Cough is one of the most common symptoms of the respiratory diseases caused by many diseases. It may occur in any season, but mostly in winter and spring. Modern medicine holds that the infantile respiratory tracts are distributed with profuse blood vessels and the mucous membranes of the trachea and bronchi are delicate, so they are liable to be infected and develop inflammation.
TCM believes that the lung qi in infants is insufficient, so their lung is susceptible to being attacked by exogenous pathogenic factors, leading to disturbances in its dispersing and descending functions and eventually resulting in cough. Clinically, cough is divided into two types: exogenous cough and endogenous cough. And infantile cough mostly belongs to the former.
The principle of tuina therapy is mainly dispersing pulmonary qi to stop cough.
Press-knead Tiantu (CV 22) 20 times, parting-push Danzhong (CV 17) 100 times; knead Rugen (ST 18) 20 times; knead Rupang 20 times; clear Feijing 300 times; reinforce Feijing 500 times and arc-push Bagua 200 times;nip Wuzhijie on each finger 10 - 20 times; nip Jingning 10 times; press-knead Tianshu (ST 25) 100 times, Fenglong (ST 40) and Zusanli (ST 36) 50 times each, Fengmen (BL 12), Dingchuan (EX-B 1) and Feishu (BL 13) 100 - 200 times each; parting-push the scapulae 100 times and palm-rub the back of the infant until a hot sensation is attained.
MAIN POINTS FOR DIAGNOSIS
Exogenous Cough In cough caused by exopathogenic wind-cold, its common symptoms are cough, clear and thin sputum, stuffy nose, thin nasal discharge, headache and general pain, aversion to cold with no or slight fever, no perspiration, no thirst, thin and whitish tongue fur, floating and tight or floating and slow pulse and superficial red dactylogram. In cough due to exopathogenic wind-heat, symptoms are manifested as cough, yellow and thick sputum difficult to expectorate, fever and aversion
to wind, perspiration, turbid nasal discharge, sore and dry or itching throat, thirst, constipation, yellow urine, reddened tongue with thin and yellowish fur, floating and rapid pulse and red or purple finger veins.
Endogenous Cough Long-time cough with profuse sputum, or dry cough or with scanty or thick sputum which is hard to expectorate, pallor complexion, cold limbs, short breath, perspiration, chest stuffiness, physical leanness, listlessness, whitish and greasy tongue fur,weak or weak and rapid pulse and purple, sticky finger veins.
MODIFIED MANIPULATIONS WITH SYNDROME DIFFERENTIATION
Syndrome of Exopathogenic Wind-cold: Additionally open Tianmen 30 times, push Kangong 30 times,push Taiyang (EX-HN 5 ) 30 times, knead Wailaogong (EX-UE 8) 30 times, push Sanguan 300 times, reduce Liufu 100 times, grasp Hegu (LI 4) 10 times, and Fengchi (GB 20) 10 times.
Syndrome of Exopathogenic Wind-heat: Additionally clear Feijing 200 times, reduce Liufu 300 times, push Sanguan 100 times, and push Tianzhu (BL 10) 100 times as well.
Internal Injury Syndrome: Additionally reinforce Pitu 300 times, Shenjing 800 times, knead Zhongwan (CV 12 ) 200 times, Dantian 200 times, and Banmen 30 times, press-knead Pishu (BL 20) and Weishu (BL 21) 20 times each, and knead Shenshu (BL 23) 30 times.
The manipulations are performed once a day, but twice for severe cases, and three days form one treatment course. In the course of treating cough with Tuina, the cause of cough should also be looked for so as to conduct a comprehensive treatment. Meanwhile proper rest and light food should also be given to infantile patients in the presence of cough. In seasons with changeable weather, infantile thoracoabdominal areas should be kept warm in case of catching cold