What does it mean if cough phlegm is yellow or white, and what is the difference between coughing up

To put it simply: the significance of 1 in traditional Chinese medicine:

Yellow phlegm represents lung heat, which can be used to clear away heat, and cannot be eaten with hot or tonic drugs or food;

White phlegm means that the lungs are not so hot, and warm or flat drugs can be used.

2 Significance in Western Medicine:

Yellow sputum represents a bacterial infection in the lungs or bronchi, which is destructive and virulent, and if it is not properly controlled, it will multiply in large numbers, form abscesses, bacteremia, and even cause sepsis and shock, which will be life-threatening; In addition, bacteria can damage the tracheal wall or fibrosis, which can easily cause bronchiectasis or emphysema, so you must be extra careful if you have yellow phlegm. Although modern medicine has invented antibiotics that can effectively deal with bacteria, they should not be abused, otherwise they can easily become drug resistant.

White sputum is white in the form of a viral infection of the lungs or bronchi, or allergies. As long as the individual's immunity is strong enough, the viral infection is mostly self-limited, that is, it will die within seven days, so it is generally better without taking medicine. However, the most feared thing is that during this time, it will cause secondary bacterial ** infection, and then the phlegm will turn yellow, so you must be careful to deal with it.

The yellow one is generally a wind-heat cold, and the white one is generally a wind-cold cold.

Yellow is a hot cough, which means that it is on fire, and white is a cold cough, which means that it is cold.

Should yellow phlegm be given an intravenous drip?

In general, coughing up yellow sputum is relatively more severe than white sputum. Coughing up white sputum is common in normal people and bronchitis, the inflammation is mild, and the yellow sputum generally indicates that there are bacteria or suppuration in the respiratory tract.

However, it is not absolute, because respiratory diseases are complex, some diseases are relatively insidious, and the severity of the disease cannot be completely judged by the color of sputum alone. If you have cough and sputum, accompanied by chest tightness, wheezing and other symptoms, it is recommended to go to the hospital for blood routine, chest X-ray and other examinations. There are actually many colors of sputum, rust, green, red, brown and many kinds, of course, yellow phlegm often means that there is a bacterial infection in the respiratory tract, when there is a bacterial infection in the respiratory tract, our body will mobilize the immune function, this immune cell is what we usually call white blood cells, when attacking bacteria, a large number of white blood cells die, it is called pus cells in medicine, this pus cells will show yellow, and the filial piety is derived from yellow.

White phlegm often means that the patient may have a bacterial infection, or there may be no bacterial infection, or it may be other infections, or it may not have major problems, so it is not possible to completely judge the severity of the patient's condition from the perspective of white phlegm and yellow phlegm, for example, patients with severe viral infections do not have yellow sputum, such as killing the infection when the patient does not have yellow sputum, but the condition is also quite dangerous.

Of course, there are many people who cough up white sputum, even in a healthy state, they may cough up white sputum, yellow sputum often represents a bacterial infection, but this bacterial infection can be mild or severe, severe can cause respiratory failure, light patients may be able to control it quickly with antibiotics, so the condition can not be completely identified from the color of the sputum, and Fu Shen Nian depends on the overall lung function of the patient and the severity of the infection.