Can scraping (gua sha) cure a cold?

Written by Zhang Shu Kun
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Updated on December 25, 2024
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Gua sha cannot cure a cold, but it helps with recovery from a cold. This is because gua sha can reduce internal heat, promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and improve the body's metabolism. To cure a cold, it is still necessary to use cold medicines or anti-inflammatory drugs to achieve a healing effect. During treatment, it is also important to drink more water, urinate frequently, and engage in physical exercise to effectively promote sweating, which can improve the situation. After catching a cold, it is advisable to rest and avoid excessive fatigue. The diet should be light and easy to digest, avoiding stimulating and cold food. (Medication should be used under the guidance of a professional doctor.)

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How to treat the early stages of a cold with symptoms of heat?

Heat colds are a very common type of cold, often occurring in the hot summer months, most commonly caused by accidentally catching a chill or getting caught in the rain. The typical symptoms of a heat cold include fever, as well as headache, dizziness, and varying degrees of nasal congestion, runny nose, and sore throat. As for the initial treatment plan for a heat cold, it is commonly known that heat colds are often caused by viral infections. Therefore, early treatments for patients with heat colds mostly involve appropriate antiviral medications and drugs for clearing heat and detoxifying. Symptoms usually alleviate within about a week.

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What kind of cold is one that involves constant sneezing?

If sneezing persists and it's due to a cold, it could be a viral infection. It's important to note that sneezing caused by viral colds is usually self-limiting, meaning that the condition of the patient gradually improves on its own, and typically resolves completely within 7 to 10 days even without medication. If sneezing continues for more than a week without improvement, especially if it's long-term and recurrent, then allergic rhinitis should be considered. Allergic rhinitis may manifest as recurrent runny nose and sneezing. In such cases, it often requires appropriate management, including avoiding allergens, avoiding inhaling cold air, and possibly taking leukotriene receptor antagonists or antihistamines for treatment. (Please use medications under the guidance of a physician.)

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Is vomiting a symptom of a cold caused by wind-cold or wind-heat?

In cases of vomiting, whether it is due to a cold caused by wind-cold or wind-heat, both can lead to the occurrence of vomiting. Therefore, vomiting alone cannot be used to determine the specific type of cold causing it. It still requires the identification through other symptoms. For example, a wind-cold is mainly caused by exposure to cold, while wind-heat is due to excessive heat turning into fire. There are also differences in the treatment of the two, and they cannot be treated in the same way. For a wind-cold, treatment mainly involves warm-natured medicines, while for wind-heat, cool-natured medicines are primarily used.

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Do common colds cause vomiting?

In clinical practice, the common cold can cause significantly different symptoms in patients due to various infecting pathogens. For instance, in addition to common symptoms like fever, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, itchy throat, and pain, patients with a typical viral cold may also experience various degrees of gastrointestinal discomfort such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Thus, when symptoms related to the gastrointestinal tract are present during a common cold, it is necessary to consider the possibility of a gastroenteric type of cold. Therefore, it is a common occurrence for vomiting to be induced by viral infections during a common cold. Prompt administration of rehydration, antiviral treatment, and symptomatic relief can effectively alleviate the vomiting symptoms caused by the common cold.

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Where to massage for nasal congestion due to a cold to clear the airways?

For symptoms of nasal congestion due to a cold, you can relieve nasal breathing by massaging specific points such as the Yingxiang acupoints on both sides, the Zusanli, and the mandibular points, all of which have certain effects and therapeutic benefits. At the same time, it is important to maintain the cleanliness of indoor air, drink plenty of water, avoid exposure to dust, smoke, and other irritating chemicals, and eat more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C to promote the repair of tissue mucosa and relieve symptoms of nasal congestion. Measuring your body temperature twice a day can also help with the recovery from the illness.