Acupuncture for cough

Diseases having cough as the chief manifestation are classified in-to two types-one due to exopathic factors, the other internal impairment.

Exopathogen: short course, inclusive of cold, heat, wind and dryness syndromes, and in association with exterior syndromes as fever or aversion to cold.

Internal impairment: long course, inclusive of sthenia, asthenia, cold and heat syndromes, showing various manifestations due to different diseased organs.

What are the symptoms and signs, main points for diagnosis, therapeutic methods and recipes for each dyndrome of cough due to attack axopathic factors?

[Symptoms] Cough with coarse voice and thin whitish sputum, shortness of breath, and itching throat, in association with head-ache, nasal obstruction and clear discharge, bodily soreness , aversion to cold, fever, and anhidrosis; pale tongue with thin whitish fur, floating pulse or floating tense pulse.

[Main points of differentiation] Cough with whitish sputum and in association with exteror syndrome of wind-cold.

[Treatment] Expelling wind and cold pathogens; facilitating the flow of lung-Qi to stop coughing.

[Recipe] Xing Su ,San and Zhi Sou San

(2)Invasion of wind-heat pathogen in the lung

[Symptoms] Frequent cough with rude respiration and coarse voice; sore throat, thick yellowish sputum with difficulty in expecto-ration, and slight thirstiness in association with headache, fever , aver-sion to wind, sweating, bodily soreness, and yellowish nasal discharge; thin yellowish fur, floating rapid pulse.

[Main points of differentiation] Cough with rude respiration, yellowish sputum, sorethroat, fever, sweating, and floating rapid pulse.

[Treatment] Dispelling wind pathogen and removing heat in the lung; dissolving phlegm to stop coughing.

[Recipe] SangJu Yin with modification

[Symptoms] Dry cough or irritated cough, itching and dry throat , and little thick sputum with spitting difficulty or blood streaks in association with dry nose and lips, and even chest pain after coughing, nasal obstruction, and headache with mild fever and chills; reddened tip of tongue with drythin yellowish fur, thready and some-what rapid pulse.

[Main points of differentiation] Dry cough, itching throat , little thick sputum with spitting difficulty or blood streaks.

[Treatment] Dispelling wind and lung-heat; moistening dryness to stop cough.

[Recipe] Sang Xing Tang

What are the Zang-Fu organs related to cough? and what is the pathogenesis?

Commonly seen in practice is cough due to impairment of the lung, respectively inclusive of phlegm transformed from spleen-damp-ness, transformed fire from stagnated liver-Qi, and failure of the kidney in reception of air.

Acupuncture treatment

(1) Coughing caused by exogenous affection

Wind-cold

[Treatment]

Select points on the Hand-Taiyin and Yangming meridians as main points. The reducing method of needling is used and moxibus-tion is applied.

[Prescription]

Lieque, Hegu, Feishu and Waiguan

Wind-heat

[Treatment]

Select points on the Hand-Taiyin, Yangming and Du meridi-ans as main points to expel wind, clear away heat, normalize lung functions and resolve sputum. The reducing method of needling is used and pricking to cause bleeding is applicable at same time.

[Prescription]

Chize, Feishu, Dazhui, and Quchi

(2) Coughing caused by internal injuries

Coughling caused by liver fire

[Treatment]

Select points on the Hand-Taiyin and Foot-Jueyin meridians.

The reducing method of needling is used.

[Prescription]

Feishu, Ganshu, Taichong, Chize

Coughing caused by phlegm and dampness

[Treatment]

Select points on the Taiyin and Yangming meridians. The

even method of needling is used and moxibustion is applicable.

[Prescription]

Feishu, Pihu, Taibai, Fenglong and Zhangmen

Another treatment way: Oral Chinese Medicine in Anti-Asthma Pills, or Luo Han Guo Herbal Tea, these will be more convenient to treat apoplexy.

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