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Treating cold with cold

寒因寒用 〔寒因寒用〕rè yìn rè yòng

From Plain Questions (素问 sù wèn, zhì zhēn yào dà lùn). A method of paradoxical treatment used to treat true internal heat and false external cold. In such cases, heat is the true nature of the disease, and the cold is false. Hence, treatment involves the use of cool and cold medicinals. An example is when a patient presents great fever, great thirst, great sweating, and large surging pulse. and counterflow cold of the limbs. The counterflow cold of the limbs is a sign of false cold, while the other signs reflect true heat. This condition is treated with White Tiger Decoction (白虎汤 bái hǔ tāng) taken cold. In the Plain Questions (素问 sù wèn, zhì zhēn yào dà lùn), the term was originally written as treating heat with cold, but was changed by later writers to align with treating the stopped by stopping and treating the free by freeing.

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