page. How does Sammotsuogonto work? No one has shown, in people, how this formula produces its traditional effect. What follows is theory, not established fact. In Kampo terms, the formula is described as clearing "heat" that has become trapped while the body's fluids are depleted — which is why the classical picture is burning palms and soles rather than a general fever. In laboratory terms, the three roots contain compounds that damp down inflammation and calm overactive immune signalling in cells and in animals. Baicalin and baicalein from Ogon (Scutellaria root) are the most studied of these. Laboratory and animal findings do not reliably predict what happens in a person taking a diluted herbal decoction. Take the mechanism above as a plausible story that has not been tested in humans. What forms does Sammotsuogonto come in? In Japan the usual form is a dried extract granule or fine powder, dispensed in single-dose sachets on prescription. Other forms you may meet: Raw herb decoction — the three sliced roots simmered in water and strained, prepared by a Kampo or Chinese medicine practitioner. Very bitter. Extract tablets or capsules — less common, used by people who cannot tolerate the taste. Outside Japan the formula is sold as a supplement in some markets. Those products are not covered by Japan's prescription standards, and the amount of actual herb in them varies a lot. If you buy one, choose a supplier that publishes third-party testing. Where it comes from: The formula traces to the classical Chinese text Jingui Yaolue (Essentials of the Golden Cabinet), attributed to Zhang Zhongjing around the 3rd century CE, where it appears for feverish heat in the limbs after childbirth. Japanese Kampo physicians adopted it and kept it in regular use, widening it to burning palms and soles and to dry, itchy skin in people who run hot. It survives today as one of the MHLW's 148 approved Kampo formulas, which is why Japanese doctors can prescribe it under national health insurance. It is used much less in modern Chinese practice than in Japan.

Helps

What does Sammotsuogonto help with? Burning, hot feeling in the palms and soles: This is the formula's signature use and the reason most Japanese doctors reach for it. The classical picture is hands and feet that feel hot to the person, often worse at night, with dry skin and thirst. We could not find a controlled trial testing it for this, so the support is traditional and clinical experience only. Feverish heat and restlessness after childbirth: The original classical text describes exactly this situation: heat and agitation in the limbs in the weeks after giving birth. Kampo practitioners still use it this way in Japan. There is no trial evidence. Fever after childbirth can signal infection, so this is a situation to be checked by a doctor rather than self-treated. Dry, itchy skin in people who feel hot: A later, broader use. Practitioners select it for itchy, dry skin — including some eczema-type rashes — in people whose overall picture is heat and dryness rather than cold and puffiness. Published support is limited to case reports and practitioner accounts, not controlled studies. Trouble sleeping because hands and feet feel hot: Traditionally the sleep problem is seen as a knock-on effect of the burning limbs, not a separate target. There is no human trial evidence for sleep. If poor sleep is your main problem, it deserves its own assessment.

Sammotsuogonto

Quick Facts

  • What it is: A three-root Japanese Kampo formula, on the MHLW's approved list of 148, used mainly for a hot burning feeling in the palms and soles.
  • Main uses: Burning hands and feet, Feverish heat after childbirth, Dry, itchy skin in people who feel hot
  • Best for: Hot, burning palms and soles with dry skin, Heat and restlessness in the weeks after childbirth, alongside medical care
  • Active ingredients: Baicalin and baicalein (from Ogon, Scutellaria root), Wogonin (from Ogon), Matrine and oxymatrine (from Kujin, Sophora root), Catalpol and iridoid glycosides (from Jio, Rehmannia root)
  • Forms: Prescription extract granules or fine powder, Raw herb decoction, Extract tablets or capsules
  • Time to effect: Often one to two weeks for the burning feeling; slower for itching; reassess at four weeks.
  • Side effects: Usually mild stomach upset or rash; rare liver injury and rare lung inflammation make medical supervision important.
  • Pregnancy & breastfeeding: Avoid unless your clinician advises otherwise.

Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.

What is Sammotsuogonto?

Sammotsuogonto (also romanised Sanmotsu-ogon-to) is a three-herb Japanese Kampo formula taken as a bitter tea or granule powder. It is best known for one narrow, distinctive complaint: a hot, burning feeling in the palms and soles, classically in women after childbirth. Some practitioners also use it for dry, itchy skin in people who feel hot and restless.

It is one of the 148 Kampo formulas approved for reimbursement by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), so in Japan it is usually supplied on prescription by a doctor rather than bought off a shelf.

The honest evidence position: this formula has centuries of documented traditional use, but we could not identify a published controlled human trial of it. Long traditional use tells you a remedy has been valued and observed; it is not proof that it works. Treat the two things as separate questions throughout this page.

How does Sammotsuogonto work?

No one has shown, in people, how this formula produces its traditional effect. What follows is theory, not established fact.

In Kampo terms, the formula is described as clearing "heat" that has become trapped while the body's fluids are depleted — which is why the classical picture is burning palms and soles rather than a general fever.

In laboratory terms, the three roots contain compounds that damp down inflammation and calm overactive immune signalling in cells and in animals. Baicalin and baicalein from Ogon (Scutellaria root) are the most studied of these.

Laboratory and animal findings do not reliably predict what happens in a person taking a diluted herbal decoction. Take the mechanism above as a plausible story that has not been tested in humans.

What forms does Sammotsuogonto come in?

In Japan the usual form is a dried extract granule or fine powder, dispensed in single-dose sachets on prescription.

Other forms you may meet:

Raw herb decoction — the three sliced roots simmered in water and strained, prepared by a Kampo or Chinese medicine practitioner. Very bitter.

Extract tablets or capsules — less common, used by people who cannot tolerate the taste.

Outside Japan the formula is sold as a supplement in some markets. Those products are not covered by Japan's prescription standards, and the amount of actual herb in them varies a lot. If you buy one, choose a supplier that publishes third-party testing.

Where it comes from:

The formula traces to the classical Chinese text Jingui Yaolue (Essentials of the Golden Cabinet), attributed to Zhang Zhongjing around the 3rd century CE, where it appears for feverish heat in the limbs after childbirth.

Japanese Kampo physicians adopted it and kept it in regular use, widening it to burning palms and soles and to dry, itchy skin in people who run hot.

It survives today as one of the MHLW's 148 approved Kampo formulas, which is why Japanese doctors can prescribe it under national health insurance. It is used much less in modern Chinese practice than in Japan.

Who should avoid Sammotsuogonto?

  • Do not use if you are taking interferon injections for hepatitis or cancer — the combination raises the risk of lung inflammation.
  • Do not use if you have liver disease, or if you have ever had a liver injury caused by a medicine or herb, unless a doctor who knows your liver history prescribes it.
  • Do not use if you have interstitial lung disease or pulmonary fibrosis (long-term scarring of the lungs).
  • Do not use if you are pregnant, unless a doctor prescribes and supervises it — this formula's classical use is after childbirth, not during pregnancy.
  • Do not use if you are breastfeeding without asking the doctor caring for you and your baby.
  • Do not give it to a child without a prescriber setting the dose.
  • Do not take it alongside another Kampo or Chinese herbal formula that contains Ogon (Scutellaria root) — you would be doubling the dose.
  • Do not use if you have had an allergic reaction to Scutellaria, Sophora or Rehmannia before.
  • Avoid using it at the same time as methotrexate or other medicines known to stress the liver, unless your doctor is monitoring you.

When should you see a doctor?

Stop taking it and get medical help the same day if your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow, your urine goes dark, or you feel deeply tired with pain under your right ribs. These can be signs of liver injury.

Stop and seek urgent care if you develop a dry cough, fever and breathlessness that come on over days or weeks. This can be interstitial pneumonia (inflammation deep in the lungs) and it needs rapid assessment.

See a doctor promptly if you have a fever after childbirth, rather than treating it yourself — it may be an infection.

Also see your doctor if a rash spreads or blisters, if your stomach upset does not settle, or if nothing has improved after four weeks.

Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.

Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →

The published evidence for Sammotsuogonto is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.

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