A cough is the body's reaction to irritants in the airways, which carry air to and from the lungs. When the lungs become irritated, the nerve endings in the airways react by clearing out the lungs--or coughing. Often, coughing is a symptom of a larger medical issue such as acid reflux disease, an upper respiratory infection, asthma or a common cold.
Below you will find alternative and natural treatment options including those from a Chinese Medicine perspective for coughing.
The Chinese Medicine treatment of cough generally involves arriving at the appropriate TCM diagnosis or pattern. This pattern within the individual is what treatment is based on not the general condition (see treating the cause and not the symptoms).
The following patterns may represent the underlying contributing factors for the development of cough:
The treatment of conditions with acupuncture can be a complicated endeavor that should only be undertaken by individuals with a deep understanding of the underlying Chinese Medicine theory (and/or whatever system being used for treatment). There are many approaches, but generally speaking few viable approaches are involved on a point to condition basis. Rather using proper diagnostic procedures the patients diagnostic pattern is ascertained and that is what is treated. The protocols listed here exemplify some of these clinical approaches.
The following Acupuncture Treatment Protocols May Be Used With Cough
The following herbal formulas are potentially useful in the process of treating cough. For a complete list from our store with more details see our cough formula section.
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Generally treatment would be based on the TCM patterns listed above instead of selecting points by function alone, (see general points selection rules.)
The following (24) chinese herbs may be useful for cough. In most cases, however, treatment with Chinese Herbal Medicine is done with herbal formulas based on the TCM patterns listed above instead of selecting herbs by function alone. When available, relevant formulas will appear below and/or in the store listings above.
For lung and kidney yin deficiency with signs such as dry cough, possibly with blood streaked sputum, dry and sore throat, heat in the five palms, nightsweats, wheezing.
The Pulse will be thin and rapid and the Tongue will be red with little coating.
Cough with watery, copious sputum, breathing issues such as wheezing, asthma, shortness of breath (particularly difficulty inhaling), chest oppression. Possibly signs of kidney qi/yang deficiency such as edema, weak low back and/or legs, fatigue.
The Tongue will have a white coating that can be either greasy or slippery.