Cold phlegm obstructing the lung

Also:

• Phlegm turbidity obstructing the lung (痰浊阻肺 hán tán zǔ fèi)
• Phlegm turbidity congesting the lung (痰浊雍肺 hán tán yōng fèi)
• Cold rheum collecting in the lung (寒饮停肺 hán yǐn tíng fèi), used when the phlegm is thin and forms a rheum pattern
• Cold evil lodged in the lung (寒邪客于肺 hán xié kè yú fèi), reflecting conditions in which cold is the major cause

A disease pattern chiefly characterized by cough with copious thick or thin white phlegm that is easily expectorated; panting or wheezing and panting; oppression in the chest; fear of cold and cold limbs.

Description: Cough with copious thick or thin white phlegm that is easily expectorated; panting; in some cases, phlegm rale in the throat; oppression in the chest; fear of cold and cold limbs; pale tongue with white and either slimy or glossy tongue fur; a pulse that is stringlike or slippery.

Diseases: Cough; panting; common cold; wheezing and panting.

Pathogenesis: Cold rheum or phlegm turbidity gathering in the lung and impairing diffusion and downbearing, stemming from:

• contraction of cold evil in patients ordinarily suffering from phlegm so that the cold and phlegm both settle in the lung;
• externally contracted cold-damp invading the lung and giving rise to phlegm;
• insufficiency of spleen yáng causing cold to arise internally and dampness to gather and develop into phlegm, which invades the lung.

Analysis of signs

• Lung qì ascending counterflow: Cough with panting.
• Phlegm-rheum: Copious thick or thin white phlegm (thin phlegm is rheum) that is easily expectorated; phlegm rale in the throat with periodic episodes of wheezing and panting.
• Phlegm turbidity or cold rheum congealing in the lung and inhibiting lung qì: Fullness and oppression in the chest.
• Cold: Aversion to cold and cold limbs.
• Tongue: Pale with slimy white or glossy white fur, reflecting cold and phlegm.
• Pulse: Stringlike or slippery, reflecting phlegm.

Treatment

Medicinal therapy: Wheezing and panting due to cold phlegm lying latent in the lung is treated by warming and transforming cold phlegm and by disinhibiting qì and calming panting, using Minor Black Dragon Decoction (小青龙汤 xiǎo qīng lóng tāng). Cough due to phlegm obstructing the lung is treated by warming the lung and dispersing cold and by transforming phlegm and relieving cough, using variations of Poria, Licorice, Schisandra, Ginger, and Asarum Decoction (苓甘五味姜辛汤 líng gān wǔ wèi jiāng xīn tāng) combined with Two Matured Ingredients Decoction (二陈汤 èr chén tāng).

Acumoxatherapy: CV-12 (zhōng wǎn), ST-36 (zú sān lǐ), ST-40 (fēng lóng), BL-13 (fèi shù), LU-7 (liè quē), LI-4 (hé gǔ), and BL-12 (fēng mén).

See cold phlegm.