Drinker’s nose

Also red nose; lung wind; lung wind acne. Reddening and thickening of the skin of the bulb of the nose in those fond of drinking. Drinker’s nose is understood as local blood stasis occurring when spleen damp-heat fumes up into the lung. The bulb of the nose becomes enlarged and the surface becomes uneven and warty in appearance. Severe conditions, known as lung-wind or lung-wind acne, are characterized by the appearance of red swollen papules that burst to exude a chalky substance and white fluid and that eventually give way to scaling.

Biomedical correspondence: brandy nose; (acne) rosacea.

Medicinal therapy: Clear heat, cool the blood, and disperse stasis using formulas such as Blood-Cooling Four Agents Decoction (凉血四物汤 liáng xuè sì wù tāng). Reversal Powder (颠倒散 diān dǎo sǎn) can be applied topically.

Acumoxatherapy: Base treatment mainly on SP, LI and ST. Select SP-6 (Three Yīn Intersection, 三阴交 sān yīn jiāo), SP-10 (Sea of Blood, 血海 xuè hǎi), BL-17 (Diaphragm Transport, 膈俞 gé shù), LI-4 (Union Valley, 合谷 hé gǔ), LI-11 (Pool at the Bend, 曲池 qū chí), ST-44 (Inner Court, 内庭 nèi tíng); needle with drainage, and prick LI-20 (Welcome Fragrance, 迎香 yíng xiāng) and Hall of Impression (印堂 yìn táng), and local points to bleed with a three-edged needle. For marked damp-heat, add SP-9 (Yīn Mound Spring, 阴陵泉 yīn líng quán), and ST-36 (Leg Three Lǐ, 足三里 zú sān lǐ). For lung wind, add LU-5 (Cubit Marsh, 尺泽 chǐ zé), and LU-11 (Lesser Shang, 少商 shào shāng).