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TCM pattern · Dampness and phlegm

Phlegm Damp

痰湿 Tan Shi Spleen and Lung system

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.

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.

4 formulas Updated 2026-10-12 View API data

How to recognize Phlegm Damp

The signs that point most strongly to this pattern:

  1. Cough with lots of white phlegm that is easy to bring up
  2. Fullness or a lump feeling in the chest
  3. Nausea, a sticky mouth
  4. Heavy foggy head, dizziness
  5. A greasy white tongue coat

Also 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.

Formulas for Phlegm Damp

Primary Er Chen Tang 二陈汤 Two-Cured Decoction When: The base phlegm formula for a wet cough and nausea. With weak Spleen Liu Jun Zi Tang 六君子汤 Six-Gentlemen Decoction When: Phlegm in a tired person with poor digestion. With throat lump Ban Xia Hou Po Tang 半夏厚朴汤 Pinellia and Magnolia Bark Decoction When: Phlegm knotted with stuck qi: the lump-in-the-throat feeling. With heat and anxiety Wen Dan Tang 温胆汤 Warm the Gallbladder Decoction When: Phlegm that has warmed, with nausea, anxiety, and poor sleep.

Herbs that matter most for Phlegm Damp

  • Ban Xia Raw Pinellia Tuber Pinellia, the chief phlegm herb.
  • Chen Pi Dried Tangerine Peel Tangerine peel moves qi and dries damp.
  • Fu Ling Poria Poria drains the damp that makes phlegm.
  • Cang Zhu Rhizome of Swordlike Atractylodes Grey atractylodes dries damp hard.
  • Bai Jie Zi White Mustard Seed White mustard seed for phlegm under the skin and in the chest.
  • Lai Fu Zi Radish Seed Radish seed moves phlegm and food.

How Phlegm Damp differs from its look-alikes

  • Phlegm Heat Heat turns the phlegm yellow, thick, and sticky, with a bitter taste and a yellow coat. Cold phlegm is white, loose, and plentiful.
  • Dampness in the Spleen Dampness stays in the gut and limbs: heaviness and bloating. Phlegm has risen to the chest and head: cough, dizziness, a lump feeling.

What drains into Phlegm Damp

  • 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

Food and habits that help Phlegm Damp

  • 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.

What should change as Phlegm Damp improves

  • 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.

Conditions where Phlegm Damp shows up

Productive Cough Phlegm Accumulation Nausea Dizziness Obesity Bronchitis Thyroid Nodule

Sources

  • Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition Phlegm damp patterns.
  • Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition Er Chen Tang.

Important Note

A pattern is a picture, not a diagnosis. Most people carry two patterns at once, and the signs here are the classic ones, not a checklist. Use this page to recognize yourself, read a formula label with understanding, and ask a qualified practitioner a sharper question.