This document discusses the treatment of allergies and upper respiratory issues from a traditional Chinese medicine perspective. It outlines the following assessment and treatment approach: 1) Focus on identifying the location, stage, and patterns of the disease based on questioning about symptoms, timing, and differentiation of qualities. 2) Develop treatment strategies tailored to the identified patterns, such as resolving phlegm, dissolving phlegm, clearing heat, or moistening dryness using herbal formulas and secret ingredients that target the pathogenic factors. 3) Consider constitutional factors like lung, spleen, kidney strength and use herbs to strengthen related organs. Seasonal and daily fluctuations can provide clues to patterns.

1. The treatment of allergies and
upper respiratory complaints in
TCM
Cara O. Frank, L.OM, Dipl.OM

2. FOcus your thinking
Qin Bo Wei reminds us to first focus on the location
of the disease.
Exterior? Ying/Wei
Lungs
Nose
Ears

3. Identify the Stage of the Disease
Does the illness reflect a Tai Yang,Yang Ming or Shao
Yang stage disorder?
Or, if this is a Wen Bing pattern: Wei or Qi levels.

4. Differentiating patterns
Focused inquiry leads to an accurate differential diagnosis:
Begin with Location
Move to Timing. When does it occur? Seasons and time of
day
What makes it better or worse?
General health questions, appetite, digestion, for women: is
there a relationship to menstruation?

5. Phlegm- no one gets better until you
handle it
Differentiate it’s
quality
heat
cold
thick
thin
phlegm obstruction

6. determine the channels affected
Shao Yang
Yang Ming
Lung

7. Seasonal considerations
Spring: warm wind
Summer: heat, fire,
damp-heat, summer
heat
Late Summer and
autumn: wind cold,
cool dryness
Winter: cold

8. Constitutional considerations
Lungs, spleen, kidney
ying/wei
qi mechanisms
phlegm
yin fire

9. Key signs
Do the symptoms wax
and wane?
seasonally, daily,
monthly
differentiate shao yang
patterns

10. or: start with a hypothesis
Think of a formula you
think might be
appropriate for your
patient
what pattern does it
treat?
what does the inquiry
look like?
how do you
differentiate between
formulas?

11. ask
Nose: runny or stuffy?
do they swallow
phlegm?
cough: dry or wet?
easy or difficult to
expectorate?
high in chest/ throat
or deep in chest

12. Nature of secretions
Scanty: dryness
Yellow and thick: heat
Thin, watery and clear: cold phlegm
gummy- lumpy: extreme heat, fluid depletion
Foamy: wind evils
Green- foul smell: toxic evils
Bloody: fire toxin

13. SOund of the cough
Dry: lung dryness
Productive, thin white mucus with runny nose:
external wind cold
frequent paroxysmal cough: liver heat
fatigue with coughing and SOB: lung deficiency
Barking: liver fire, lung heat
Better in summer: latent cold pathogen or kidney

14. Timing
Worse before noon: possible stomach fire
worse in afternoon: yin deficiency
worse in the morning: spleen deficiency
worse lying down: phlegm obstruction:consider post-
nasal drip

15. NOw what?
treatmenta good herbal toolbox for
No sucess unless you have
strategies
resolving phlegm.
xuan fei hua tan: diffuse the lungs and transform phlegm
qu tan: dispel phlegm
xiao tan: disperse phlegm
hua tan: dissolve phlegm, hua tan zhi ke: dissolve phlegm stop
cough
di tan: clear up phlegm
dry

16. treatment strategies
zao shi hua tan: dry dampness dissolve phlegm
qing re hua tan: clear heat dissolve phelgm
wen fei hua tan: warm the lung dissolve phlegm
jiang pi hua tan: fortify the spleen dissolve phlegm.
run zao hua tan: moisten dryness dissolve phlegm

17. secrets for success
moisten dryness: bei mu, gua lou, tian hua fen
fragrant herbs penetrate phlegm obstruction: zi su ye, xin yi hua, hou po,
release the exterior: qian hu gui zhi, fang feng
acrid herbs dry cold phlegm: xi xin
sour herbs astringe secretions: wu wei zi
bitter herbs clear heat, resolve phlegm, downbear counterflow: ban xia,
huang qin
regulate the qi mechanism of the lungs: jie geng- zhi ke
benefit throat: ban xia hou po tang
strengthen the spleen: fu ling, bai zhu, chen pi
regulate blood: chuan xiong, chi shao

18. Ears
if the ears are involved, add chai hu, huang qin

19. What you’ve been waiting for:
tricks

20. My Favorite Formulas For
Symptom Relief