Natural Herb Library

TCM pattern · Wind

Wind-Heat

风热 Feng Re Lung system

A hot cold. It starts with a sore throat, a fever with only slight chills, a headache, thirst, and a cough, and the tongue tip is red. Wind-heat moves fast and goes for the throat and chest, so the formula is taken in the first day, not the third.

Wind is the delivery truck and heat is the package. A wind-cold brings chills and a runny nose; a wind-heat brings a sore throat and a fever. Same truck, different cargo, opposite treatment.

2 formulas Updated 2026-10-12 View API data

How to recognize Wind-Heat

The signs that point most strongly to this pattern:

  1. Sore, red throat at the start
  2. Fever with slight or no chills
  3. Headache, thirst
  4. Cough, dry or with yellow phlegm
  5. A red tongue tip

Also common

  • Swollen glands
  • Yellow or thick nasal discharge
  • Slight sweating
  • Red eyes
  • A skin rash or hives that came with the cold
Tongue
Red tip with a thin white or yellow coat.
Pulse
Floating and rapid.

Formulas for Wind-Heat

Primary Yin Qiao San 银翘散 Honeysuckle and Forsythia Powder When: The first day of a hot cold with a sore throat. For the throat Yang Yin Qing Fei Tang 养阴清肺汤 Nourish the Yin and Clear the Lungs Decoction When: A dry burning sore throat in a dry person without much fever.

Herbs that matter most for Wind-Heat

  • Jin Yin Hua Honeysuckle Flower Honeysuckle clears heat and toxin from the surface.
  • Lian Qiao Weeping Forsythia Capsule Forsythia clears heat and settles swollen glands.
  • Bo He Peppermint Mint vents wind-heat.
  • Sang Ye Mulberry Leaf Mulberry leaf for a wind-heat cough.
  • Ju Hua Chrysanthemum Flower Chrysanthemum for the head and eyes.
  • Ban Lan Gen Dyers Woad Root Isatis root for a hot sore throat.

How Wind-Heat differs from its look-alikes

  • Exterior Deficiency with Spontaneous Sweating The wind-cold cold in a weak person: chills, sweating, no sore throat, a white coat. It needs warming with Gui Zhi Tang, the opposite of Yin Qiao San.
  • Phlegm Heat When the heat has settled in the chest with thick yellow phlegm and a rattle, the surface stage is over and the formula changes to a phlegm formula.

What drains into Wind-Heat

  • A seasonal virus in warm weather or a heated room
  • Wind-cold that turned hot inside a hot constitution
  • Crowds, travel, and exhaustion

Food and habits that help Wind-Heat

  • Start the formula at the first scratch in the throat.
  • Rest, fluids, light food. No greasy food and no alcohol while hot.
  • Mint tea, chrysanthemum tea, pear.
  • Keep the room cool and the air moist.

What should change as Wind-Heat improves

  • The sore throat and fever ease within one to two days.
  • If the cough moves into the chest with yellow phlegm, change to a phlegm-heat formula.
  • A high fever, trouble breathing, or a stiff neck is beyond a cold formula.

Conditions where Wind-Heat shows up

Wind Heat Common Cold Sore Throat Fever Upper Respiratory Infection Tonsillitis Pharyngitis Conjunctivitis

Sources

  • Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition Invasion of wind-heat.
  • Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition Yin Qiao San, Sang Ju Yin.

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.