Do I have a hot-cold or cold-cold?

The most wondrous change of season is upon us! Winter to Spring, when the birds start to sing, and when the sun hits the windowsill before the alarm rings! 

Just when the weather starts to warm up, you might be inclined to take off more layers than necessary -- and a trace of a cold could immediately follow! Now, you may have heard of the terms 'hot' or 'cold' used to describe the sickness that comes on. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are multiple ways/symptoms you can use to differentiate these 2 types of colds. Here's a quick little table as a reminder if you have not read our previous blogpost on Wind Heat vs Wind Cold.

'Cold'-Cold/ 'Wind-Cold'-Cold

(风寒感冒)

- an external symptom caused by the invasion of wind-cold evil and the failure of lung qi to flow

  • The main symptoms are severe aversion to cold, mild fever, no sweating, headache, body pain, nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat, coughing and coughing up white sputum; no thirst or thirst for hot drinks; the tongue coating is thin and white, and the pulse is usually floating and tight.
  • Wind-cold colds usually occurs during the transition of seasons and in autumn and winter.

 'Hot'-Cold/ 'Wind-Heat'-Cold

(风热感冒)

- an external symptom caused by the invasion of wind-heat evil.

  • Symptoms include high fever, slight aversion to wind, sweating, headache, red and swollen throat, pain, cough, sticky or yellow phlegm that is difficult to cough up, yellow urine, dry stool, nasal congestion and yellow mucus, constant thirst, red tongue tip and edges, thin white and slightly yellow tongue coating, and floating pulse.
  • Wind-heat cold is more common in spring and summer, and is caused by external wind-heat.

 

You can also choose to use at-home herbal remedies such as teas for similar effects. It's completely up to you! 

Commonly used for 'Cold'-Cold/ 'Wind-Cold'-Cold (风寒感冒):

Commonly used for 'Hot'-Cold/ 'Wind-Heat'-Cold (风热感冒):

*All above products can be found in our store in-person or online.

 

March 21, 2025 — The Herb Depot
Tags: change of season cold cold flu early cold onset of cold TCM tips for cold tips for cold and flu
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Comments

Gideon Leo said:

It’s hard for me to differentiate cold cold/ wind cold vs hot cold wind heat cold. Can I take both Tong Xian Li Fei Pian together with Lianhua Qingwen? 2 of each? Any side effect if I mix both of these Chinese herbs pill.

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