Traditional Chinese medicine generally classifies colds into two main categories: wind-cold colds and wind-heat colds. These two types of colds differ significantly in their causes, pathogenesis, symptoms, treatment principles, and medications. So how can one distinguish between wind-heat colds and wind-cold colds?
Air conditioning causes a mixture of cold and hot air.
The use of air conditioning in the height of summer creates a fluctuating external environment, where cold and heat pathogens transform into each other, often resulting in a combination of cold and heat-related illnesses that are difficult to distinguish completely. There are many reasons for air conditioning sickness: prolonged exposure to air conditioning weakens the body's resistance, leading to a series of uncomfortable symptoms; direct exposure to air conditioning after sweating profusely causes the pores to close abruptly, resulting in internal heat buildup; poor indoor ventilation allows microorganisms to invade the body; and long-term overwork and irregular sleep patterns.
Wind-heat cold is characterized by high fever.
Common cold due to wind-cold is caused by the invasion of wind-cold pathogens and the failure of lung qi to circulate properly. Symptoms include: severe chills, mild fever, no sweating, headache and body aches, nasal congestion with clear runny nose, cough with thin white phlegm, no thirst or thirst with a preference for hot drinks, and a thin white tongue coating. Treatment should focus on relieving exterior wind-cold with pungent and warm herbs. Commonly used herbs include ephedra, schizonepeta, saposhnikovia, and perilla leaf. After taking the medicine, drinking some hot porridge or soup to induce a slight sweat can help the medicine dispel wind-cold. A traditional remedy for common cold due to wind-cold can also be taken: 5 sections of scallion whites, 9 grams of fermented soybeans, and 3 slices of ginger, decocted in water and taken once a day; or 30 grams of ginger and 30 grams of brown sugar, decocted and taken in three divided doses.
Wind-heat cold is characterized by high fever.
Wind-heat common cold is caused by wind-heat pathogens invading the exterior and disrupting the harmony of lung qi. Symptoms include high fever, slight aversion to wind, headache, sweating, sore throat with redness and swelling, cough with sticky or yellow phlegm, nasal congestion with yellow discharge, thirst, red tongue tip and edges, and a thin white or slightly yellow tongue coating. Treatment should focus on relieving the exterior with pungent and cooling herbs. Commonly used herbs include chrysanthemum, mint, and mulberry leaves.
For wind-heat colds, drink plenty of water and eat a light diet. Radish soup or pear soup is recommended. You can also try these traditional remedies: 3 grams of peppermint, 30 grams of reed rhizome, 15 grams of isatis root, and 6 grams of raw licorice root, one dose daily; or 10 grams of bamboo leaves, 3 grams of peppermint, 9 grams of apricot kernel, and 9 grams of forsythia, one dose daily. A runny nose with thick, viscous discharge is a symptom of a wind-heat cold!
