Common Cold

"Common Cold" Issue / Symptom Connections

Below you will find various relationships to, and potential clinical treatment approaches for common cold.

Content Related to Common Cold

It is critical to appreciate that in Chinese Medicine, treatment for "common cold" is rarely focused on the symptoms exclusively. Alternatively, a practitioner is looking at the factors that led to the development of "common cold" - i.e. the "cause(s)".

For non-practitioners, we recommend reading treating the "cause" and not the "symptoms" for more on the overall approach and the importance of the TCM diagnostic system in formulating treatment approaches.

Within TCM, "common cold" is potentially related to one or more of the following diagnostic patterns: lung wind invasion - wind cold, lung wind invasion - wind heat, and/or summer heat.

The above patterns are common examples. In clinical situations, however, there are any number of other possibilities. Many times there will be a layered combination of patterns in an interwoven blend with their symptoms - some being the cause of an issue and the result of another issue. While initially complex, this is illustrative of the the web of relationships that Chinese Medicine is designed to approach.

Related Acupuncture Protocols

When developing an acupuncture protocol a practitioner is very often focusing on the causal diagnoses in Chinese Medicine terms, not on the condition itself. To illustrate and guide developing an acupuncture treatment for someone experiencing common cold, this issue is referenced in the following acupuncture protocol section:

• View EX Huatuojiaji at T1 (Sides of Spine at T1)
  
      .5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous processes of T1
  
      T1 innervates the windpipe and affects the bone marrow, used for a range of lung and immune issues (with T2 and T3), a range of neck issues, releasing exterior heat (colds/flus/fever), neck and shoulder problems.  T1, T2 and T3 are used fo…
• View LI 4 (Union Valley)
  
      In the middle of the 2nd metacarpal bone on the radial side.
  
      Releases the exterior for wind-cold or wind-heat syndromes Strengthens the wei qi, improves immunity Regulates the sweat glands, for excessive sweating tonify LI 4 then disperse KD 7 and vice versa. Any problem on the face - sense organ…
• View LI 19 (Grain Bone Hole)
  
      Directly below the lateral margin of the nostril at the level of GV 26
  
      Sinus congestion. Nasal polyps, sores. Nosebleed (combination with GV 23 and LI 19)  
• View LU 7 (Broken Sequence)
  
      1.5 cun above the wrist crease, superior to the styloid process of the radius (not on the LU 5 - LU 9 line in TCM). Jap…
  
      Exterior Wind - body aches, chills/fever, runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing. Internal Wind - bell's palsy, twitching, spasms, lockjaw. As Master Point of the CV, paired with KD 6 of the Yin Qiao Mai - treats genitourinary and gynecol…
• View SI 7 (Branch to the Correct)
  
      5 cun proximal to the dorsal crease of the wrist on the SI 5 to SI 8 line.
  
      Local point for pain and/or strength/control issues in the elbow, arm, and fingers.  May be helpful for weakness of all the limbs as well. Stiff neck, headaches, vision issues - blurry, obstructed. Useful with onset of exterior wind-heat…
• View SI 9 (True Shoulder)
  
      1 cun above the posterior end of the axillary fold, posterior and inferior to the shoulder joint, found with the arm ad…
  
      Local point for shoulder and arm pain and/or movement/control issues.  Motor control issues of the hand. Wind-heat invasion - chills and fever from the common cold. Tinnitus, deafness.  
• View SI 10 (Upper Arm Shu)
  
      With the arm abducted, directly above SI 9 in a depression inferior to the scapular spine.
  
      Local point for shoulder and upper arm pain, swelling and/or weakness. Wind-heat, wind-cold - chills and fever.  
• View UB 9 (Jade Pillow)
  
      1.3 cun lateral to GV 17 or 2.5 cun above the PHL, 1.3 cun lateral to the PML in depression level with GV 17.
  
      Expels wind-cold - nasal congestion, chills and fever, headaches from wind. Occipital headaches and/or neck pain, heavy head. Eye pain and/or redness, blurry vision. Unbalanced temperature/sweating - cold sensation in head with sweats, …
• View UB 12 (Wind Gate)
  
      1.5 cun lateral to GV line, level with T2.
  
      Main point to expel wind from the Wei Qi level of the body, useful for early stages of wind-cold conditions (Common cold, cough, fever, headache, stiff neck). Apply moxa here and on ST 36 to strengthen the Wei Qi (or the defensive layer o…
• View UB 19 (Gallbladder Shu)
  
      1.5 cun lateral to GV 7, level with T10.
  
      Shao Yang level diseases, alternating fever and chills. Main point for damp heat in the Liver and Gall Bladder: hepatitis, cholecystitis, jaundice, vomiting, flank pain and distension, bitter taste in the mouth. Often combined with the LV…