March 12, 2024

Dear Patients and Friends,

 

Happy Spring! at least by sun and temperature tracking...

 

As many of you know I treat all types of cough with acupuncture and herbs. Ever since the pandemic I usually do this remotely with just herbs if there is the probability it is due to Covid. I myself caught it again 6 or 7 weeks ago and was surprised how tenaciously the cough lingered. It's true I was a little lazy in my self-treatment. I have so many formulas and individual herbs at my disposal, but I never sit down and schedule an appointment with myself to tackle it like I would with a "real" patient.

 

Last weekend, finally very annoyed, I opened up all my books. I had been using modern formulas such as Fritillaria and Balloon Flower Root (Qing Fei Tang and/ or Ning Sou Wan) or "Cough" by Pacific Biologique.  Or course I blended in my normal constiutional formulas for energy/mood/sleep/digestion as I would normally take. The flu symptoms part of the experience was only a 2.5 day event. I was very functional by day 3 or 4 of getting sick. But the cough lingered. The dreaded covid cough. Was this turning into long covid, which I will and have treated for the last couple of years?

 

I finally settled on an formula that was first published in 220 AD: Lophatherum and Gypsum Decoction (Zhu Ye Shi Gao Tang).  Two of the ingredients are antibiotic-like germ killers but have the advantage of not being drying. One herb is pinellia rhizome which is a bit like a mucinex and good at busting up and draining phlegm downward. What's interesting comes next. Ginseng and a high dose of honey-prepared licorice and a small spoon of rice. These last 3 balance the harsh action of the antibiotics and protect an older, less robust constitution. And they help energy and digestion and mood. 

 

Of course I had all the ingredients already on hand:

 

  

Once I took 2 doses of this everything got dramatically better. It still needs a little persistent follow up as the coronavirus is sneaky and tends to hide in our vulnerable places. But I believe I am well over the hump in pushing this nastiness out.

 

With coughs it is also very useful to do acupuncture or hands on treatment several times. I treat myself with magnets and tacks and occasional needling and get therapeutic massage every few weeks with a friend.  

 

I have treated well over 40 related covid cases some of which were before the vaccines. And remember, TCM has unique ideas about the stages which viral infections go through. We are very interested, clnically, in getting to herbs as soon as you feel even a scratchy throat or chills or a headache. We call this phase "Releasing the Exterior". Basically it means we are priming the immune and lymphatic system to martial it's forces early. The middle stage is broken down into several categories as well. This is when you are "sick". And the follow up, lingering symptom phase is also where we shine. East Asian herbal practitioners know you need to build energy (Qi) and strengthen the digestion and often warm up the microbiome escpecially if antibiotics have been used. Of course lingering inflammation needs to be addressed as well.

 

Anwyay, this has become somewhat of a ramble. Be well in the coming Spring and get your acu-tune-up.

 

Also see here how you can get a discount if you buy conventional supplements through my practitioner account. They even have a few TCM herbal formulas. But more digestive enzymes, immune support, and vitamins. Check it out.

 

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