Dry-Wind

The information provided here is not a replacement for a doctor. You shouldn't use it for the purpose of self-diagnosing or self-medicating but rather so you can have a more informed discussion with a professional TCM practitioner.

At a glance

Preliminary reading: What is a pattern?

Key attributes

Chinese name: 风燥 Pinyin name: Fēng zào

Pattern nature: Full

Diagnosis

Common symptoms: Sweating Dry skin Dry nose Dry mouth Dry cough and four other symptoms

Pulse type(s): Rapid (Shu), Floating (Fu)

Tongue description: Dry tongue with thin white coating

Treatment

Treatment principle: Generate Body Fluids, disperse External Wind Heat, clear Internal Heat, relieve Toxicity

Common formulas: Sang Xing Tang

Pathology

This pattern is like Wind-Heat but with additional Dryness features. It is because the Heat is so strong that it dries up the Body Fluids. The typical Dryness symptoms are dry skin, nose, mouth, tongue and throat. There will be also dry cough and sore throat.

As for the symptoms caused by external Wind, aversion to cold is the most typical one. It is because the Wind invasion impairs the Lung's function of dispersing Defensive Qi between the muscle and skin so that they can not be warmed properly. The pulse is Floating.

The white tongue coating indicates the Pernicious Influence is on the Exterior.

Diagnosing Dry-Wind

Diagnosing a pattern in Chinese Medicine is no easy feat and should be left to professional practitioners. In particular one has to know how to differentiate between different types of pulses and tongue coatings, shapes and colors as well as learn to read from a long list of seemingly unrelated symptoms.

Pulse type(s): Rapid (Shu) or floating (Fu)

Tongue description: Dry tongue with thin white coating

Main symptoms: Sweating Dry skin Dry nose Dry mouth Dry cough Dry throat Dry tongue Sore throat Aversion to cold

Diagnosis commentary: Key characteristic symptoms of this pattern are the aversion to cold as well as dry skin, nose, mouth and throat.