{"id":12897,"date":"2022-07-19T16:34:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T08:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vstcm.com\/case-study-chest-tightness-and-shortness-of-breath-tcm-chung\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T19:17:08","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T11:17:08","slug":"case-study-chest-tightness-and-shortness-of-breath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vstcm.com\/en\/case-study-chest-tightness-and-shortness-of-breath\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study – Chest tightness and shortness of breath \u3010TCM Chung\u3011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patient: Mr. Gu,37 years old
\n<\/span>Date: Feb 9, 2022. First visit
\n<\/span>Chief complaint: Chest tightness and shortness of breath for 3 months
\n<\/span><\/strong>
\n\"\"
\nOn this particular day, I had just arrived at the clinic when our front desk colleague informed me that a patient who had not scheduled an appointment had arrived due to chest tightness and shortness of breath. I dashed into the office to get ready, then invited him in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Gu’s face was pale, and his tone of voice was low, as soon as he entered the room. He complained about a sudden chest tightness while driving three months ago, accompanied by poor breathing, but it only lasted a few minutes, so he ignored it. Following that, the occurrence of this condition increased, and he noticed that his body was abnormal, so he went to the hospital for a cardiovascular examination and found nothing wrong.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, he assumed that it was due to recent work fatigue and that he would recover on his own after a while.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who would have thought that he would wake up this morning with chest tightness and be unable to breath. He sat on the bed for a long time, drenched in cold sweat, taking deep breaths to loosen up, and when his chest tightness finally subsided, he felt dizzy. He quickly searched online for a nearby TCM clinic and discovered that our clinic is close to his home. He came right away.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAfter hearing his self-complaint, I checked his pulse and discovered that his left cun pulse was very deep, but his guan pulse was tight; his right pulse was deep and thready, and when I looked at his tongue, I noticed he has dark lips and tongue that are enlarged with a thick white coating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Observing that his lips were somewhat black and purple, I asked Mr. Gu if he was a smoker. Mr. Gu was stunned for a moment before telling me that he had been smoking for more than 20 years and had recently realised that this habit was endangering his health and had begun to quit smoking.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I told him that if he wanted to improve his chest tightness, he needed to quit smoking first, and if he couldn’t quit right away, he could at least reduce his dose. After applying pressure to some acupoints on his back for muscle relaxation, I prescribed four doses of scientific Chinese medicine as well as acupuncture therapy for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the treatment, he immediately felt less congestion in his chest, his breathing was more comfortable than it had been in the morning, and his face was no longer as pale as it had been when we first met. I asked Mr. Gu to limit the number of cigarettes he smoked during the medication period, to finish the medication on time, and to return to the clinic the following week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Date: Feb 16, 2022. Second visit<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Gu arrived at the scheduled follow-up consultation a week later. He stated that after taking the medication, he felt his chest tightness, breathing difficulties, and dizziness improved. He still had attacks on occasion, but the number of attacks has been greatly reduced, and the symptoms do not last long, especially in the middle of the night, sleep will no longer be affected by the problem of poor breathing,<\/strong>and he feels that his body is much better overall. He also took the initiative to inform that he had not smoked recently and that he intended to maintain this habit in the future, gradually acclimating himself to a non-smoking lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

I checked his pulse again and discovered that he still has a deep pulse for both left cun and chi, but his left guan pulse is thready, and his right pulse is deep but thready. The tongue is the same as it was last week. So, I adjusted his prescription based on his situation, provided acupuncture treatment, and asked Mr. Gu to return the following week for a follow-up consultation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Gu returned to the follow-up consultation after taking the medicine from the second visit, and he stated that the feeling of chest tightness accompanied by poor breathing had improved, and there had been no recent attacks. He returned to the follow-up clinic for his gastrointestinal problems. I reminded Mr. Gu to take care of his body, to continue to insist on quitting smoking, to engage in moderate exercise, to modify his previous poor lifestyle habits, and to avoid similar situations in the future. Mr. Gu agreed quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u3010Pathological analysis\u3011<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Gu’s heart and lung function are compromised as a result of his long-term smoking habit; chest tightness and difficulty breathing are indications of chest yang obstruction and phlegm-dampness blockage, respectively. The left cun pulse and the heart are related. The middle of the chest contains the heart, which regulates the Yang qi. When the heart’s Yang qi stagnates or is insufficient, the blood and qi are trapped deep inside, which causes the pulse to be deep. Blood stasis and phlegm dampness are displayed by the body’s stagnation of the chest and heart, which prevents the heart from warming blood vessels and causes stasis, where it ultimately resulted in chest tightness and shortness of breath. The tight left guan pulse is linked to cold because the yang qi is easily injured by cold pathogens, which causes cold sweat to appear and dizziness. The main treatment strategy involves warming the Yang Qi, dredging blockages, and activating the Yang qi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After taking the medication, on his second visit, a thready left guan pulse and an enlarged, thick-coated tongue were noted. It was determined that there was excessive phlegm dampness stagnating at the spleen. Therefore, invigorating the spleen to eliminate phlegm and dampness constitute the main principles of treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nWhat should I do if I suddenly experience chest pain and shortness of breath?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u30101\u3011Don’t let yourself get too worked up, and leave enclosed areas quickly.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It won’t take long for the symptoms to go away if you first calm your emotions and then rest in place or in a ventilated, open area when you experience chest tightness, shortness of breath, or even poor breathing. Keep in mind to leave small areas quickly to prevent making your chest feel tighter.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u30102\u3011Modify your breathing, slow it down, and finally breathe in through your abdomen.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By modifying breathing and altering the frequency of breathing, sudden chest tightness can also be relieved.<\/span><\/p>\n