TCM pattern · Dampness and phlegm
Phlegm Heat
痰热 Tan Re Lung, Stomach, and Gallbladder system
Phlegm that has heated up. In the chest: a loud cough with thick yellow phlegm, a rattling breath, and chest pain. In the gut and mind: nausea, a bitter taste, agitation, poor sleep, and a thick yellow greasy coat. Wet and hot at the same time.
Damp that sat on the stove. Cold phlegm is white and loose; heated phlegm is yellow, thick, and sticky, and it makes the whole body restless.
How to recognize Phlegm Heat
The signs that point most strongly to this pattern:
- Cough with thick yellow or green phlegm
- A rattling or wheezing chest
- Bitter taste, nausea, a sticky mouth
- Agitation, anxiety, restless sleep
- A thick yellow greasy tongue coat
Also common
- Chest fullness or pain
- Dizziness, a heavy hot head
- Palpitations from phlegm disturbing the Heart
- Fever with the cough
- Tongue
- Red with a thick yellow greasy coat.
- Pulse
- Slippery and rapid.
Formulas for Phlegm Heat
Herbs that matter most for Phlegm Heat
- Zhu Ru Bamboo Shavings Bamboo shavings clear phlegm heat and settle nausea.
- Gua Lou Bitter Snake Gourd Trichosanthes fruit clears heat and opens the chest.
- Huang Qin Baical Skullcap Root Scutellaria clears Lung heat.
- Zhe Bei Mu Zhejiang Fritillary Bulb Thunberg fritillary clears phlegm heat from the Lung.
- Dan Nan Xing Bile Arisaema Bile-processed arisaema for hot phlegm.
- Ban Xia Raw Pinellia Tuber Pinellia transforms the phlegm itself.
How Phlegm Heat differs from its look-alikes
- Phlegm Damp Cold phlegm is white, loose, and easy to bring up, with a white greasy coat and no heat signs. Heat turns it yellow, thick, and sticky.
- Lung Yin Deficiency Yin deficiency has almost no phlegm and a bare red tongue. Phlegm heat has lots of phlegm and a thick yellow coat.
What drains into Phlegm Heat
- A cold that went into the chest and turned hot
- Greasy, spicy, sweet food and alcohol
- Smoking
- Long-standing phlegm damp that warmed up
- Stress that heated a damp constitution
Food and habits that help Phlegm Heat
- Cut greasy, spicy, sweet food and alcohol while the coat is yellow.
- Pears, radish, mung beans, and bitter greens help.
- No smoking.
- Steam inhalation to loosen the thick phlegm.
What should change as Phlegm Heat improves
- Phlegm turns from yellow to white and then thins out, over one to two weeks.
- Sleep and nausea settle as the heat clears.
- The yellow coat thins. When it is white, switch to a plain phlegm formula.
Conditions where Phlegm Heat shows up
Sources
- Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition Phlegm heat patterns.
- Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition Wen Dan 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.