{ "slug": "phlegm-damp", "name": "Phlegm Damp", "pinyin": "Tan Shi", "chinese": "痰湿", "organ": "Spleen and Lung", "nature": "excess", "family": "dampness", "summary": "Dampness that has thickened into phlegm. A wet cough with lots of white phlegm, a full chest, nausea, a heavy foggy head, dizziness, soft weight gain, and a greasy white coat. Made in the Spleen, stored in the Lung, and felt everywhere.", "picture": "The old saying: the Spleen makes the phlegm and the Lung stores it. Fix the chest and you have emptied the jar. Fix the Spleen and you have stopped it filling.", "signs": { "key": [ "Cough with lots of white phlegm that is easy to bring up", "Fullness or a lump feeling in the chest", "Nausea, a sticky mouth", "Heavy foggy head, dizziness", "A greasy white tongue coat" ], "common": [ "Soft weight gain, a heavy body", "Tiredness, a wish to sleep after meals", "Palpitations from phlegm", "Lumps under the skin, swollen glands", "Worse in damp weather and after dairy or sugar" ], "tongue": "Pale, swollen, with a thick white greasy coat.", "pulse": "Slippery." }, "causes": [ "Sweet, greasy, dairy-heavy food and iced drinks", "A weak Spleen that cannot transform fluids", "Damp living or working conditions", "Sitting all day", "Smoking, which thickens the phlegm" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "phlegm-heat", "how": "Heat turns the phlegm yellow, thick, and sticky, with a bitter taste and a yellow coat. Cold phlegm is white, loose, and plentiful." }, { "slug": "spleen-dampness", "how": "Dampness stays in the gut and limbs: heaviness and bloating. Phlegm has risen to the chest and head: cough, dizziness, a lump feeling." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "er-chen-tang", "role": "primary", "when": "The base phlegm formula for a wet cough and nausea.", "pinyin": "Er Chen Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/er-chen-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/er-chen-tang" } }, { "slug": "liu-jun-zi-tang", "role": "with weak Spleen", "when": "Phlegm in a tired person with poor digestion.", "pinyin": "Liu Jun Zi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/liu-jun-zi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/liu-jun-zi-tang" } }, { "slug": "ban-xia-hou-po-tang", "role": "with throat lump", "when": "Phlegm knotted with stuck qi: the lump-in-the-throat feeling.", "pinyin": "Ban Xia Hou Po Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/ban-xia-hou-po-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/ban-xia-hou-po-tang" } }, { "slug": "wen-dan-tang", "role": "with heat and anxiety", "when": "Phlegm that has warmed, with nausea, anxiety, and poor sleep.", "pinyin": "Wen Dan Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/wen-dan-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/wen-dan-tang" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Ban Xia", "role": "Pinellia, the chief phlegm herb.", "herb_slug": "tuber-of-pinellia", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/tuber-of-pinellia", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/tuber-of-pinellia" } }, { "pinyin": "Chen Pi", "role": "Tangerine peel moves qi and dries damp.", "herb_slug": "dried-tangerine-peel", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/dried-tangerine-peel", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/dried-tangerine-peel" } }, { "pinyin": "Fu Ling", "role": "Poria drains the damp that makes phlegm.", "herb_slug": "indian-bread", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/indian-bread", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/indian-bread" } }, { "pinyin": "Cang Zhu", "role": "Grey atractylodes dries damp hard.", "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-swordlike-atractylodes", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-swordlike-atractylodes", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-swordlike-atractylodes" } }, { "pinyin": "Bai Jie Zi", "role": "White mustard seed for phlegm under the skin and in the chest.", "herb_slug": "white-mustard-seed", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/white-mustard-seed", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/white-mustard-seed" } }, { "pinyin": "Lai Fu Zi", "role": "Radish seed moves phlegm and food.", "herb_slug": "radish-seed", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/radish-seed", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/radish-seed" } } ], "conditions": [ "productive-cough", "phlegm-accumulation", "nausea", "dizziness", "obesity", "bronchitis", "thyroid-nodule" ], "habits": [ "Cut dairy, sugar, greasy food, and iced drinks. They are the phlegm.", "Radish, ginger, barley, Job's tears, and a little tangerine peel tea.", "Move every day; phlegm thickens in a still body.", "No smoking." ], "watch": [ "Phlegm thins and the cough eases within one to two weeks.", "The heavy head clears.", "The greasy coat thins; that is the gauge.", "The weight comes off slowly once the Spleen stops making damp." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Phlegm damp patterns." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Er Chen Tang." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/phlegm-damp", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/phlegm-damp", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }