Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 11 – What should be done when a child has a cough?
Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 11 – What should be done when a child has a cough?
Traditional Chinese Medicine Parenting: Question 11 – What should be done when a child has a cough?
Answer: First and foremost, parents need to understand that coughing is the body's way of expelling foreign substances and is a symptom of an underlying issue, not the illness itself. When a foreign object enters the windpipe, the body responds with a violent cough to expel it. Similarly, a child's cough may be caused by cold, heat, or wind inside the body. Coughing is the body's way of expelling phlegm along with the cold, heat, or wind. Understanding this concept leads to the conclusion that immediately suppressing a cough is a typical approach that addresses the symptom but not the root cause. It also helps explain why treating chronic bronchitis in children with nebulization to suppress coughing is fundamentally flawed.
There is a saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that “a renowned doctor does not treat coughs,” meaning that even experienced doctors often hesitate to treat coughs because they are not easy to cure. This difficulty arises because, as the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) states, "All five organs can cause coughing." Many people mistakenly believe that coughing is solely a lung issue, but this isn't always true. For example, some children may experience urinary incontinence when they cough, which the Neijing refers to as “kidney cough,” indicating a problem with the kidneys.
As a parent, the key to treating a cough is to distinguish between cold and heat, which will determine the general direction of treatment. Most coughs can be effectively treated at home, and it's not necessary to immediately turn to remedies like She Dan Chuan Bei Ye (Snake Gallbladder and Fritillaria Liquid). When a child coughs, first check if there is phlegm. If there is, observe its color: yellow phlegm indicates internal heat, while white phlegm indicates internal cold. If the child has no phlegm, ask if they feel thirsty and what temperature of water they prefer. Generally, a preference for warm water suggests internal cold, while a preference for cold water suggests internal heat.
Treatment Methods:
Perform spinal pinching, with extra focus on the spleen, stomach, and lung areas.
If the child has cold in the lungs, you can use moxibustion on the Feishu acupoints, located 1.5 cun (about 1.5 inches) beside the third thoracic vertebra (refer to an acupoint chart). If the child resists moxibustion, you can use a warm towel to rub the Feishu acupoints and along the edges of the shoulder blades until the child sweats slightly, then dress them warmly.
If the child has lung heat, you can use the Chinese patent medicine She Dan Chuan Bei Ye. If the child has lung heat without a fever, you can use the herbal formula Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang (Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Gypsum, and Licorice Decoction). For a 20-pound child: take 6 grams of Ephedra (Ma Huang), 6 grams of Apricot Kernel (Xing Ren), 6 grams of roasted Licorice (Zhi Gan Cao), and 15 grams of Gypsum (Shi Gao). Boil these in three bowls of water until it reduces to one bowl. Divide the liquid into two doses and have the child drink it.
