Kazuno

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, deer antlers are known for their benefits in tonifying the kidneys and strengthening yang, fortifying tendons and bones, promoting blood circulation, and reducing swelling and pain. They are commonly used to improve symptoms such as kidney yang deficiency, sore and weak knees and waist, postpartum blood stasis, and sores with swelling and pain. They can be used as a substitute for velvet antler, but their efficacy is weaker. Individuals with yin deficiency with fire or damp-heat symptoms should avoid using them.

Yes, deer antlers shed naturally. Most deer shed their antlers once a year and they regrow in the spring. Before shedding, the antlers loosen, and the shedding process typically occurs after the mating season, which helps the deer conserve energy.

In the Kazuno region, picking up and selling Taiwanese Sika deer antlers without the consent of the competent authority may violate the Wildlife Conservation Act. If deer antlers are displayed or exhibited with the intention of buying or selling, legal penalties and fines may be imposed.

In traditional Chinese culture, deer antlers, due to their homophone with '祿' (lù, meaning prosperity), symbolize wealth, auspiciousness, official career advancement, longevity, and prosperity, representing the vitality and continuous life of nature. In some Western cultures, deer antlers symbolize strength, authority, and freedom, and are associated with the spiritual world, wisdom, and intuition.

Deer antlers initially grow as velvet antlers, covered in a soft skin containing blood vessels and nerves. As they grow, the velvet antlers gradually ossify into hard bone antlers, and the velvet skin sheds. Antlers are keratinized structures on a deer's head and are a secondary sexual characteristic of male deer.