Focus On Your Health

Treating Everyday Colds and The Flu

Why are some people more susceptible to colds and the flu?
We are all familiar with the basic treatment principle, “Take 2 aspirin or Tylenol, drink plenty of water, and go to bed”, or with a fever, ”Bundle up and wait till you break a sweat”. Certainly good advice but is there anything else you can do?

According to well-known author Elson Hass, M.D., the “common cold” and the “flu” are primarily signals that the body needs to clean and rest itself. With our hectic lives too often we take our 2 aspirin or Tylenol, perhaps an anti-biotic, cough syrup or decongestant and head off to work. We survive, get better, and wait until the next round of virus hits town, and us again. If this is your story, perhaps its time to heed Dr. Haas admonition to rest.

How does Chinese Medicine treat colds and the flu?
Chinese medicine derived from nature. Healing is primarily a matter of restoring ourselves to harmony. Perhaps this sounds easy, but in our hurry-up, pill-based society, many individuals have lost touch with the rhythms of nature and their own natural cycles.

In Chinese medicine, a virus is thought to invade the exterior of the body. Therefore, the main treatment principle is to ”release the exterior”. This is primarily achieved by inducing diaphoresis or sweating which not only reduces body aches and fever, but prevents the pathogen from going further into the interior to evolve into a more serious illness.

Often an individual does not cleanly “break a sweat” but gets clammy, and the illness lingers on or worsens. Now its time to go to the doctor and get antibiotics. In Chinese medicine when sweating does not “release the exterior”, an individual is thought to be somewhat weakened or compromised, and the treatment principle must take their weakness into consideration in order to effectively rid the body of the pathogen.

What methods are used in treating colds and the flu?
The tools most used by Chinese medicine to “release the exterior” are acupuncture and herbs. Of course, rest, water and proper diet are equally important. Most patients report they recover much sooner and feel less discomfort. In addition, Chinese herbs very effectively treat the accompanying symptoms of nasal congestion, cough, sore throat or headache.

A well-known formula exists which rids the pathogen immediately from the body IF it is taken at the first sign of a cold. I recommend all patients carry this formula in their medicine cabinet. It works!

Can Chinese medicine be used with antibiotics?
Sometimes by the time I see a patient they are already on antibiotics. Perhaps the infection is bacterial, or perhaps it evolved into something more serious. In any case, sometimes antibiotics are necessary. Can or should Chinese medicine be used in conjunction with antibiotics? Yes, absolutely! The above principle of “release the exterior” still applies, and in addition, Chinese herbs can be used mitigate the side effects of antibiotics. Equally important using Chinese medicine will help restore the body to harmony more quickly, thereby increasing energy levels and preventing disease.