70% of People Take the Wrong Medicine for Colds: Learn to Differentiate Between Wind-Heat, Wind-Cold, and “Cold with Heat” Colds

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) categorizes common colds into Wind-Cold and Wind-Heat types. Many people struggle to distinguish between Wind-Cold and Wind-Heat colds.

1. Wind-Cold Cold

The onset is usually due to fatigue, lack of rest, and exposure to wind or cold. Wind-Cold colds are more common in autumn and winter. This type belongs to the Taiyang (Greater Yang) syndrome, where the Taiyang channel is obstructed.

Symptoms of Wind-Cold Cold:

* Severe pain in the back of the head, which may also restrict neck movement. * Sensitivity to cold and wind, often requiring multiple layers of clothing or heavy blankets to feel comfortable. * Nasal discharge is clear, white, or slightly yellow. If nasal congestion occurs without discharge, drinking hot water may lead to clear nasal discharge, which also indicates Wind-Cold. * The tongue may have no coating or a thin white coating. * If you can take the pulse, it should feel floating and tight, indicating that Yang Qi is on the surface, easily felt with light pressure.

The key to treating Wind-Cold colds is to induce sweating (known in TCM as “xīn wēn jiě biǎo”). There are many methods, including sauna, soaking feet in hot water (preferably with some alcohol), playing basketball (if you have the energy), covering with two layers of blankets, drinking ginger syrup, eating spicy hot pot, etc. The primary formula for treating Wind-Cold is Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction), the first formula in the Treatise on Cold Damage, also known as the king of harmonizing formulas (Ma Huang Tang is also used for Wind-Cold but should be used cautiously in the south). Below is the formula for Gui Zhi Tang; those interested can note it down for future reference.

Gui Zhi 10g, Bai Shao 10g, Zhi Gan Cao 6g, Sheng Jiang 3 slices, Hong Zao 6 pieces

This is a simple formula, costing only a few yuan. My teacher said that once you understand Gui Zhi Tang, you will know how to prescribe and treat illnesses, which is truly worth studying.

2. Wind-Heat Cold

The onset is usually due to constipation, often belonging to the Yangming (Bright Yang) syndrome. Typically, it occurs like this: after two days of constipation, a sore throat develops for a day or two, followed by cold symptoms, which indicates Wind-Heat cold (it can also be due to external heat pathogens first attacking the lungs). Why does constipation lead to a cold? TCM believes that the lungs and large intestine are interrelated; if bowel movements are obstructed, the large intestine affects the lungs, leading to cold symptoms. Similarly, if Wind-Cold colds are not treated timely or appropriately, they can lead to internal heat causing constipation or diarrhea; in fact, diarrhea after a Wind-Cold cold is considered a transformation in TCM, indicating that the disease has moved from the exterior to the interior, so do not casually use anti-diarrheal medications.

Symptoms of Wind-Heat Cold:

* Sore throat, usually painful before cold symptoms appear, with phlegm that is typically yellow or black. * Thick nasal discharge, usually yellow. * The tongue coating may be slightly yellow or possibly white, with the tongue body usually being red. * Constipation. * Fever, thirst, and irritability. * The pulse is usually rapid or flooding, indicating a faster and stronger pulse than normal.

Once the cause of Wind-Heat cold is understood, treatment is straightforward; in most cases, it involves relieving constipation (along with clearing heat and resolving the exterior, which usually yields quick results). There are many methods, such as drinking herbal tea; taking heat-clearing and detoxifying medicines like Ban Lan Gen (Isatis Root), etc. Chinese patent medicines include San Huang Pian, Yin Qiao Jie Du Pian + Niu Huang Jie Du Pian, Ban Lan Gen, etc. The representative formula for Yangming syndrome is Bai Hu Tang (White Tiger Decoction), but I do not recommend everyone use it casually, as it is one of the strong medicines, and I will not transcribe it here.

3. “Cold with Heat” Cold

Another common but often overlooked type is the “exterior cold with interior heat” cold, referred to by the elderly as “Cold with Heat” type, which was also responsible for the panic of influenza in Beijing.

Those suffering from “Cold with Heat” colds often experience symptoms of fever and chills, along with nasal congestion and runny nose, not only sore throat and headache but also body aches, and additionally cough with yellow phlegm, dark urine, and constipation. This type exhibits both cold and heat symptoms.

For “Cold with Heat” colds, treating it as a Wind-Cold cold with cold-clearing medicines often leads to ineffective results due to misdiagnosis.

To address “Cold with Heat,” TCM emphasizes “dispersing exterior cold and clearing interior heat.” If using Chinese patent medicines, those containing Huang Qin (Scutellaria), Jin Yin Hua (Honeysuckle), and Lian Qiao (Forsythia) can be used for treatment.

Additionally, in TCM formulas, cold remedies are a relatively effective method for treating “Cold with Heat.” Below is the basic formula aired on “Chinese Medicine” that cured 170,000 people of colds, developed by Dr. Zhou Ping’an from the Respiratory and Heat Disease Department of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Chinese Medicine: “Cold with Heat” type cold.

Here is the basic formula provided in the program:

Zhi Ma Huang 5g, Xing Ren 10g, Sheng Shi Gao 30g, Sheng Gan Cao 5g

Chai Hu 10g, Huang Qin 10g, Yin Hua 15g, Su Ye 10g

Three doses, decocted in water, one dose per day

Additionally, a practical formula provided by enthusiastic netizens includes four more herbs, making it more effective.

Zhi Ma Huang 5g, Xing Ren 10g, Sheng Shi Gao 30g (first decocted), Sheng Gan Cao 5g

Chai Hu 10g, Huang Qin 10g, Yin Hua 15g, Su Ye 10g

Bo He 10g (added later), Cao He Che 10g, Qiang Huo 10g, Ban Lan Gen 15g

Three doses, decocted in water, one dose per day

The above formula can significantly reduce fever and effectively treat colds, and has been continuously used for over 10 years in hospitals such as Beijing Dongzhimen Hospital and Dongfang Hospital.

4. Additionally, let’s clarify a few concepts that friends may confuse.

* Viral colds do not equate to Wind-Heat colds; viruses are a Western medical concept, while TCM focuses more on the human body. Therefore, some doctors treating viral colds as Wind-Heat colds is incorrect.* Sore throat is not the key to distinguishing between Wind-Heat and Wind-Cold colds; Wind-Cold colds can also often lead to sore throats.* Similarly, cough, runny nose, and high fever cannot be used as absolute distinctions between these two types of colds.* Do not simultaneously undergo Western and TCM treatments, as these are two different treatment systems. If antibiotics have been prescribed, there is no need to drink ginger syrup. Why? Think about it: one aims to cool the body down, while the other aims to induce sweating, which is almost contradictory. Can the body handle that? This will reduce the effectiveness of both TCM and Western treatments.

* “Ginger and Coke” is only effective for Wind-Cold colds. In Beijing, many people like to use ginger and Coke to treat colds, believing it is effective and tastes good. However, this hybrid remedy is only effective for Wind-Cold cold patients with severe chills, mild fever, no sweating, headache, body aches, nasal congestion with clear runny nose, and cough with thin white phlegm. It has little effect on Wind-Heat or “Cold with Heat” colds. Ginger can dispel wind and cold, induce sweating, and there has long been a practice of boiling ginger soup to drive away cold, but ginger is also a pungent and warming food, which can exacerbate internal heat in patients with existing internal heat colds, effectively adding fuel to the fire.

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