Difficulty Breathing due to Turbid-Phlegm

Symptoms: difficulty exhaling, feeling of fullness in the chest, cough with large amounts of sticky white sputum, vomiting or nausea, sticky taste in the mouth, lack of thirst, tongue coat that is white-sticky-thick, pulses full and slippery

Treatment of breathlessness due to phlegm-heat in the lungs involves acupuncture using the "Reduction" method at points chize, lieque, zhongfu, neiguan, fenglong, feishu, pishu, and/or an herbal remedy.

A good base formula that many herbalists shoud consider includes the herbs fa ban xia (pinellia), chen pi (tangerine peel), fu ling (poria), zhi gan cao (honey-fried licorice), sheng jiang (ginger), wu mei (umeboshi plum), su zi (purple perilla seed), bai jie zi (white mustard seed), and lai fu zi (typhonium rhizome). This is a highly effective combination for a chronic condition of turbid-phlegm in the lungs.

How do the individual herbs in this formula work? Pinellia treats coughing and nausea, reduces distention in the chest, and has an interesting ability to break up nodules composed of phlegmy material. Tangerine peel alleviates bloating, belching, nausea, and vomiting, and helps the pinellia treat coughing. Poria is a potassium-rich herb which helps the body to excrete excess sodium to relieve edema without being a diuretic. Licorice is used in this formula to reduce an harsh effects of the herbs and prevent adverse reactions. Ginger helps treat nausea. Umeboshi plum is added to treat coughing, nausea, and diarrhea. This herb also has antibiotic and anti-parasitic actions. Purple perilla seeds have a downward energetic movement, and have a strong ability to stop coughing and wheezing, and help loosen phlegm that is stuck. White mustard seed treats phlegmy coughs with bubbly sputum. Typhonium rhizome is added to dissolve the phlegm so that it can be expelled by the other herbs.