Herbs That Relieve Coughing And Wheezing

Herbs That Relieve Coughing and Wheezing:

  • Generally useful for symptoms involving coughing and wheezing.
  • Often combined with other herbs to treat the overall pattern (root).

Section Herbal Summary:

  • Xing Ren and Kuan Dong Hua - best for cough due to wind.
  • Bai Du and Zi Wan - chronic cough due to internal injury.
  • Zi Wan and Su Zi - cold-induced cough.
  • Su Zi - cough with a stifling sensation in the chest.
  • Sang Bai Pi - heat-induced cough, cough with edema.
  • Pi Pa Ye - dry cough.
  • Xing Ren - cough with wheezing.
  • Mu Hu Die - cough with hoarseness.
  • Jie Geng and Xing Ren - very commonly used for cough.
    • Jie Geng - opens and disseminates lung qi while transforming phlegm - leads actions of other herbs to the lungs and throat.
    • Xing Ren - descending function, used more specifically for coughing and wheezing.
  • Kuan Dong Hua and Zi Wan are often used together, each complementing.
    • Kuan Dong Hua stops cough, cools and moistens, for dry cough.
    • Zi Wan expels phlegm, acrid and dry, can be used for cold-induced cough.
  • Ting Li Zi - stops cough with copious, thick sputum, reduces food/water accumulation.

Chinese Herbsort icon Functions and Usage
Bai Bu (Stemona Root)
  • Moistens the lungs, stops cough - chronic and acute cough, especially for deficient coughs.
  • Expels parasites, kills lice - topically for lice, internally for pinworms.
Kuan Dong Hua (Coltsfoot Flower)
  • Redirects qi downward and stops coughing - cough and wheezing from many different etiologies, most often used for different types of cold.
  • Frying in honey enhances moistening function of the lungs - good for dry cough.
Ma Dou Ling (Birthwort Fruit)
  • Clears the lungs, transforms phlegm - cough, wheezing due to either lung heat or lung deficiency accompanied by heat signs, as long as there is phlegm clogging the lungs.
  • Hypertension, bleeding hemorrhoids.
Meng Shi (Lapis Stone)
  • Directs qi downward and reduces phlegm - wheezing and coughing due to old and stubborn phlegm.
  • Calms liver and controls palpitations and seizures.
Mu Hu Die (Oroxylum Seeds)
  • Moistens the lungs and clears and the voice - cough, sore throat, hoarseness.
  • Comforts the liver and regulates qi - flank and epigastric pain due to constrained qi.
Pi Pa Ye (Loquat Leaf)
  • Transforms phlegm, clears lung heat - lung heat patterns with cough.
  • Harmonizes the stomach, clears stomach heat, redirects rebellious stomach qi - nausea, vomiting, hiccups, belching.
  • Often fried in honey to strengthen the lung moistening function, or in ginger juice to increase its ability to stop nausea and vomiting.
Sang Bai Pi (Mulberry Root Bark)
  • Drains lung heat - cough, wheezing.
  • Promotes urination, reduces edema - lung heat obstructing downward movement of lung qi, preventing water from moving - no sweating, facial and floating edema, fever, thirst, difficult urination.
  • Recently for hypertension.
Su Zi (Purple Perilla Fruit)
  • Stops coughing and wheezing, redirects the qi down, dissolves phlegm - cough and wheezing w/copious phlegm, especially for difficult exhalation, stifling sensation in the chest.
  • Moistens the intestines - constipation due to dry intestines.
Ting Li Zi (Descurainia Seeds)
  • Drains lung heat, reduces phlegm, calms wheezing - excess type wheezing and coughing with excess sputum and gurgling sound in the throat.
  • Moves water, reduces edema - facial edema, fluid accumulation in the chest and abdomen, urinary difficulty.
Xing Ren (Apricot Seed)
  • Stops cough and calms wheezing due to hot or cold patterns - especially for dry cough.
  • Moistens the intestines, unblocks the bowels.
Zi Wan (Purple Aster Root)
  • Relieves cough and expels phlegm - important herb for stopping coughs of various etiologies, especially chronic, cold induced cough with copious sputum that is difficult to expectorate, or of blood streaked sputum.
  • Frying in honey enhances the moistening function of the lungs and stops cough.