Stuffy Nose After COVID Recovery and a Nasal Voice That Won’t Go Away? — Doctor Luo Dalun: Restore Upright Qi and Clear the Evil Qi Lingering in Your Nasal Passages

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Dear friends, hello everyone. Today we continue our talks on the pandemic, and I will answer your questions. Many people have asked: my high fever is gone, my sore throat is better, I feel like it’s all over — but why is my nose still stuffed up? That’s quite miserable: the nose is blocked all day, the head feels heavy and dizzy, the breath won’t move freely, and at night you can’t even sleep properly, stifled and uncomfortable.

Opening: the battle is over — so why is the nose still blocked?

The fever has broken, the sore throat has healed — by all rights the battle should be over. Yet many people stumble on the very last hurdle: a stuffy nose. During the day the blockage leaves you dizzy and heavy-headed; your voice comes out muffled and nasal, so nasal that anyone hearing you knows at once “you’re still not well.” At night it’s worse — you lie there stifled and restless, tossing and turning.

Doctor Luo says this stuffy nose is something many people experience in the late stage of infection. Today’s talk answers exactly that question.

Why is the nose blocked? — The big battle is over, but upright qi has not recovered

Why does the nose stay blocked after the battle is won? Doctor Luo puts it in plain words: although the big battle is over, the body has not fully recovered — upright qi (zheng qi) is still insufficient.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: If upright qi were abundant, the lung qi would be strong and it could simply push the evil qi all the way out. But because upright qi is insufficient, it has no strength to push the evil qi out. Where does the evil qi remain? It remains at the mouth and nose — in the nasal passages (bi qiao). That’s why people with this kind of stuffy nose talk in a muffled, nasal voice — the external evil is lingering here, not yet completely cleared. You think the body has recovered, but actually there is still a little residue.

Once you understand this, the treatment becomes clear: on one hand restore upright qi so the body pushes the evil qi out by itself; on the other hand clear the evil qi from the nasal passages — walk on both legs at the same time.

Move one: restore upright qi — shan yao slices boiled into water, drink nothing else all day

How do you restore upright qi? Doctor Luo’s first recommendation is shan yao (Chinese yam) — the first choice for tonifying lung qi.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: For example, if I want to tonify lung qi, how? Eat some shan yao. Today a friend asked me again: is there a difference between shan yao slices and shan yao powder? I’ve told you before — essentially there is no difference. Boiling shan yao slices into water is convenient to take and easy to drink: take a big handful of shan yao slices, boil the water, and drink this water all day instead of any other water — that restores upright qi. By the end the slices are nearly cooked through, and you can put them into your cooking, wasting nothing. As for the powder, making it into a paste takes a bit more effort, but the effect is excellent because not a bit is wasted — you eat all of it.

So which should you choose, slices or powder? Doctor Luo says the only real difference shows up in the stool: for the vast majority of people eating shan yao keeps the bowels normal, but a few people get constipated from eating yam — those people should switch to drinking the water boiled from yam slices. Meanwhile, for more people, eating yam actually turns previously dry stools normal. So if you want the convenience of drinking water, boil the slices; if you’re happy to mix a paste twice a day and eat it, that works too.

Move two: Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan, American ginseng slices, Yu Ling Gao

Besides shan yao, when upright qi is insufficient you can also use a little Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan (Center-Supplementing Qi-Boosting Pill) — once the external evil has been cleared, this lifts the qi upward.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Use a little Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan to lift the qi upward. Because the external evil is already cleared, we lift the upright qi. You can also eat ren shen (ginseng) slices; people with a bit of yin deficiency and heat can eat xi yang shen (American ginseng) slices; and drink some Yu Ling Gao (Jade Spirit Paste) to nourish the blood. Tonifying qi and nourishing blood both work — these are the methods for supporting upright qi.

Move three: clear the evil qi from the nasal passages — dispersing-cold herbs matched with clearing-heat herbs

While you restore upright qi on one side, you clear the nasal evil qi on the other. How? Use herbs that disperse outward to drive the evil qi out.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The specific method is to use some herbs that disperse cold outward — for example jie geng (platycodon root), bai zhi (angelica dahurica), xin yi (magnolia flower bud), fang feng (saposhnikovia root), qiang huo (notopterygium root), and so on. Then match them with herbs that clear heat — because there is evil qi here, add jin yin hua (honeysuckle), lian qiao (forsythia), huang qin (scutellaria root), yu xing cao (houttuynia), and so on; sometimes you even need a bit of raw shi gao (gypsum). The effect is quite good.

But what Doctor Luo highlights today is not a formula for you to drink — it’s a nasal drip method.

The highlight: a nasal drip method — wonderfully effective for children with post-cold stuffiness

This drip formula is light and simple: xin yi 3 g, bai zhi 3 g, jie geng 3 g, jing jie (schizonepeta) 3 g; if you can get them, add jin yin hua 6 g, lian qiao 6 g, huang qin 6 g.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Boil them in water just like decocting Chinese medicine — but don’t boil long: first soak for 20 minutes, then after the pot comes to a boil, about ten minutes is enough. Then put the liquid into a bottle — the small soft dropper bottles that eye drops come in (like the chloramphenicol eye-drop bottles) work well — suck up the liquid and drip it into the nose. Drip into one nostril, then pinch it shut, lie down and roll back and forth a little so the liquid travels through the nasal cavity; tilt your head back a little; after a few minutes it will flow out on its own — wipe it clean with a finger, then drip into the other nostril. That is the drip method.

There are rules for using it too: drip several times a day — five or six times is fine — and the effect is excellent. Warm it slightly before each use; don’t use it too cold.

Alongside the drips, two companion techniques:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: While you’re boiling the herbs, inhale the steam deeply — the medicinal vapor that goes in also works. And even better, gargle with the liquid: let it roll around the throat, then spit it out; take another mouthful and gargle again, letting the liquid stay around the nasal-pharyngeal junction. This way you’re dispersing the external evil on one side and resolving the toxin on the other — the effect is excellent. I’ve recommended this method to many children before — after a cold, lots of kids end up with a stuffy nose and a heavy nasal voice, and using this method to regulate it works very well.

The wisdom of ordinary people: adding chloramphenicol eye drops — and the story of that soldier

Parents have reported their own “improved version” of this drip method back to Doctor Luo.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Some parents said: you know the chloramphenicol eye drops — you didn’t use up the bottle, there’s a little left. Mix the leftover eye drops into the herbal liquid and drip that into the nose; they say the effect is even better. I think — is there sense in the wisdom of ordinary people? There is. It’s the Chinese medicine idea of clearing heat and resolving toxin: combining that little leftover Western eye drop with the Chinese herbal liquid to clear heat and resolve toxin together — that’s also acceptable.

This reminds Doctor Luo of an old story: he once met a demobilized soldier of the People’s Liberation Army who said that back when he had rhinitis, no treatment could cure it. Frustrated, he went to the clinic and asked if they had any eye drops; he got a bottle and “wham” — poured it straight into his nose, blocked it there and soaked it, and that cured his rhinitis.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I laughed when I heard it and said, that’s truly the way of a soldier. But I do not recommend it — absolutely not; I’m only sharing the story. Sometimes things that Western medicine uses to kill bacteria — what Chinese medicine would call having a heat-clearing, toxin-resolving effect — do work when poured into the nasal cavity. But the method is extreme, and I absolutely do not recommend it. We do have Chinese herbs that clear heat and resolve toxin nowadays. And if you really do have leftover chloramphenicol eye drops, a little mixed in — some parents say it works better. Everyone has their own methods, but my position is: just the herbal liquid is enough.

Massage the Yingxiang point: a touch of essential balm, rub until warm

Besides dripping, you can also massage every day: put a tiny bit of essential balm (feng you jing) on your finger and rub the points beside the nose — Yingxiang (LI20) and the like — rubbing up and down until they feel warm. This promotes blood circulation and qi-blood flow, and helps recovery.

A remarkable point: Zhiyin — famous for correcting breech presentation, and it also clears a stuffy nose

Next comes a method Doctor Luo has personally tested with good results: Zhiyin (BL67).

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: On the outside of your foot, at the edge of the root of the little toe’s nail, there is a point called Zhiyin. It belongs to the Foot Taiyang Bladder channel (zu tai yang pang guang jing). How does the Bladder channel run? It also reaches the face — it reaches the nose area too. Zhiyin is especially famous for correcting breech (inverted) fetal presentation — with moxibustion on it, a breech baby gradually turns around. It’s genuinely amazing, a truly miraculous thing; people still use this method today. What else does it treat? It also treats nasal stuffiness, nasal blockage, runny nose, and so on. I really have personal experience with this — sometimes when my nose is badly blocked, I use the back of a toothpick, or my own nail, to stimulate Zhiyin; after a short while of stimulation, the nose clears within moments.

So if you have the conditions, moxa Zhiyin as well — it helps the qi and blood of the Bladder channel flow freely.

The Foot Taiyang Bladder channel: the body’s outer shield — when it flows, the nasal passages clear

Why can a point on a toe clear the nose? For that, you need to know about the Foot Taiyang Bladder channel.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The Bladder channel runs along the back — it is the “exterior surface of the body” (shen zhi biao), the line of defense against external evil, extremely important. If we stimulate Zhiyin, letting the essential qi of the Bladder channel fill and its qi and blood circulate, that helps push the external evil out. The evil qi in the nasal cavity is a mixture of cold and heat — a bit of cold and a bit of heat — so I use warm herbs like bai zhi and xin yi to disperse the cold, matched with jin yin hua and lian qiao to clear the heat, because there is a little heat-toxin here. When the Bladder channel’s qi is sufficient, it plays the same role — spreading lung qi and clearing the external evil from the nasal passages. You can all try this method too.

Especially important for children: don’t let the evil qi become a “permanent stuffy nose”

This finishing work matters most of all for children.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: If you leave the evil qi in place — like when the evil qi of an ordinary cold is left lingering — some children keep getting stuffy noses. That’s not good for the future; truly not good. So I really do advocate using a little method to clear it out completely. Otherwise some people’s noses stay blocked, their voices stay nasal, for several weeks — a very long time — and that actually means the external evil has not been completely cleared.

Conclusion: restoring upright qi is the foundation — the final clearing happens at the mouth and nose

Doctor Luo stresses at the end that all of these are methods to “stop the misery of a blocked nose and a nasal voice”; the root path is still restoring upright qi, letting the body fully recover.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When your body’s qi and blood rise, they will expel the external evil. Where does the final clearing take place? Right at the mouth and nose — once this area is cleared, essentially the battle is over. So this final nasal area is extremely important. Dear listeners, that’s all for today. Next we will introduce more methods for guarding against the pandemic. Thank you, dear friends — see you tomorrow.

Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s lecture series (post-COVID recovery: clearing residual evil qi from the nasal passages).

What to take away: After the fever breaks and the sore throat heals, a stuffy nose with a heavy nasal voice means the big battle is over but upright qi has not recovered, so residual evil qi lingers in the nasal passages. Treat on two legs: (1) restore upright qi — drink shan yao (Chinese yam) slice water all day, Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan to lift qi, American ginseng slices for yin deficiency with heat, Yu Ling Gao to nourish blood; (2) clear the nasal evil qi — the nasal drip formula of xin yi 3 g, bai zhi 3 g, jie geng 3 g, jing jie 3 g, plus jin yin hua 6 g, lian qiao 6 g, huang qin 6 g: soak 20 minutes, boil 10 minutes after coming to a boil, drip five or six times daily, and combine with inhaling the steam and gargling. Daily care: rub Yingxiang (LI20) with a little essential balm until warm, and stimulate or moxa Zhiyin (BL67) at the outer corner of the little toe nail — it corrects breech presentation and clears nasal stuffiness. The nasal evil is a mix of cold and heat, so use warm dispersing herbs (bai zhi, xin yi) with heat-clearing herbs (jin yin hua, lian qiao). For children especially, clear the residue completely or the stuffiness can last weeks. Ultimately, restore upright qi — when qi and blood rise, the evil qi is expelled from the mouth and nose, and the battle truly ends.