A 75-year-old man came to the clinic in early autumn of 1946, complaining of headaches that had persisted for three months following a wind-cold common cold. The headaches alternated between the left and right sides, frequently recurring up to the present. Previous doctors had diagnosed it as excessive fire rising and prescribed cooling medications, but the pain only intensified, occurring day and night with varying severity, causing restlessness whether sitting or lying down. In desperation, he tried various medications, but none were effective.

Upon palpation, his pulse was floating on both sides, with tightness in both cun positions. His tongue coating was thin and yellow, indicating a syndrome of wind-cold stagnation. The head is the meeting point of all yang energies in the body. When the patient initially contracted wind-cold, he failed to promptly induce sweating to resolve it. Instead, he consumed cooling and suppressing substances, which exacerbated the wind-cold pathogen, making it difficult to dispel. This obstruction in the meridians and collaterals trapped yang qi, preventing its proper circulation and transforming it into fire that surged upward, causing this condition. The floating and tight pulse indicates external binding of wind-cold pathogens. The treatment principle should be to disperse wind-cold and release stagnant heat. However, given the prolonged course of the illness, relying solely on external treatment might be insufficient. Therefore, a combined internal and external treatment approach was adopted: internally, a formula consisting of Sichuan Lovage Rhizome 2 qian, Dahurian Angelica 2 qian, Fresh Ginger Rhizome 2 slices, Mentha 2 qian, Notopterygium 1 qian, Chrysanthemum Flower 2 qian, Saposhnikovia Root 1 qian, stir-fried Scutellaria 1 qian, and aged tea 2 qian; externally, Silkworm Feces 2 liang, decocted with water until the liquid was nearly dry, then spread the silkworm feces and juice on a new cloth and wrapped around the painful area, changing the dressing once daily. After half a month of external treatment and ten doses of the internal formula, the illness was completely cured.