bubble_chart Concept

Throat itching refers to the itching sensation in the throat, often accompanied by symptoms such as cough, dry throat, hoarseness, and dry nose, which can be cross-referenced.

bubble_chart Pattern Analysis

1. External Contractionwind-cold︰Itchy throat with cough, expectoration of thin sputum, slight sore throat, hoarse voice, nasal congestion with a heavy voice, clear nasal discharge, sneezing. Systemic symptoms include fever, aversion to cold, and headache. The throat mucosa is pale red without swelling. The tongue coating is thin and white, and the pulse is floating and tight. Treatment should focus on dispersing wind and dissipating cold, using Liuwei Decoction.
2. Wind-heat of External Contraction︰The throat is dry and itchy, causing coughing with difficulty in producing sound, or sore throat. Accompanied by fever, aversion to wind, and headache. The throat mucosa is noticeably red and swollen, with a thin yellow tongue coating, a red tongue body, and a floating, rapid pulse. Treatment should focus on dispersing wind and clearing heat, using Mulberry Leaf and Chrysanthemum Decoction.
3. Lung Dryness︰Itchy throat, dry cough with little phlegm, or sticky phlegm difficult to expectorate, dry nose and throat, dry tongue with little fluid, or blood-streaked phlegm, sore throat. Or fever with aversion to wind, or aversion to cold with fever, tongue coating thin yellow or thin white, floating and rapid pulse, or floating and tight. Autumn dryness prevails, domination of dryness causing dry symptoms, or dryness pathogen injuring the lung, attacking the throat, injuring body fluids, the lung losing nourishment, failing in purification and descending, leading to itchy throat. If symptoms such as aversion to wind, sweating, sore throat, blood-streaked phlegm, yellow tongue coating, red tongue texture are seen, it is due to combined pathogens with wind-heat, called "warm dryness". If symptoms such as aversion to cold, absence of sweating, fever, white tongue coating are seen, it is due to combined pathogens with wind-cold, called "cool dryness". Treatment mainly focuses on moistening dryness and nourishing the lung, with the prescription Mulberry Leaf and Apricot Kernel Decoction. For "warm dryness", add Reed Rhizome, Ophiopogon Tuber and other clearing and moistening ingredients. For "cool dryness", remove Ginseng and pear peel, add Schizonepeta, Saposhnikovia Root and other ingredients to dispel cold.
4. Lung Yin Deficiency︰The throat feels slightly itchy, dry mouth and throat, thick cough, shortness of breath with few words, difficulty speaking, or even hoarseness, red tongue with scant coating, thin and rapid pulse. This is often due to prolonged illness, or pathogenic heat lingering in the lungs, or excessive sweating, injuring lung yin, leading to the lungs losing nourishment. Since the throat is part of the lung system, it becomes itchy. The characteristic symptoms are dry throat with little moisture, dry mouth but no desire to drink. Treatment should focus on moistening dryness and promoting fluid production. The recommended formula is Lily Bulb Metal-Securing Decoction.

The symptom of throat itchiness can generally be divided into two categories: deficiency and excess. Those of deficiency type are mostly due to insufficient lung yin, leading to a lack of moisture. Those of excess type are often caused by wind or dryness, with wind sometimes accompanied by cold or heat, and dryness varying between warm and cool. These are relatively easy to distinguish in clinical practice.