Key Learning Points
Phlegm can cause many diseases in Chinese medicine, some of them serious.
Unfortunately, it is easy to get and hard to clear.
Here’s what you need to know, and the first thing to realise is that the ‘catarrh’, ‘mucus’, ‘gunk’, ‘goo’, – thick stuff – you have to cough or hawk up is indeed nearly always ‘Phlegm’ with a capital P.
But not always!
For example, thick, white stuff could be due just to Heat.
Click to read about Phlegm Colour.
By the way, many internet sites suggest ways to clear it. They have good ideas, but no explanation as to why one method works and not another.
So you end up trying this, then that and not necessarily knowing why this works, and that doesn’t!
A Small ‘Plug’ for my Book on Phlegm – much more detail than here!
I’ve written a book on this, with suggestions for the FIVE MAIN different kinds of gunk.
It explains how your body gets it and what to do about it.
It goes into much more detail than this page, covering herbs for each kind and then, taking the suggestions you find elsewhere on the web, explaining which work for your kind of the stuff!
As far as I’ve seen, no other website explains how different kinds of phlegm need different solutions!
Available for Kindle and in softback from Amazon. (… end of Sales pitch …) |
Phlegm is also lots of other things in Chinese medicine, including nodules, lumps and bumps under the skin, swellings and soft masses in the abdomen, dry powdery stuff you see in the cracks in people’s tongues and at the corners of their mouths.
And even when you can’t see any phlegm as such, it could still be there, technically, obstructing the free movement of Qi and Blood.
That’s when it becomes the cause of disease. So it can contribute to the formation of both Qi Stagnation and Blood Stagnation.
Worse, it can obstruct free movement of Qi in the Heart, leading to all sorts of serious Western medically-defined diseases.
When it blocks up what are called the ‘orifices’ of the Heart, you can get very disturbed mental behaviour, (because the Heart ‘governs’ your Mind – for example, see Heart Phlegm-Fire).
Of course, it’s also the result of other processes malfunctioning and of other syndromes.
Technically to be Phlegm (capital P), there should be:
One last thing before I get on to the reasons you have it, and this is for the geeks. Phlegm is a form of yin excess. The more you get to know about yin and yang, the more this will make sense and the faster you’ll understand what you’re doing ‘wrong’ and how to do something about it.
So! Onto the causes …
Nearly everyone agrees that the Spleen is most to ‘blame’ for Phlegm formation. Almost equally important, at least to my mind, are the Lungs and the Kidneys.
In fact, a Lung or Kidney syndrome can be the prime cause. The poor old Spleen tags along, unable to clear the mess the other has left.
Having pointed blame at the Spleen, do be aware that it is mainly YOUR fault if your Spleen isn’t functioning well!
You’ve been eating all wrong, so read on.
Your Spleen energy is a bit like Cinderella, never quite able to keep up with the demands of her older sisters, but vital for keeping the house tidy.
When Cinderella fails to clear up their mess, you get decaying piles of old food, mildew and dust in the corners, smelly unwashed garments, untidy beds and an air of subdued complaint and desperation. (Go right out and buy yourself a good recording of Rossini’s interpretation of the Cinderella story. It’s funny, witty and full of good tunes.)
In Chinese medicine, the Spleen is supposed to ‘transform and transport’.
‘Transforming’ means turn something into something else (like the Fairy Godmother in many tales of Cinderella).
In this context it means both
By the way … Who wants fat? Everyone! It’s probably our best form of insulation, energy and energy reserves, and our forefathers burned it up through physical effort and manual labour. We make it by eating too much food that turns into sugar in our blood which we don’t burn up because we take little exercise. Of course our genes play a part in this too, but I doubt if they can be blamed for more than a small proportion of overweight humanity.
Anyway, you guessed it, excess fat is a form of Phlegm!
By ‘Transporting’, is meant clearing stuff away from where it has lost its usefulness, which means keeping the highways and byways of your body clear.
When Phlegm builds up, things don’t move so smoothly, and everything becomes an effort, like wading through glue.
So far, so good!
Now it gets tricky, because there are lots of sub-categories of Phlegm and each has different causes and different treatments. Here are some of them. It’s possible to have more than one of the following at the same time.
As you read on down, you may get a bit mesmerised by all the reasoning, and other syndromes to which there are links (click on the words in colour and underlined).
If this concentrated mass of information is a bit much for you, my book Yuck! Phlegm! should make it easier. I think, as it is, this page reaches about the limit of information that most people can take in a sitting. I’ve just re-read it and even my mind began to wander! (Nothing new there, of course.)
‘Stomach phlegm’ causes are usually either from poor diet or bad eating habits. Maybe too much cold food, or too much greasy food? But also see below under diet.
Phlegm in the Lungs disturbs and blocks the proper flow of Lung Qi which should be downwards: the result is coughing as Lung Qi ‘escapes’ upwards.
It also stops Lung Qi dispersing effectively and the result can be dyspnoea (meaning an awareness of breathing difficulty when you wouldn’t expect it) and/or mucus expectoration.
It’s good to be able to expectorate mucus from the Lungs, but some people find it hard to raise, including children, so its absence doesn’t mean there is no Phlegm, if other symptoms suggest it.
NB If you have thick white mucus, this may or may not be Phlegm! It could be due to Heat, which has ‘cooked’ the natural colourless mucus. In this case, treatment to clear Phlegm wouldn’t work: you would also have to clear the Heat.
Phlegm here causes:
Phlegm here may not be in a visible form, but is still ‘assumed’ to be present, blocking the free flow of Heart Qi. The technical name for it is ‘blocking the orifices of the Heart’.
A bit like someone with vital life or death decisions to make for his family, who can’t see or hear what’s going on, let alone communicate properly, and who gets very upset and disturbed.
With blocked Heart’s orifices you get:
Over time, heat dries fluids and creates first phlegm then stones. Kidney and Gallbladder stones are intensely painful end-products.
Phlegm here causes:
The What?
Jingluo is the name given to all the interconnecting paths and passageways that Qi takes just under the surface of the body.
Here we get into the area of ‘theoretical’ Phlegm. When you get areas of numbness for which there is no other obvious cause, the default suspect is Phlegm. Elderly people are prone to this.
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(This was the kind of phlegm I had that led me to acupuncture, though it was complicated by Qi Stagnation. After I sorted out the Qi Stagnation situation, the problem didn’t return. In the meantime, acupuncture really helped keep the ‘Damp-Phlegm’ at bay, though I had to make some dietary changes too.)
Mainly caused by Spleen deficiency and appears as Lung syndromes:
Commonly appears in syndromes of Stomach or Lungs:
Example of Phlegm ColdI just went out on my bicycle (not a pretty picture so you’re not getting one) to deliver a homoeopathic remedy to someone who lives about two miles away, mostly uphill.
It’s not a steep hill, but it wasn’t a warm day and I had to pedal hard.
Normally I try to exercise without breathing through my mouth – just through my nose – but I was on my lunch break. (… Yes, though I work on the website from home, I try to keep office hours. Should you ever find me asleep on the sofa after lunch, I’ll assure you it’s not sleep but deep thought …)
So I was in a hurry and did breathe quite a lot through my mouth. This cooled my lungs.
I think the exercise did me good, overall, but when I got back my chest felt full of liquid, and my nose felt blocked and I did a certain amount of hawking and snorting to clear it from my throat and lungs.
This was really a form of Lung Phlegm Cold, from cold air and slight over-exertion, which weakened the Lung function of descending qi. For more, read Lung Phlegm Cold.
This – Lung Phlegm Cold – is common in skiers, especially as they age and find their Kidney Yang energy reducing. If you are like this you should definitely avoid cold foods. |
Mainly occurs in syndromes of the Lungs, Stomach or Heart:
Mostly affects the Lungs:
This ‘phlegm in throat’ sort, is where you get a sensation that phlegm is stuck in your throat constantly, or at the back of your throat.
It feels like a phlegm lump in your throat.
It’s too deep to see, and neither swallowing nor hawking will clear it.
What’s more, your doctor won’t be able to see it either. And in reality, there may be NO actual phlegm in your throat! But you can certainly FEEL it!
This syndrome is mainly associated with Liver Qi stagnation.
If this ‘phlegm stuck in throat’, or ‘lump in throat’ sensation is worse when you are under pressure, especially ’emotional’ pressure, then it’s almost certainly this Qi-phlegm type.
For instance, if you get it when
Well! … in all these examples your phlegm-throat feeling is because of Qi stagnation, caused by stress. Often you don’t actually have any phlegm in your throat, but your Qi is constrained – stagnating – and constricts your feelings there.
This makes it hard to speak confidently and assertively. You often feel as if your Adam’s Apple is pushing up in the front of your neeck and you have to keep swallowing to ‘push’ it down.
Usually this feeling subsides when you do something to clear your Qi Stagnation. (Read the linked page for more on this and more on what you can do about it.)
For example, if you aren’t in the stressful situation, usually the phlegm-in-throat, or lump-in-throat feeling goes away. Often pleasant exercise shifts it, until your stress returns or you start worrying about it!
By the way, acupuncture is brilliant at sorting out this Qi Phlegm, Phlegm in Throat syndrome.
Of course, you can have real phlegm in throat. But unless it’s from stress too, you can usually swallow it or hawk it up and spit it out. (Though hawking up Phelgm-Heat and Phlegm-Dryness can be difficult.)
Real, observable, hawkable phlegm in throat can come from many of the syndromes listed on this page, including Damp-Phlegm, Phlegm-Cold, Phlegm-Heat, Stomach-phlegm, Wind-phlegm and Lung-phlegm.
Various kinds of Phlegm-Fluids occur, in the hypochondrium, stomach, the limbs and the diaphragm, each with different symptoms, but nearly all have
This syndrome occurs with a serious and acute condition called, in Chinese medicine, Wind-Stroke, which has a close relationship to ‘stroke’ and ‘epileptiform’ conditions.
What can you do to improve the chance of successful treatment – see below?
This is the obvious solution, but not so easy for all of us!
Foods known to weaken or block the Spleen include
These cause Damp fluids which easily turn to Phlegm. Don’t ignore this dietary advice! It really can make a difference!
Poor eating habits include:
Given that Phlegm comes into existence when fluids either
and you’ll realise that there’s not much point just trying to wave it away unless you also deal with the underlying cause (Qi Stagnation, Cold or Heat).
If the cause is Qi Stagnation, you must do something about it! Unless you do, the problem will return. (Mine did! I know what I’m talking about!)
Later, that probably means your acupuncturist will need to treat your Liver at some point, but other Zangfu may be involved depending on underlying emotional factors. (… not that emotional factors are the only causes of Qi stagnation, see my book, ‘Yuck! Phlegm!’)
He (or she) will choose – from knowledge of either TCM Theory or 5 Element acupuncture theory, for example – the acupuncture channels to adjust by means of acupuncture points on them.
Then, because the Spleen has been unable to free up the passage of fluids, meaning that Phlegm has accumulated, he must treat the Spleen.
He or she might not do acupuncture – he might start with cupping, as in the picture above.
If the Lungs, which tend to store the Phlegm, are involved, then treatment must assist them.
Finally, he must ‘support’ your Kidney Qi, because it supports all the other zangfu, helps Spleen Yang to transform Phlegm and is particularly relevant for the warmth of your body.
Lots! For example if an external pathogenic factor – a bug/bacteria/virus – is Hot and is blocking your Lung Qi from disseminating fluids, you get a thick, sticky or green ‘gloop’ that is often smelly.
If the invading pathogen has produced a Cold reaction, then your phlegm is clear, more runny and odourless.
In both cases, your body may clear the invader but be unable to clear the Phlegm. Sometimes the invader appears to remain. During treatment, symptoms of the original invasion may then recur before your body can eliminate both invader and Phlegm.
Sometimes the patient gets repeated attacks of what seems to be Wind-Cold when actually it is not a deficient immune system, but Phlegm blocking the passageways and preventing ‘Wei Qi’ – your immune force – being circulated to the exterior. In this case, trying to strengthen Wei Qi wouldn’t work until Phlegm had been cleared.
And that’s not all! Once Phlegm gets into the system, especially that of an older, weaker person with a system that can’t clear it, the phlegm becomes self-perpetuating and slows everything down, causing more fluids to stagnate leading to even more Phlegm.
This is common where someone eats a poor diet, not recognising which foods to avoid. Dairy foods are often better avoided if you have Phlegm – but there are other causes too, see above.
However, Western medically trained doctors, not trained in energetic-type medicine, typically use medications that prevent the body making the repairs needed. For instance
As you see, although not deeply complicated, there are many ways in which Phlegm can compromise the body. Making the right diagnosis and then treatment is not always easy.
For example, if the cause has been, say Heat invasion, but there is also an underlying Yin deficiency, Kidney Yang exhaustion (as can happen with the elderly) and a history of bad diet, picking one’s way through the treatment process can take time.
Here the weak Kidney Yang cannot transform fluids, which then overflow upwards and stagnate. Guess what happens? Those fluids transform back into Phlegm!
So … I hope you’ll agree that Chinese medicine has given Phlegm a considerable amount of thought over the millennia. It’s a sometimes deep and often complicated subject.
You CAN do a lot to help yourself, however, and in my book I’ve summarised many successful strategies, treatments and herbs you can use once you understand your kind of phlegm, and its cause.
Of course, both acupuncture and herbs have been used to clear Phlegm for millennia. If you are receiving treatment, be patient!
Discover which anti-dampness foods and herbs help DISPEL damp from your body. But also, STOP eating foods that CAUSE damp!
Do you get cold feet? All the time or just when you’re tired? How does Chinese medicine explain this and what can you do about it?
Spleen 10, Zuehai, Sea of Blood, strengthens your Blood, controlling yang factors like Heat and helping to steady your Mind.
Heart Yang Deficiency – Cold, Tired, Depleted Spirits. Signs , symptoms,, aetiology and what to do! And if you ignore it, what happens next.
Spleen 8 – Diji – is Spleen xi-cleft point, moves fluids and regulates Blood: very useful for uterine problems and pain, also being analgesic.
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2 Responses
Very interesting, thank you!
Diseases come on horseback, and return on foot. ~ French proverb
Hi Jonathan, glad you like the page on phlegm. And what a great proverb! Jonathan CW