In this season, there would be a lot of people who have a cold. Patients with high fever usually don’t visit an acupuncture clinic, but patients with other cold related symptoms often visit acupuncture clinic. Among those symptoms, there are a lot of patients with cough and cough is sometimes difficult to treat.
 
Overview
 
The patient is a woman with the age of 60s.
A week ago, after she shoveled snow at the night of snow storm, her cold symptoms started. Cough started a day after shoveling and she lost voice the following day. Fever was around 100 degrees F. She coughed out yellow phlegm. She started taking antibiotics 2 days before visiting my clinic. She had more cough at night with phlegm, stuffy nose, clogged ears and pain in her ribs due to cough.
 
I think that she sweat from shoveling and the sweat got cold making her body cold, and that weakened her Lung energy and she got cold symptoms.
 
After 3 acupuncture treatments of strengthening her Lung energy and using cough points with 2 to 3 days interval, her cough disappeared.
 
Acupuncture Treatment Detail
 
[1st Treatment]
 
After whole body treatment using non-insertion needles, I added heat therapy called moxa on her right cough point below the arm pit and points related to cold on her upper back, and I also attached a short needle on the right cough point like a sticker. At the end, I instructed her to lie on her side when she cough while she is sleeping and drink a cup of coffee when she cough to relax her throat.
 
[2nd Treatment]
 
2 days after 1st treatment, she didn’t have cough at night and could sleep better, but still had cough when she moved her body or talked. Her nose was still stuffy. Her ears were less clogged.
 
The treatment was similar to the previous one except that I did moxa on Lung points on her upper back instead of cold points.
 
[3rd Treatment]
 
3 days after 2nd treatment, her cough decreased, but she still had cough when she moved her body and talked. Stuffy nose became runny nose. Her ears were completely opened. Her voice was back.
 
The treatment was similar to the previous two treatments. There was no pain on the right cough point and there was pain on the left cough point, so I did moxa and attached a short needle on the left cough point.
 
[Result]
 
1 week after 3rd treatment, she reported that right after the 2nd treatment, her cough was much less and the following day, all the symptoms disappeared including cough, runny nose and since her energy also came back, she cleaned her house.
here to edit.

Related article:
[CASE] Cough After Bronchitis
If Your Cough Continues For More Than 2 Weeks
[CASE] Persistent Cough

If you are suffering from cough now and live near Salem, MA, Cozy Acupuncture is here to help you. Call today to set up an appointment: 617-584-8703. or Book Online.

Different from cough coming from a common cold, lingering cough that has asthma or other conditions are behind the cough is often difficult to suppress. In that case, I usually recommend home therapy with moxa (heat therapy) and/or drinking lotus root tea to strengthen Lung energy in addition to acupuncture treatment, but such cough often doesn't go away easily.
 
The following is the case which showed very good result after one acupuncture treatment.
 
The patient in her 70s initially came to my clinic to treat other symptoms. When I was checking her pulse, she was coughing on the treatment table, so I asked her about that. She had bronchitis 4 months ago and the bronchitis got better 2 months ago, but still cough had been continuing since then.
 
After I performed whole body treatment and treatment for her main complaint, to treat her cough, I burned moxa, which is a kind of dried herb, on a tender point under her arm pit and attached a short needle on the same acupuncture point to bring it back home.
 
When she came back to my clinic 4 days after the previous treatment, she reported me that her cough reduced dramatically.

Call today to set up your appointment: 617-584-8703
Book now Online

Related article:
If Your Cough Continues For More Than 2 Weeks
[CASE] Persistent Cough

​It often takes time to treat cough if it is caused by other than a cold.
 
If you cough with the change of the temperature
 
The cough can be caused by cough variant asthma.
 
Inflammation of the membrane in the air way makes it sensitive to light stimulation, causing cough. If the cough continues more than 2 weeks after recovering from a cold. Cough variant asthma is pre-asthmatic condition, so it can lead to asthma, in which the bronchial tube becomes narrow due to inflammation, causing difficulty of breathing.
 
If you cough while you are sleeping
 
The cough can be caused by Reflux esophagitis (Acid Reflux).
 
Reflux esophagitis is inflammation of the esophagus caused by the backflow of acid due to the looseness of the muscle between the stomach and the esophagus. While you are sleeping, the stomach acid backs up into the throat causes cough.

Drink to Suppress Cough is Coffee
 
Caffeine contained in coffee expands bronchial tube and suppresses inflammation, so it makes breathing easier.
 
According to a research in Italy, people who drink more than 3 cups of coffee a day have 28 % less risk of development of asthma than people who don’t drink coffee at all.
 
If you can’t drink coffee, you can drink green tea or black tea which contain half the amount of caffeine of coffee.
 
Recommended Food for Any Lung Problems
 
It is recommended to eat dishes containing lotus root frequently for Lung related problems for prevention and improvement of constitution. If it is difficult to find lotus roots, it is very convenient to get Lotus Root Powder. You can take it any time as a cup of tea.

One of my patients just presented me with Eden Food Lotus Root Tea Powder which actually I had recommended her to take to prevent  and improve asthma, and by taking the lotus root powder, her breathing is stable even in the most difficult season for the lung. There are other brands as well, so get one for prevention and improvement especially if you have asthma. 

About 70% of long lasting cough is caused by cough-variant asthma and atopic cough.

Cough-variant asthma is a type of asthma in which the main symptom is a dry, non-productive cough, but there is often no typical asthma symptoms like wheezing or shortness of breath. Coughing lasts longer than 8 weeks and sometimes a year. It is caused by the contraction of the smooth muscle in the bronchi.

Atopic cough's main symptom is a dry, non-productive cough and it lasts longer than 8 weeks like cough-variant asthma, but it is caused by over-sensitivity of the sensory nerve in the throat.

​Coughing tends to increase at the following period of time
Cough-variant asthma and Atopic cough:
When starting to fall into a doze and a few hours before waking up.

Sinobronchial syndrome (complication of Chronic bronchitis and Sinusitis, wet cough and nasal mucus) :
From when you get up throughout the morning

In Eastern medicine, cough-variant asthma and atopic cough are considered as Lung deficiency or Ja in Lung, and sinobronchial syndrome is considered as Kidney deficiency.

Possibility of unexpected diseases if you have chronic cough at the following period of time, 
Coughing after meal: Reflux esophagitis (acid reflux)
1 to 2 hours after going to bed: Cardiac Insufficiency

​