Ephedra Classic Formulas — Natural Herb Library

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Releases the exterior and promotes sweating - Ma Huang is one of the most famous classical herbs for wind-cold exterior excess with chills, fever, body aches, and absence of sweating.
Disseminates Lung qi and calms wheezing - it is a major herb for asthma, chest tightness, and cough when the Lung is constrained and the pathogen remains unresolved.
Promotes urination and reduces edema - classical use extends to superficial swelling and water retention when the exterior and water pathways are both obstructed.
Warms the channels in selected forms - honey-fried or root-related preparations have distinct traditional uses, but raw Ma Huang remains the strongly dispersing, stimulating form most people mean.

Ma Huang Tang - classic exterior wind-cold excess formula with no sweating.
Da Qing Long Tang and Xiao Qing Long Tang - important formulas using Ma Huang in stronger exterior or phlegm-fluid patterns.
She Gan Ma Huang Tang and Yue Bi Tang - traditional strategies for wheezing and edema respectively.

Shang Han Lun gives Ma Huang a central place in exterior cold and wheezing treatment, making it one of the most textually important release-the-exterior herbs.
Traditional herbology emphasizes that Ma Huang's power comes with risk, so it is matched to excess patterns and avoided in deficiency, spontaneous sweating, or fragility.
Later commentaries distinguish careful formula-based use from indiscriminate stimulant-style consumption.