Redirects the Qi downward and stops cough: used commonly for cough and wheezing from many different etiologies.
Use with caution for any cough with a Heat condition.
I was hiking near Camel’s Hump the other day and found lots of Coltsfoot growing in the ditch along the dirt road, amongst gravel and not far from the river. One of the earliest spring herbs – April – found in ditches along dirt roads and trails.
I’m thinking of you, hoping you are enjoying this glorious fall.
I want to share with you my favorite combination of natural remedies that I like to have on hand for the cold and flu season. Early treatment boosts your body’s ability to fight the pathogenic invasion (virus), so symptoms resolve more quickly.
Here are my Recommendations for the Cold Season Medicine Cabinet:
Vitamin D3 – prophylactically to increase your vitamin D stores. In the summer we get vitamin D from the sun… bye bye sun, hello Vermont winter. Now’s the time to start.
Zinc – key to reducing viral replication.
Vitamin C – another key nutrient to boosting immunity to help your body fight off colds, flues, coronaviruses Vitamin C is essential to virtually all systems in the body including heart, eyes, brain, bones, ligaments, skin and tissues.
Cinnamon Twig Formula (Gui Zhi Tang) – best formula for early onset of colds for many people. It boosts the body’s natural defenses against invading pathogens, especially again cold wind. If you tend to be averse to cold wind, it is likely that this is the formula for your pattern. If you find it is easy to catch a cold after being exposed to cold, try this, it is pretty yummy with honey or mixed into your oatmeal. This it the main formula I recommend for people tending toward this pattern to have in the medicine cabinet.
I have Cinnamon Twig Formula in my office in powders or pills, and it is available as a box of single serving packets (plenty for the whole extended family to have some) from TCM brand from FullScript.
Herbal Cold Care Tea (previously known as Gypsy Cold Care) is available at my office or at City Market or other stores. Yarrow, elderflower, hyssop and mint are the main herbs that help boost the respiratory immune response. I like it with a small spoonful of honey.
Honey is great medicine; it is anti-microbial and wonderful for an irritated throat. Buy raw local honey for best results.
Quercetin – supports immune system and respiratory function. Quercetin has been shown to offer strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, along with anti-hypertensive, anti-coagulant and anti-hyperglycemic properties.
As an early treatment, 250 mg 2x daily. Vit C helps the body absorb Quercetin more effectively.
NAC – has anti-oxidant and detoxifying effects, supports immune function and promotes lung and sinus health.
Xlear Nasal Spray – strong natural antimicrobial with grapefruit seed extract – great for occasional use for exposure or for sinusitis.
Gargling with anti-microbial mouthwash is another helpful way to deal with exposure. There are many options for what to gargle. Check out what I wrote about Gargling and think about what works best for you. I prefer my mouthwash to be free of artificial ingredients dyes, and have been using Listerine Naturals, but it has been recently discontinued. Let me know what natural mouthwash you like.
Bi Yan Pian – a Chinese herbal formula for sinus congestion, is good to have around if you are prone to sinus issues. Ask me to recommend one for you, I have several versions of the formula in stock.
Olbas Nasal Inhaler – is awesome to open the nasal passages using essential oils.
Gan Mao Ling Chinese herbal formula – used for sore throat, especially a strongly sore throat with redness, this Chinese herbal formula focuses on killing viruses in the throat. The throat connects to the ears and sinuses, so those areas can be affected as well. I do not recommend this formula to be taken preventatively, but only for treatment of a sore throat. If it is a mild sore throat, I would generally start with Cinnamon Twig formula. If it progresses, I would add Gan Mao Ling. This fall sore throat has been a common symptom, and if you are someone who feels like they nearly always get a sore throat when they get sick, this is a good one for the medicine cabinet.
Huo Xiong Zheng Qi Tang (aka Ease Digestion or Quiet Digestion). This formula is good for harmonizing the digestion and also gently releasing or venting the exterior. It appears that in some cases the main symptoms are digestive upset, such as loose stools, possibly along with a headache and fatigue. It is great to have on hand also for food poisoning or any Stomach bug.
While I don’t recommend taking too many supplements, I do recommend high quality ones which are more easily assimilated by your body and not just peed or pooped out. I’m partnering with FullScript to help provide top quality supplements, delivered directly to your home. Everything in the FullScript catalog is professional grade natural. Pick and choose what makes sense for you and your family and friends.
I am offering a 10% discount for my patients. Standard shipping is free for orders above $50 and there is a promotion for free delivery for the first 10 patient orders. You can see more recommendations in my Favorites section. (Catalog > Favorites > Cold Season Medicine Cabinet), or search the entire catalog.
Ask me about customized Chinese herbal formulas for your constitution.
Mini ZB + Acu + cupping or moxa or gua sha / tui na bodywork
Book online – via email at kelly@VTacupuncture.com – or phone 802-951-8815.
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Assessment for prescribing customized Chinese herbal formulas is included with acupuncture series of 3 or more sessions. Herbal formulas are extra and are typically $25-35 per week.
Powerful and graceful White Tiger Decoction treats what is known in Chinese medicine as the 4 bigs – big fever, big thirst, big sweat, big pulse – and has its place in the Chinese medicine dispensary as an important emergency formula. Apropos for 2022 – the Year of the Tiger.
Gypsum, the main ingredient, is a clear white mineral with a crystalline structure made up of parallel fibers, which is pungent, sweet and cold. Some say it is very cold, others slightly cold, but all agree that it has strong heat clearing properties. It’s function can be likened to cleaning a clogged screen, allowing the body to vent the heat that has built up under the clog. We can visualize the image of the parallel crystal fibers – keeping the vertical flow of the meridians, so heat cannot build up. This amazing mineral is can either reduce profuse sweat or promote sweat as is needed.
Gypsum is used together in White Tiger Decoction with honey-fried licorice, rice and anemarrhena which, along with gypsum, are all sweet and/or cool and help replenish the fluids that were scorched by the intense heat and high fever. It is an incredibly effective formula when used appropriately for the correct pattern, including for pediatrics.
I had the chance to use it when my son woke up the first day of the winter break with a fever. His main signs and symptoms were headache, rapid and flooding pulse, body hot to touch, and fever went up to 104.6. I have him White Tiger Decoction and the fever came down from 104.6 to 101 literally within minutes. By the time he went to bed an hour later his fever was below 99. I was amazed that it worked so fast. I am so grateful for the wisdom of the ancients and to have this potent medicine at my finger tips. Chinese medicine rocks!
Cinnamon Twig Formula, Gui Zhi Tang, is a commonly used formula that is useful for the very initial stages of a cold or flu when there may be mild symptoms such as sneezing, aversion to cold and wind, mild sweating, feeling feverish, lack of thirst or headache. It treats exterior wind cold and harmonizes the nutritive and defensive Qi. Most of the herbs in the formula help the digestion (fresh ginger, dates, licorice, and also cinnamon twig and white peony root), while a couple harmonize the surface (cinnamon twig and white peony root). It’s made up of mostly food type herbs, and is pretty yummy for a Chinese medicine formula.
To take the formula, prepare the herbs with hot water and drink, followed by a warm bowl of porridge. Wrap yourself up with some blankets until you have a slight sweat. At that time, change into warm dry clothes and discontinue the herbs.
Once the cold/flu goes deeper and there are symptoms such as sore throat, thirst, high fever, cough, different formulas are appropriate.
Cinnamon Twig formula is not just for colds with sneezing, it can be used as a base formula for many conditions, including emotional vulnerability, palpitations, abdominal pain, joint pain, cold hands and feet, hot flashes, when the pattern fits.
3 February 2021 is the beginning of Spring Moxa Season, which lasts about 4 weeks, with the peak being Chinese Lunar New Year, which is Feb 12 this year. During this time the “Life Gate” is open and illness can invade more deeply than at other times of year. This is also the time when moxibustion (moxa for short) can penetrate more deeply than usual into the “Life Gate” or Ming Men (aka Lower Dan Tien or inside the lower belly) because is open at this time. This is great for preventing illness.
Moxa strengthens the constitution and immune system, builds Qi and Blood, increases the energy and circulation of the whole body, can help pain due to cold and damp, and can soften lumps!
Moxibustion is a Chinese herb called mugwort (Ai Ye, Artemisia Vulgaris) that we use to warm certain points or areas of the body in order to warm and strengthen the Qi there. Common areas where moxa is applied to strengthen the Kidney energy and build the Qi are the low belly (Ren 4 and 6) and low back (Du 4 and UB 23) or the Stomach 36 point on the leg.
There are very many preparations of moxa, and ways that it is used – directly on the skin as in Japanese (okyu or chinetkyu) moxa cones, or indirectly, as in a moxa stick held near the skin. Moxa sticks can be a traditional moxa sticky, which is smoky (see photo) or modern smokeless moxa sticks. Loose moxa can be used in a moxa pot on put on the belly or back. Also, either loose moxa cones or specialty smokeless moxa can be used on the top of the needle during an acupuncture treatment.
My two latest favorite ways to utilize moxa are with the moxa heat pack, which is self-heating and can be easily applied to the low belly or low back when you are resting at home, or on areas of soreness that benefit from warmth. Read more about the convenient moxa heat packs on my blog.
The second way is Ontake, (Moxa in Motion), which is a cross between a moxa treatment and massage of the acupuncture channels. In this super cool technique, moxa is pressed into a section of bamboo and used like a massage tool on the skin. I’ll be writing more about that next!
Moxibustion is a traditional therapy that has always been used along with acupuncture; acupuncture in Chinese is actually acupuncture and moxibustion, Zhen Jiu. The earliest acupuncture and moxibustion texts books date back to the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century BCE, and there is evidence in the form of hieroglyphics that these modalities were being used together even further back (Shang Dynasty, 1600-1100 BCE). This ancient modality still remains an integral part of Traditional East Asian Medicine.
Moxibustion is a warming technique that has always been an integral part of the practice acupuncture. Traditional moxibustion is smoky, which makes it hard to use indoors. The moxa heat pack, on the other hand, is not smoky at all and is so easy to use, as well as effective. My clients are LOVING it!
Moxa deeply warms the body and strengthens the kidneys when applied to the low back or belly. In Traditional East Asian medicine, the kidney energy is known as the Ming Men Fire, which is the essential modal force of the body. It is likened to the fire under a cooking pot, where the cooking pot is analogous to the digestive tract. If the fire it too low, not only will your soup not be cooked, but the steam will not fill your kitchen. The steam is your Qi and blood which needs the Ming Men fire to activate and circulate it. You can see why the Ming Men Fire is so important.
Placing the moxa heat pack on your low belly or low back will revitalize your Ming Men Fire. Moxa can also be used in other areas, too.
Moxa tonifies and strengthens the constitution and immune system, builds Qi and Blood, increases the energy and circulation of the whole body, can help pain due to cold and damp, and can soften lumps! Wow!
Instructions to activate and store moxa heat pack:
Remove from package and activate by working and moving it in all four directions on and off until it gets warm. It will take about 20 minutes to warm up.
When you are done using it, put it in a jar and close the lid. This will extinguish the heat. Next time you want to use it, take it out of the jar and activate it as you did initially. It will take about 20 minutes to warm up.
You will get at total of 15-20 hours of warmth with each moxa heat pack initially.
Once it is not heating up anymore, you can use the microwave for 10-15 seconds, then activate the moxa heat pack as you did before. It takes 8-10 minutes to warm up. You can zap it in the microwave up 20 more times before it totally loses its heat power!
Caution:
Do not put directly on your skin, but either on top of clothes, or ideally, wrapped in a hand towel, in a wool sock or homemade moxa pouch. The reason for this is that the outer package contains plastic (phthalates), which we don’t want to absorb into our body through our skin.
Do not sleep with moxa heat pack. These can get really hot and there is a danger of being burned if you bring them to bed with you.
Where to apply your moxa heat pack:
On your lower belly – between your pubic bone and navel on Ren 4 – 6.
On your lower back, above your waist on either side of your lower back on UB 23 in the area of the kidneys, and/or on Du 4 on the midline in your lumbar spine. You can move it up and down as you like on your lower belly and/or your lower back You can use it for as long as you like, typically for 20 minutes to an hour or two If it gets too hot, take it off, or use more cloth between you and the moxa heat pack.
Alternate between your low belly and low back. You can use two at once, one on either side of your low back in the kidney area – or one on your low belly and one on the midline of your low back.
Your practitioner may recommend other points specially for you to use the heat pack on, such as point on the leg like Stomach 36 or Sp 6, or upper back points. You can put two moxa heat packs in one long sock – or in two separate socks that you tie together – then drape them to get to the points you want.
Available at my office, moxa heat packs are $4.00 each. You find buy them online in a box of 10.
A Monarch butterfly came by as I was taking photos to share with you. I’ve been working on the landscaping around my office all summer and the gardens are looking beautiful.
I’ve been planting Chinese herbal medicinal plants, including Peony, Black Cohosh, Skullcap, Wild Rose, Belamcamda and Solomon Seal, which can serve to demonstration the herbs that are in the Chinese herbal formulas that I make.
Next spring should be even better and there will be even more medicinal plants and flowers – including Magnolia, Hollyhock, Fennel, Clematis, Platycodon, and Wild Rose.
I have lots of poppy seeds, let me know if you want some. You can plant them late fall for next spring germination.
Here is a list of symptoms that I will want to know if you (my current client) are looking for treatment for COVID-19 or a serious cold/flu:
What symptoms came on at the beginning of this?
What symptoms are present now?
Body temperature – Do you feel hot or cold, or both alternating? Do you feel feverish, hot, flushed? What time of day? Do you have a fever?
Perspiration – What is your sweat like normally? Have you sweat since you have been sick?
Cough – What kind of cough – dry or productive? What color is the phlegm? Is it watery or thick? Is there a tickle in your throat? Or a barking cough? How often is the cough? Is it worse with lying down?
Breathing and chest – Are you having trouble inhaling? Taking deep breaths? Is it worse with cold air? (you can stick your head in the freezer to check)
Is your chest tight? Is there pressure in your chest? Worse with lying down?
Nose, sinuses, head – How are your sinuses and nose? Stuffy? Sinus pressure or headache? Where? Post nasal drip? Runny nose? Sneezing?
Digestion – How are your bowel movements? Any other digestive symptoms? Let me know if any of these are new symptoms.
Energy & sleep – tell me about your energy levels and sleep.
Emotions – how are you doing emotionally? What is coming up for you now?
Add anything else about your current state of health that you can share.
Is there anything about your general state of health that you would like to share or remind me of?
– Flos Tussilago farfara – Coltsfoot
