Wind-Cold in the Deep South?!? The how and why of catching a chill in the long summer

By Emily Cronin and Thomas McCarty

Chinese medicine theory uses terms from the greater world of Nature to describe the mechanisms of disease. “Wind-Cold” is a frequently used term which you may have heard your acupuncturist talk about before. In this article we will discuss Wind-Cold, how it applies specifically to our notoriously warm climate, and offer some health-hacks that you can implement in your life to help keep an attack of Wind-Cold from ruining your day, week, or worse! 

What is meant by “Wind” as a disease? Wind suggests something that comes on suddenly, often without warning, and in nature we often first notice wind as it stirs in the upper parts of trees or racing clouds. Similarly, Wind, as a term of disease, comes on suddenly, initally as small changes (a scratchy throat, or mild un-ease), gathering strength and scope of effect over a comparatively short time. Like wind stirring the treetops, Wind as disease often affects the upper parts of the body first–perhaps a cough, or sneeze, or headache. “Wind” as a stand-alone diagnosis corresponds mostly to allergies, usually affecting the respiratory tract.* If you suffer from allergies, then you know how they can make you feel somewhat sick, but not severely ill the way that a flu bug can. Of course, allergies are the immune system responding to something the body does not want, and often result in fatigue as your body puts great effort into expelling allergens. While the pollen or dust triggering symptoms can cause a lot of trouble, they do not reproduce themselves in the cells like a virus, or colonize areas in the body like a bacterial infection. On the other hand, if a person is suffering from allergies, the stress on the immune system can open the door to  more serious illness. This is why we see, in TCM diagnosis, terms like Wind-Cold, Wind-Heat, or Wind-Dampness. One of the very important sayings in TCM is that “Wind is the gateway for disease.” In short, by weakening the body’s lines of defense, Wind can open the door for other pathogens: Cold, Heat or Dampness. 

We typically see Wind-Cold present as either muscle pains (like waking up with a stiff neck or back) or symptoms of common cold like runny nose, sneezing and coughing. In more temperate parts of the world, Wind-Cold is most prominent as cold temperatures arrive in the Fall and Winter or during the chilly, windy months of early Spring. However, in southern Louisiana, we can also develop wind-cold in the height of the warm summer months. Why is this? It has less to do with the air temperature outside, but everything to do with the stark contrast of the air-conditioned spaces in our homes, offices and social spaces. It’s not uncommon for the thermostat to be kept at a crisp 70 degrees or even colder– at least 20 to 30 degrees colder than the air temperature outside! In a sense, summer is both the hottest and coldest time of year for us when we live half the time in air-conditioned spaces. During the more moderate times of our Louisiana winter, when pleasant temperatures outside allow us to open windows and let a breeze in, it can be a much less risky time for catching cold, at least considering climate alone. 

According to TCM, Wind-Cold enters through the pores, neck and back. The pores control temperature regulation through sweating, as well as keeping out external pathogens. These actions are a function of the Yang Qi of our bodies. In the fall and winter of more temperate regions, we are more susceptible to Wind-Cold attack if there is weak Yang Qi in the body and drastic weather changes, cold temperatures and pathogens in the environment. However, remembering our southern Louisiana world–with its hot summers and cold AC–this is a unique combination. In the summer we often feel tired and worn out because we are sweating more. Sweat causes the loss of Yang Qi and is very depleting if it is not properly replenished by adequate hydration and rest. The pores become open and vulnerable, and the immune and regulatory systems, which respond automatically to changes in the environment, can become disordered by constantly going from the hot outdoors to the cool of AC. Health Hack one: it is important when entering an air-conditioned space to allow your body to adjust gradually. Wear a layer that will allow your body to adjust to the different temperature, and try not to sit directly in front of the AC. 

During the day, Yang Qi is close to the surface, ready to allow sweating, to enable the senses to perceive the environment, and in other ways interact with the world, as an active and outgoing type of energy in our bodies. At night Yang Qi returns to a deeper aspect of our bodies, and if we are sleeping in an air conditioned space, we need to recognize that we will not be as protected from a chill as we are when awake. Health hack two: Sleeping in a t-shirt or pajamas, lying under a light cover, and not situating the bed directly in front of the AC or fans are important precautions. It is better for the bedroom to have circulating air, using a fan, rather than simply to chill the air. If one has alcoholic drinks at night (as sometime happens!), that can cause sweating and dehydration–therefore we are more susceptible after a night out to wake up with a crick in the neck or a sore throat. Mindfulness is important at these times in order to stay healthy.

After already contracting Wind-Cold, whether it manifests as sudden muscular tension or symptoms of common cold, it can be overcome by inducing a light sweat, using the Yang Qi to warm the body’s surface and push out the pathogen. This is why saunas are traditionally used for aches, pains and other disease, and is also why our bodies produce a fever during an illness. We need to be careful to make sure that we have enough Yang Qi for sweating or else it could potentially drive the pathogen deeper into the body. The classic texts of Chinese medicine describe a cure for Wind-Cold whereby the patient first fortifies Yang Qi by eating a bowl of long-cooked porridge (typically rice re-cooked in plenty of water ti make a thick soup) chased by a hot drink made up of the white bulb at the base of a green onion, three slices of fresh ginger and a cinnamon stick all simmered in hot water. If phlegm is involved you may add orange or mandarin peel. Drink this every couple of hours and wrap up in warm blankets until a light sweat begins. 

Before we know it, we will be eagerly and thankfully moving into the Fall, and it will be time to prepare for winter. Some animals are hoarding food for when their food sources have gone dormant, and others prepare for hibernation. As resourceful or surrounded by abundance as we may be, we are still human, and are not outside of the natural laws and motions of nature. We too need to pay attention to preserving health, to begin to slow down and respect the darker half of the year, and to nourish ourselves with seasonal foods. Warming root vegetables, meat or broth and spices help us to nourish our Yang Qi and Yin fluids and adapt to the colder temperatures to come. As the Winter arrives we will conserve our energy, by staying in more often, and getting more sleep at night. Soon it will be King’s Day, after all!

*Note: Wind as discussed in this article is talking specifically about External Wind–that is, Wind that enters the body as a pathogenic force invading from the environment. In TCM Wind also is used as a diagnosis for an internally generated disease, called “Internal Wind” which, while it shares many qualities of External Wind, is generated by imbalance between the Yin and Yang within the body.