Mr.Zhao, 53, from Hebei Province, was hospitalized and numbered as 9548 for sensation of tight, thick and stiff skin for four years along with difficulty in swallowing for two years.

He was suffering from such symptoms as follows: skin stiff all over, especially with upper limbs, face, chest and belly, rhicnosis and lanugo vanished, skin too stiff to be pinched, pigmentation mixed with lose of pigment, hands paled or purpled at cold temperature or emotional change, dysphagia, heartburn, vomiting of sour fluid, epigastric distemison and feeling uncomfortable(the above symptoms got worse at night), occasionally mental confusion, short breath, intolerance to cold and cold limbs, anorexia, pale tongue, thin and yellow tongue fur, deep and faint pulse. 　　　　

He was taking delta cortisone at dosage of 40mg/day before being hospitalized and diagnosed as systemic scleroderma along with digestive disease by western medical doctors and arthralgia syndrome plus blockage of the esophagus by TCM doctors. After the principles of treatment was worked out for his case to relieve the cold, disperse dampness, tonify the kidney, invigorate the spleen, nourish skin, activate the channels, regulate the function of the stomach and improve the digestion, he was prescribed to take medicinal broths one dose per day, Yingpiling No.2 and No.7, Shenzhe Zhuyun Mixture 20ml, 3 doses per day, Jiweiling Injection 24ml for intravenous transfusion at night, and decreased the dosage of delta cortisone gradually; meanwhile, he was advised to have many meals but little food at each, ate grease and pungent foods as little as possible, not to lie down right after each meal and keep stable emotion. He went out of hospital four months later with the dosage of delta cortisone decreased down to 5mg/day, general skin softened obviously, the elasticity and hardness of skin returned to normal, relieved pigmentation, recurrence frequency of Reynauds phenomenon with hands (becoming pale or cyanosis at cold temperature) reduced, better appetite noticeably, no more difficulty in swallowing but still heartburn occasionally, normal excretion and no more mental confusion or short breath after body movement. Therefore, he left hospital as clinical recovery and his condition stayed stable in the following two years.