Chronic Pharyngitis Causing Coughing and Choking, December 22, 1998

Chronic Pharyngitis Causing Coughing and Choking, December 22, 1998

This cough is long-lasting and difficult to treat. I have previously used licorice, su ye, ginger, banxia, e jiao, wumei, sike, xing ren, su geng, houpu, zhishi, gualou, huang lian, niu bang zi, pa ye, gui zhi, baishao, dazao, jiegeng, chen pi, bai bu, jing jie, qian hu, bai qian, zi wan to treat it effectively. This formula is essentially a combination of gan su xiao a mei, zhi sou, gui zhi houpu xing zi tang, banxia houpu tang, and xiao xian xiong tang plus zhishi. Gan su and zhi sou are excellent for relieving coughs; banxia houpu tang specializes in treating the sensation of something stuck in the throat that cannot be spat out or swallowed, commonly known as “plum pit qi,” which is actually the main symptom of chronic pharyngitis; xiao xian xiong plus zhishi targets the area below the heart, pressing on the spot where it hurts, serving as a dedicated antispasmodic agent that can relieve spasms in the gastrointestinal tract as well as in the trachea. The former refers to the upward movement of stomach qi, while the latter refers to the upward movement of lung qi. Both situations are dominated by the parasympathetic nervous system. Western medicines like ma huang su (which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system—alpha and beta receptors) and atropine (which suppresses the parasympathetic nervous system—also inhibits cholinesterase) are used. Traditional Chinese medicine’s gui zhi tang balances ying and wei, equivalent to atropine, while ma huang tang calms asthma and reverses qi reversal, equivalent to ma huang su. According to “Shanghan Lun,” “when shanghan causes yang pulse to be taut and yin pulse to be sluggish, it should be treated with urgent abdominal pain, first with Xiao Jianzhong, and if that doesn’t work, then Xiao Chaihu Tang.” Xiao Qinglong Tang treats annoyance, asthma, cough, thirst, vomiting, regurgitation, and diarrhea, addressing both lungs and stomach. The lungs belong to metal, the stomach belongs to earth, and earth can generate metal—this is true.