Can moxibustion cure cough?

Moxibustion is a treatment method that many people pay attention to. Moxibustion can indeed relieve coughs, colds, and even bronchiectasis that many people often have. At the same time, moxibustion can also relieve lung qi, dredge the lungs, and achieve the effect of moistening the lungs and relieving coughs. Therefore, many people often use moxibustion to treat their bodies. However, everyone wants to know whether moxibustion can cure coughs, which has become a matter of concern to many people.

【Overview】

Cough is the main symptom of lung diseases. The causes of the disease include invasion of external pathogens, which prevent the lung qi from circulating smoothly and cause coughing; it can also be caused by lung lesions, or diseases of other internal organs that affect the lungs and cause coughing. It is common in upper respiratory tract infections, acute and chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis and other diseases.

【Etiology and pathogenesis】

(1) External infection: The lung governs qi and is the canopy of the five internal organs. It is connected to the throat, opens to the nose, and is connected to the skin and fur. It is responsible for breathing. Once attacked by external pathogens, the lung defense is affected, the lung qi is blocked, and the lung qi loses its clarity, thus causing cough.

Due to different climate changes in the four seasons, the external evils that the human body is affected by are different, so clinically it is divided into two categories: wind-cold cough and wind-heat cough.

(2) Internal injury: Cough caused by lung dysfunction or disease of other organs affecting the lungs is called internal injury cough. Common coughs include lung dryness and yin deficiency, which causes the lungs to lose their ability to clear and purge; coughs caused by spleen yang deficiency, which causes moisture to accumulate and become phlegm, which then settles in the lungs and affects the flow of qi; coughs caused by liver qi stagnation, which turns into fire over time, and wood fire burning metal and injuring the lungs; and coughs caused by lung and kidney yin deficiency, which causes the lungs to lose their ability to clear and purge.

【Treatment based on syndrome differentiation】

(I) Cough due to external factors

1. Wind-cold

Main symptoms: cough and itchy throat, thin white sputum, chills and fever, no sweating, headache, nasal congestion and runny nose, thin white tongue coating, and floating pulse.

2. Wind-heat

Main symptoms: coughing up yellow and thick sputum, coughing without relief, thirst and sore throat, fever, or headache, aversion to wind, sweating and other external symptoms, thin yellow tongue coating, and floating and rapid pulse.

Treatment method: Mainly use the Taiyin and Yangming meridian points of the hand. For wind-cold cough, use both acupuncture and moxibustion; for wind-heat syndrome, only acupuncture without moxibustion is used to promote lung function and relieve exterior symptoms.

Prescription: Lieque, Hegu, and Feishu.

Acupoints are selected according to symptoms: Cough with sore throat: Shaoshang; Fever and chills: Dazhui and Waiguan.

Meaning of the prescription: The lung governs the skin and fur, and is the exterior and interior of the large intestine. Use the lung's collateral point Lieque and the large intestine's original point Hegu to disperse wind and evil, and relieve lung qi and exterior symptoms. Feishu is the back-shu point of the lung, which can regulate lung qi and enhance the effect of relieving lung qi and exterior symptoms. For sore throat, bloodletting at Shaoshang can be used to relieve lung heat. For fever and chills, use Dazhui and Waiguan to reduce fever and relieve exterior symptoms.

(II) Cough due to internal injury

1. Phlegm and turbidity blocking the lungs

Main symptoms: Cough with a lot of white and sticky sputum, chest and abdominal distension, decreased appetite, white and greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse.

Treatment method: Mainly use back-shu and foot-yangming meridian points. Acupuncture is used to both tonify and purge, and moxibustion can be added to strengthen the spleen and resolve phlegm.

Prescription: Feishu, Pishu, Zhongwan, Zusanli, Chize, and Fenglong.

Meaning of the prescription: Feishu and Pishu replenish the Qi of the lungs and spleen to enhance the lung's function of dispersing and descending and the spleen's function of transporting and transforming; Zhongwan and Zusanli strengthen the spleen and stomach to resolve phlegm and turbidity; Chize drains the lung to relieve cough, and Fenglong resolves phlegm to descend Qi. These acupoints have the effect of strengthening the spleen, resolving phlegm and relieving cough.

2. Lung dryness and yin deficiency

Main symptoms: dry cough without sputum, or little sputum that is difficult to cough up, dry nose and throat or sore throat, or blood in sputum, or even hemoptysis, hot flashes, red cheeks, red tongue with thin coating, and a weak pulse.

Treatment method: Focus on the Shu and Mu points of the lung. Acupuncture uses the method of balanced tonification and balanced purgation to nourish yin, moisten dryness, and clear and calm the lung qi.

Prescription: Feishu, Zhongfu, Lieque, Zhaohai.

Acupoints selected according to symptoms: for hemoptysis, add Kongzui and Geyu.

Meaning of the prescription: Feishu and Zhongfu are Yu-Mu points that are paired to moisten the lungs and regulate Qi; Lieque is a lung meridian point that connects to the Ren meridian and can clear away dryness, moisten dryness and relieve cough; it is paired with Zhaohai to nourish Yin and produce fluid to clear the throat; Kongzui is the Xi point of the lung and is mainly used to treat emergencies; Geyu-Xuehui is a point that specializes in stopping bleeding, and the two points are paired to stop coughing and bleeding. All the acupoints work together to nourish yin and moisten dryness, clear the lung qi, and stop cough and bleeding.