Anyone used Chinese herbal medicine for lung health?

Recently started herbal therapies for MAC Lung disease with aspergillis Niger present. What do you want the treatment to achieve for your mother? - different herbs will do different things. In my case the goal is to open things up so I can cough it out, which may not be what your mom needs for COPD. But here are the alternative treatments I’ve started, so far all very helpful: diathermy (4o minutes once a week), mullein drops (30 drops, 3 times a day in a little water), Clear Lung extra strength by Ridgecrest Herbals (13 Chinese herbs), wild red asparagus root (make tea from the root and drink 3 times a day). The goal of the first two is to make me cough stuff up - Highly effective. The herbal formula and tea might be beneficial for anyone with lung issues. They are anti inflammatory, boost the immune system, etc. it takes about 2 weeks to notice the benefits of the tea. Let me know if you’d like info about sources for any of these. There are other Chinese and Japanese herbs I’ll be looking into. Some ease pain, others are anti inflammatory, others target specific mycobacteria in the lungs. I always start herbals slowly, low dose to start, gradually working up to full dose in a few weeks. I am lucky to have access to Chinese herbal practitioners in my area. Happy to share whatever I learn. Just started My healing journey 2 mths ago. I expect it to take 1 or more years and will be testing every 3 to 6 months to track my progress.

Hello @ayannakiklas and @marva13,

Complementary therapies are usually therapies used in addition to conventional care. Alternative therapies are defined as those use to replace conventional care. Sometimes people use these terms interchangeably. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/integrative-health#cvsa It is always a good idea to talk to your doctor about complementary or alternative therapies you're considering, and to do your research about their effectiveness.

@marva13, here a discussion you may find helpful as well:
"Alternative (herb) medications"
- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/alternative-herb-medications/

@ayannakiklas, I am tagging @confident, @elizabethjoy and @nla4625 who all mentioned acupuncture and other Chinese alternative medicines in conjunction with their traditional western medicine treatments for varying lung health diagnoses. @ayannakiklas, have you had a chance to discuss these additional treatments with your mother's current provider?

To know about this I think we need to go live with the Amazon natives who know how to use medicinal plants. I am a medical anthropologist and there is a book by Plotkins called a Shamans apprentice. It is great reading, a small book about a man who went to learn about the medicines and tried to bring them to us in the USA. It was met with rejection. Our scientists prefer making artificial chemical drugs from the ingredients found in the plants. Well, that is my understanding. I will say Ayur-Veda Medicine is amazing. It was abundant when I was in college and now, I can rarely find information on it. There used to be great videos on how to heal the source of the illness rather than treating the symptoms. I understand Cupping is good. I have not tried it.
That being said, I am trying the Mullein tea and I have a dropper called Breathe. It is hard to say if it is helping. I have been using it for a couple of months. I did acupuncture and it too may have helped but it is really hard to gauge because progress is somewhat slow. I know exercises help and I am lazy and reluctant to do them often, shame on me. When covid came I stopped the gym. MY husband said it was a mistake for us to do that, he was right. I cannot do much at all now and i do put forth effort sometimes with YouTube video of Jon Reyes exercise for seniors and a video of Breathe better with Elizabeth. She tells you how to breathe properly and does a light exercise of arms and such. I do push myself in other ways too, keeping house and such, and I believe that helps. I force myself to breath hard when being active. Inhalers do help considerably. Prayer is my best go to.
I am just sharing and not sure it will be useful to you. it feels good to talk about it all.
Good fortune

Hi Marvel. Which 2 are the best ways to be able to clear lungs of phlegm. I have Mullein - what is the other please.

Dawn

This depends greatly on the cause of the phlegm (mucus) in your lungs. If you have an underlying condition that makes it difficult for your lungs to clear naturally, you may need to do some active airway clearance in addition to using one or more mucus thinning products. Herbal or other passive therapies alone are not enough.

Thanks I have emphysema but always looking for ways to clear phelgm easier.

The best thing you can do is to consult with your pulmonologist on the next steps you should take. Each lung condition has its own challenges and protocols for managing.

Thanks for your reply.