It’s that season again when our patients and we are exposed to the litany of wind pathogens floating about at work, day care centers and schools. Herbs offer an effective tool to diminish the likelihood of succumbing to these pathogens as they attempt to enter into our system. In fact, early and strong intervention is the best strategy when one begins to feel the tell tale symptoms of an early stage wind invasion, symptoms such as: tiredness, mildly sore or swollen throat, feeling more vulnerable to windy or cold environments, perhaps a slightly congested nose and the common statements used by our patients, such as “I feel like I am starting to fight something off” or “I feel something is trying to get me”. This early stage is the best time to act, as the wind pathogen is still very superficial. This time is the best chance to “release” or “vent” the pathogen from the exterior, to blast out the pathogen before it gets entrenched. This is the window of opportunity before we get the classical wind invasion symptoms of fever and chills, body aches, sore throat or headache and the differentiation of the pathogen being wind heat or wind cold.
For this task we use herbs/formulas in the release exterior category with the intention of activating, dispersing, and creating a mild sweat. As eloquently stated in Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulas and Strategies:
For this purpose one deploys light, acrid, moving herbs that unblock obstruction, diffuse the protective Qi and disseminate fluids to vent pathogenic influences back towards the outside.
Or said another way, use lots of spicy herbs to help break a sweat, raise body temperature, and push that early pathogen out, out, out before it “gets in.”
Formulas that are spicy and warm in nature offer the best possibility of “blasting” the pathogen out, as sweating and heating up the body are most effectively done with these types of herbs. My personal favorite Kan formula to use for this purpose is Dispel Invasion, our version of Jing Fang Bai Du San. Of course Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction), Ge Gen Tang (Kudzu Releasing Formula) are also good choices depending on the presentation and patient, but we will focus on Dispel Invasion today.
Though classically used for Wind Damp Cold patterns where body aches and heaviness predominate, Dispel Invasion/Jing Fang Bai Du San contains the spicy and warm herbs most suited to disperse the external invasion. Schizonepeta herb (Jing Jie), Siler root (Fang Feng), Perilla leaf (Zi Su Ye), Notopterygium root (Qiang Huo), and Sichuan Lovage rhizome (Chuan Xiong) are all included in this formula, as well as spicy cool Buplerum root (Chai Hu). All of these herbs are effective at venting, unblocking, and diffusing. This formula also has herbs that while assisting the above herbs in the very important task of blasting out the pathogen, guard the stomach and spleen from being damaged (Ginger root/Gan Jiang), regulate qi (Bitter Orange peel/Zhi Ke), guide the lungs (Platycodon root/Jie Geng) and harmonize the formula (Licorice root/Gan Cao).
In order to effectively vent the pathogen we need to heat up the body and break a sweat, i.e., push the pathogen out from the inside. These are the general guidelines I offer to my patients when they need to release their exteriors.
Take a hefty first dose of herbs: for liquid extracts (my preference for this application), that might mean 2-6 mL (2-6 dropper squeezes, which is equivalent to 16-48 grams of herbs for Kan extracts) and for tablets, that might mean taking 5-10 (best crushed or chewed along with the tea mentioned below).
It is good to take the herbs with a hot cup of fresh ginger tea, or mint or cardamom, or any other diaphoretic (stimulate sweating) herb. If possible, follow the herbs and tea with a hot bowl of soup.
Next: Bundle up!! I recommend patients wear thick socks, a down jacket over a couple sweaters, a wool hat, warm pants, etc. In other words, dress as if you are going out into the elements but stay cozy in bed under comforters or in another warm place.
And here’s the hardest one: rest, rest, rest. After breaking a mild sweat and feeling like one has induced a mild feverish sensation, undress from moist clothes and get some well deserved rest/sleep. Therefore, I recommend that this process is done at the end of the day at home.
Stay warm and balmy and eat lightly, eating warm soupy foods. It is best to let one's energy go to fighting the pathogen rather than warming the body or digesting heavy foods.
Continue taking the herbs, supporting the continued expulsion of the pathogen by more moderate and steady doses of the formula.
Much of the time this early intervention strategy will stop that invasion right in its tracks. As the old saying goes, “Prevention is the best treatment. If this strategy is not well executed or was not successful as the pathogen is too strong and fast, and/or if the patient's Wei Qi is too weak, continue treating as you would any wind cold or wind heat pathogen.
And for those of you who are good friends with the spicy cool herbs commonly used for Wind Invasion, consider Yin Qiao San (in Kan’s Traditionals line), Initial Defense (Yin Qiao San plus Sang Ju Yin, both in Kan’s Herbals line), or other exterior invasion formulas such as Bi Yan Pian (Traditionals), Subdue Head Wind (Chuan Xiong Cha Tiao San in Traditionals), or Blue Green Lung Formula (Xiao Qing Long Tang in Traditionals). These formulas can be used for early stage wind invasions in the same way as mentioned above. When using formulas that are spicy cool they are less effective at promoting sweating/releasing the exterior so it is best to couple them with spicy warm herb teas such as cardamom, cinnamon twig, and/or most notably fresh ginger root.
For more modern formulas used as a first line of defense for wind invasion that are also bitter and cold, consider Gan Mao Ling (Traditionals), Zhong Gan Ling (Traditionals) and Antiphlogistic Formula (Chuan Xin Lian Kang Yang Pian in Kan’s Traditionals line).
I feel these formulas are best used alongside spicy warm release exterior herbs or formulas in the very early stage of wind invasion being discussed here. The use of the spicy warm herbs will of course support the activation of the mechanisms of venting, diffusing, and unblocking, but will also protect the Spleen and Stomach from the cold nature of those formulas and prevent the cold and descending nature of these formulas from bringing the pathogen deeper into the body.
I will note, in early stages of wind invasion I especially appreciate the efficacy of the liquid extract of Antiphlogistic Formula “topically” as a saline gargle and/or sinus rinse to displace the wind pathogen that has landed in those areas. More on that in a future newsletter, along with formulas/herbs to prevent the wind from ever landing in the first place.