At a glance
Twenty years of asthma and a decade on inhalers — wheezing and phlegm cleared, and off the inhaler with her doctor’s sign-off.
Presentation
A 73-year-old patient came to the clinic carrying twenty years of asthma. He had relied on inhalers for the past decade, and a noticeable side effect had crept in: his body temperature ran hotter than normal, which he attributed to the long-term inhaler use. After two decades, he was hoping for a way to breathe freely without depending on medication.
Diagnosis
The pattern combined Lung Qi deficiency with heat and inflammation in the lungs and an accumulation of phlegm. In TCM the Lungs govern the breath, and when their Qi weakens while heat and phlegm build up in the airways, the result is the wheezing, coughing, and breathlessness of long-standing asthma. Clearing the phlegm and inflammation while rebuilding Lung Qi was the route forward.
Treatment
Treatment paired acupuncture with a herbal combination aimed at the lungs:
- Tonifying Lung Qi with Dr. Haixia Ni’s Five Element Theory — an approach originating from the classic TCM text Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic), using [metal points, earth points, wood points]. Metal represents the lungs, earth represents the stomach and spleen, and wood represents the liver and gallbladder.
- Metal points: LU-1 (Zhongfu) and LU-10 (Yuji) — LU-1 is the front-mu point of the Lung meridian, which can regulate the lung organ and the Lung meridian, and LU-10 is the xing point of the Lung meridian, which is good at clearing Lung heat and so clearing inflammation in the lungs
- Earth points: SP-9 (Yinlingquan) and ST-36 (Zusanli) — can strengthen the body’s ability to transform and drain phlegm
- Wood point: LR-3 (Taichong) — can improve the body’s Qi flow and ease constriction in the chest
Alongside the acupuncture, a herbal combination was prescribed to clear phlegm and inflammation out of the lungs over time.
Result
The inflammation and phlegm in his lungs cleared. The wheezing and coughing stopped, and — after his family doctor verified the improvement — he was able to stop using his inhaler for the first time in ten years.
This reflects an individual patient experience, not clinical trial data.
Results vary from person to person depending on the condition, its severity, and how an individual responds to treatment. TCM and acupuncture are not a substitute for care from your physician or another regulated health professional. If you’re dealing with a serious or urgent symptom, please see a doctor first.