Common Cold
Treating the Common Cold with Chinese Medicine
According to Western medicine, both the common cold and the flu are caused by a category of virus called rhinoviruses. Western medicine has no treatment for this type of infection. Taking antibiotics, for example, will do nothing for a disease caused by a virus. However, practitioners of Chinese medicine have been treating the common cold effectively with both herbs and acupuncture for 2,000 years. More than 100 generations of Chinese doctors have proven that you don't have to just stay in bed and let a cold run its course.
Types of colds in Chinese medicine
In Chinese medicine, there are two main types of colds, wind cold and wind
heat external contractions. The symptoms of each are different. In a wind
cold pattern of common cold, the main symptoms are fever, aversion to chill,
lack of perspiration, and bodily aches and pains along with nasal congestion,
a headache, and possible cough. In a wind heat pattern of common cold,
the main symptoms are fever, less aversion to chill, no particular lack
of perspiration, sore throat, nasal congestion, and cough with no body
aches and pains. Depending on which of these two main types of cold a person
manifests, practitioners of Chinese medicine will recommend different Chinese
herbs and treat different acupuncture points. The most common pattern of
common cold in both children and adults is the wind heat variety. Depending
on the climate and geography, these two patterns may be complicated by
dampness or dryness.
Acupuncture for the common cold
In terms of the common cold, acupuncture stimulates the body's own
innate healing energy or immune system in order to more effectively
combat the viral infection.
Fifty percent of persons infected with any given cold virus manifest
any signs or symptom of infection because their immune system is
strong enough
to suppress the virus's activity. It is only the other 50% whose immune
systems weaker that develop symptoms. So strengthening the immune
system is extremely important in fighting off a cold. In addition, certain
points can relieve stuffy nose, cough, headache, bodily aches and pain,
sore throat, fever, and reduce the production of phlegm. For instance,
needling a point at the base of the thumbnail can markedly reduce sore
throat literally in a matter of minutes. Some practitioners will combine
acupuncture with other techniques such as cupping, guasha (a type of
scraping technique), and tuina (Chinese medical massage) in order
to get even better,
quicker relief of symptoms.
Chinese herbal medicine for the common cold
Chinese medicine has a number of herbal medicinals, which are effective
for the treatment of rhinoviruses, and formulas with these ingredients
can
stop a cold dead in its tracks or drastically reduce its symptoms and
duration. In addition, Chinese herbal formulas for the common cold
typically also
contain anti-inflammatory, decongestant, antihistaminic, and immune-boosting
herbs. Such Chinese herbal remedies come in various forms. Some of the
names of these commonly prescribed ready-made Chinese medicines include
Yin Qiao San, Gan Mao Ling, and Cold Quell. All three of these products
are for
wind heat external contraction common colds whose main symptoms are fever
and sore throat. Typically, one should begin taking these ready-made
herbal remedies at the first signs of a cold and continue taking
them for a day
or two after the symptoms have disappeared. Because it is so important
to begin taking these kinds of antiviral Chinese herbal medicines as
soon as the symptoms are noticed, it is a good idea to keep bottles
of these kinds of remedies in your medicine chest at home, in the glove
compartment of your car, and in your desk at work. If you always start
a cold with a sore throat followed by the development
of a fever, then you may want to keep one of the three herbal remedies
on hand. The longer you allow a cold to develop prior to treatment, the
more likely it is that it will continue to develop. So stopping it as
quickly as possible is the key.
Reference: Blue Poppy Press