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Picture this: you have a cold but are sick of almost everyone telling you it will go away in a few days, so you want to try some Acupuncture for coughing. While you won’t get rid of the cold you will be 97% better by the time you have done the treatment I’ll recommend you here. In this post, you will have a deeper breakdown of what cold and coughing are according to Traditional Chinese Medicine and how to leverage the acupuncture points to make the cold more manageable.
The best points when using Acupuncture for Coughing are Lung 1, Lung 3, Lung 7, Large Intestine 4, Stomach 36, and Kidney 6. The selection of points depends on the cause of the coughing.
Acupuncture for Coughing: What is coughing?
In Western medicine, coughing is both a symptom and a sign, meaning it is both something you tell your doctor and something your doctor will find during the examination. Coughing by itself means little to nothing because it is a part of a larger entity.
Let’s get nerdier and see what coughing is:
Coughing is a series of sudden and violent expirations caused by the contraction of the expiratory muscles accompanied by the spasm of the contractory muscles of the glottis which then open as the violent flow of air travels through the lungs and outwards thus causing the characteristic sound.
Coughing is a defense mechanism your body uses to get rid of unwanted substances in your respiratory tract.
However, once it becomes repetitive it can become burdensome and even hurt your vocal cords.
Coughing can be caused by a large variety of things: from dust particles to viruses, to bacteria, and everything in between. The most common cause is the common cold which I’ll take as the one that is bothering you.
Types of Coughing
Not all coughs are made equal. Although the symptoms are the same, it is the detail of the coughing that makes the diagnosis.
Western Medicine makes the distinction between different types of coughing for a more accurate diagnosis:
- A persistent, lingering cough that has been present for at least three weeks can point to Tuberculosis.
- A wet cough, with crackling sounds during the auscultation, can point to pneumonia.
- A specific kind of cough that occurs in sets of five, also called whooping cough points to a diagnosis of an infection by pertussis.
The clinical features point to a specific or most likely cause. Some of the most common according to Western medicine can be seen here.
Just like in Western Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine also has many causes for coughing.
According to the Traditional theory, coughing can be caused by internal or external factors. The internal factors are Dryness of the Lung due to Yin deficiency or a buildup of Dampness and phlegm due to a deficient Spleen Yang. The External factors are Hot Wind invading lung, and Cold Wind invading Lung.
If you want to know more about External and Internal Pathogenic Factors you can read this article:
Causes of Disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Why is it important?
Because if you want to use acupuncture for coughing, you must identify the right syndrome to choose the right acupuncture points for coughing.
Clinical Features of Coughing
As said before, not all coughs are created equal. Now you are going to see the clinical features of the different causes of coughing according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Analyze which one matches your symptoms better and then go over the points section and select the ones according to your case.
Dryness of the Lung due to Deficient Yin
- Dry coughing, no expectoration, sore throat.
- Febricula.
- There can be bloody sputum or hemoptysis.
- Red tongue with a thin coating.
- Quick and weak pulse.
A buildup of Dampness due to Deficient Spleen Yang
- Coughing with sputum which gets worse in Winter.
- Anorexia, depressed state.
- Tongue with white, sticky, and thick coating.
- Quick and Weak pulse.
Cold Wind Invading Lung
- Aversion to cold.
- Headache.
- Stuffed nose, thin white sputum.
- Clear, transparent mucus.
- Smothering, persistent cough.
- Tongue with a white and thin coating.
- Shallow pulse.
Hot Wind Invading Lung
- Fever without chills.
- Thirst.
- Cough with purulent and thick expectoration.
- Tongue with yellow coating
- Quick and shallow pulse.
Now you have seen the different clinical landscapes that include coughing in Traditional Chinese Medicine. What to do about them?
Next, you will learn which points to use for each specific kind of clinical case.
Acupuncture for Coughing: Points
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the selection of acupuncture points for coughing depends on the syndrome the patient is presenting. The points are selected based on their capacity to expel the external Pathogenic Factor and/or to strengthen your body’s Qi, along with other actions.
Here is a breakdown of the different points used in Acupuncture for coughing.
Don’t forget to check out my article on body measurements in TCM for better point localization.
Dryness of the Lung due to Deficient Yin
- Bladder 13: Located in your back, 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the third thoracic vertebra. 1.5 cun lateral to the midline. This is called the Lung Shu point. It is one of the Back Shu Points where the Qi of the Organ is infused, this is a main point for all things Lung.
- Lung 1: Run the tip of your finger through the lower edge of your collarbone towards your shoulder, stop when you feel a bulging, in the space between the collarbone and the bulging lies the Lung 2 point. Lung 1 is 1 cun directly below it.
- Lung 3: Contract your biceps, on the radial side (the outer edge) of the biceps muscle, and count 3 cun towards your shoulder (the breadths of your index to pinky fingers) starting from the axillary fold. There is Lung 3.
- Kidney 6: It is located 1 cun directly below the tip of your inner ankle.
A buildup of Dampness due to Deficient Spleen Yang
- Bladder 13: Located in your back, 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the third thoracic vertebra. 1.5 cun lateral to the midline.
- Bladder 20: Located in the back. 1.5 cun lateral to the midline and the lower border of the 11th thoracic vertebra. Look for the last rib and follow its trajectory towards the spine. On the point where the rib meets the spine calculate 1.5 cun lateral from the midline. That is Bladder 21. Bladder 20 is located exactly one cun above it.
- Ren 12 (Conception Vessel 12): Located in the midline of the abdomen, 4 cun above the navel.
- Stomach 36: Located in your leg, three cun below the kneecap and one cun lateral to the tip of the tibia. You can find it by placing your hand over your knee so that your wrist lays on the upper edge of the kneecap, placing your ring finger on the tip of the tibia, and relaxing your fingers, Stomach 36 is located where your ring finger lies.
- Stomach 40: Located on your leg, 8 cun above the tip of your outer ankle and 2 cun outside of the tip of the tibia.
Cold Wind invading Lung / Hot Wind invading Lung
- Lung 7: It is located on the lateral edge of the radius bone 1.5 cun superior to the wrist crease.
- Large Intestine 4: Located on the back of your hand, in the area between your thumb and index finger, in the middle of the metacarpal bone of your index finger on its radial side.
- Bladder 13: Located in your back, 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the third thoracic vertebra. 1.5 cun lateral to the midline.
- Lung 5: Located on your elbow crease, contract your biceps muscle. Lung 5 is located on the radial (lateral) side of the biceps tendon.
Stimulate every point by rubbing them for three to five minutes or make an intense pressing for five seconds and then release. Repeat ten times.
How the Points Help Get Rid of Coughing
- Lung 7 and Large Intestine 4 dispel Wind and get rid of external symptoms.
- Lung 1 and Lung 3 treat cough.
- Bladder 13 activates the dispersing function of the Lung.
- Lung 5 cleanses the Lungs and soothes cough.
- Bladder 20, Ren 12, Stomach 40, and Stomach 36 strengthen the Spleen, get rid of Dampness, and dispel Phlegm.
- Kidney 6 reinforces the Kidney which is the source of genuine Yin.
- The points located on the back are called the Back Shu Points which are hubs of Qi (Qi is collected here) from the Zhang-Fu Organs which are used to influence and treat such organs.
Further Care
If you want to take your treatment of coughing and common cold using Traditional Chinese Medicine further then follow these next tips:
Photo by Hasan Albari on Pexels.com
- Drink a ginger infusion: one cup three to five times a day.
- Eat spicy foods like ginger and black pepper: Spicy is the flavor that energizes the Lungs thus strengthening them.
- Avoid ice creams during the treatment: Icy food and sweets are a fatal combination, cold food drains your Yang and digestive fire while excessive sweet foods (which most of them are nowadays) create phlegm and Dampness in your system.
- Drink plenty of fluids as they help mobilize the secretions and expel them from your body more easily.
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