Excerpted from Bensky:  Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica, 3rd ed.

• Dispels wind-dampness, unblocks the channels, and alleviates pain:  especially useful for treating wind painful obstruction, as it both releases the exterior and promotes the movement of qi in the channels.  It can be taken alone as a powder with warm water for pain in the lower back and legs.*
• Softens and transforms fish bones:  for fish bones lodged in the throat.  This herb is ineffective in the treatment of deeply lodged or relatively large bones.*
• Also used for focal distention and accumulation in the middle burner because it reduces phlegm and pathogenic water.*