Headaches Due to Wind Heat (Cold or Flu with Fever) Treated with Chinese Herbal Medicine

Tongue Appearance: normal to red in color, especially along the edges or the front third of the tongue. An invasion of wind-heat may also give rise to a thin yellow coating evenly distributed all over the tongue (unlike this image which features a thicker coating in the rear).

Also see:
More of a cold than a flu: Wind-Cold
Allergies: Wind-Cold
Chronic Low Grade Fever: Yin Deficiency

Explanation: This formula is essentially Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San plus three herbs that reduce fever and so it makes this formula applicable to the flu or common cold with a fever that gives rise to nasal congestion that includes a headache.

This is a formula that might remind you of those sinus opening remedies that have a strong aromatic smell. It is very aromatic and is taken internally. This is an amazing formula to take in raw form. All of its ingredients have strong aromatic oils that are its active ingredients. However access to raw herbs (branches, leaves, twigs, etc.) are not available to everybody and finding this remedy in pill or capsule form is okay too. However if you have the opportunity to make this formula in raw tea form and you can handle the taste, you'll get quite a kick out of the smell, if you can smell anything, that is. If you can't smell anything, this formula may change that. It does tend to open up nasal congestion.

This formula is for the headache that arrives with severe nasal congestion associated with the common cold. TCM teaches that the common cold is an invasion of cold energy in the lungs. The lungs are said to be connected to the nose, which of course the are, anatomically. The lungs are also in charge of an important step in the body's water metabolism. They're said to distribute the water to the skin and throughout the body. Should cold energy get into the lungs, this function can be compromised leading to all the water backing up into the nose.

If you've ever wondered where all that mucus comes from that gets blown out of your nose during a cold, now you know. This formula focuses primarily on opening up the nose and secondarily on pushing the cold out of the lungs to restore their normal function of distributing the body fluids. Opening up the nose addresses the headache that arrives with the common cold, or any cause of nasal congestion such as allergies.

Other symptoms: fever and chills, stuffy nose, sensitivity to cold or wind.

Applicable diseases: Flu, common cold, chronic rhinitis, nasal sinusitis, allergic headache.

Cautions and warnings: none.

Usage and prognosis: This formula is about 85% targeting the symptoms of headache and stuffy nose, while only 15% directly addresses the cold, flu, or allergies. For this reason, it is good to think about formulas that will also address the underlying issue while using this formula. If the problem is allergies, we'll want to look at formulas that strengthen the immune system ("Wei Qi" as we call it) to prevent the constant reactions to allergens. In either case, this formula really addresses symptoms only and not the underlying cause. When the formula really works well, it will within the first few hours and will likely need to be taken until the underlying cause is rectified. In some cases, it'll need to be taken for a day or two before a response happens. Overall, it should work rather quickly by herbal standards which is much slower than drugs as a rule.

I've found that these formulas for acute conditions (acute would mean really intense, but short lived) can be taken more frequently than a formula for a deficiency. The typical TCM formula is taken three times daily. A formula such as this can be taken twice that amount.

How to obtain your formula: You can purchase the formula mentioned in this article by simply clicking on its name. Another option is to obtain this formula modified for your unique situation.

Other locations to purchase this formula include your friendly neighborhood Chinese herb pharmacy. You'll likely need to live near a Chinatown to obtain your herbs there. They'll probably come in raw form (twigs, branches, etc.) and you'll have to take them home and cook them into a nasty tasting brew. This may provide the strongest medical efficacy, but it is also the most hassle.

In some cases, the formulas that are described in these articles are available in premade capsule, tablet, or pill form. The name of the formula may be spelled or described slightly different, and I can't really anticipate how they'll end up looking on the package, but they too are out there, most frequently at those Chinese herb pharmacies, but often at health food stores or stores that target consumers of natural or organic products.

Finally, acupuncture and TCM schools tend to carry a rather extensive stock of these kinds of herbal medicines. Most of them have a clinic for people to come in and get treatments. Here's a list of the schools, perhaps there is one near you... TCM schools. Here are some herb suppliers too, they may be able to provide you some help in locating your formula: Herb Suppliers.

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Headaches Due to Wind Heat