Description

This formula is for a special kind of cough that originates from the throat (laryngeal) area and not the lungs. It targets that area to disperse stagnant wind.

People may find this is helpful for coughs that

1. have been longstanding
2. have little or no sputum
3. no longer seem to be part of a cold or flu

Jing Jie  荊芥 flos schizonepetae tenuifoliae  opens the lungs and throat 

Fang Feng防風 Saposhnikoviae divaricatae – “protects against the wind” used often for allergies and can be seen as having anti-histamine functions

Jie Geng 桔梗 Platycodi – opens the lungs and stops cough

Gan Cao  甘草  Glycyrrhizae – “harmonizes” the other herbs and moistens – stops cough

Bo He  薄荷  Menthae –  Mint to open the nasal passages by its aromatic properties

Bai Guo 白果  Ginkgo Bilobae (subsitituted for Bai Jiang Can) – Moistens the lungs gently and stops cough

In the book A Walk Along the River by Yu Guo-Jun he writes:

“The primary symptoms of laryngeal cough are dry throat and tickle in the throat that bring on fits of coughing and choking. These symptoms are very distinct from coughs that originate in the Lung or are due to pathology in other organs”

Coughing usually brings on relief for the patient. “However, this is not the case with laryngeal cough: the more the patient coughs, the more discomfort he or she feels. This is because repeated coughing of the type leaves the throat drier and more irritated. This makes it more likely for the tickling sensation to develop and provoke another episode of coughing. In this way, a vicious cycle develops.”