Chinese Herbal Medicine is one of the oldest medicines in the world.
Some of the ancient herbal formulas can be dated back to 400 B.C;
Chinese textbooks on herbal medicine used today were written 2000 years ago.
Herbal prescriptions consist of a mixture of various organic herbs (roots, stems, leaves and seeds) which the patient boil to make a decoction; usually half a cup of the herbal ‘tea’ is taken two or three times a day. Powders and Capsules are also given as they are easier to use, but they have a slower effect.
Chinese Herbal medicine and acupuncture are the main modalities or treatment method within Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM
. TCM is the World's oldest, continually practised, professional medicine. Its written history stretches back not less than 2,500 years and its practice is undoubtedly much older than that. Although acupuncture was the first Chinese modality to gain wide acceptance in the West, Chinese herbal medicine is quickly establishing itself as one of the most popular and effective alternative therapies in the Western world.
The aim of Traditional Chinese Medicine is to restore health rather than simply eliminating symptoms;
since the treatment focuses on the constitutional health, more than the illness, the patient, feeling much stronger may sees all the symptoms disappear quickly, and the possibility of relapses are less likely.
Chinese herbal medicine, when practised as part of TCM, is based on an individualized pattern diagnosis as well as a disease diagnosis.
This means the TCM patient receives a custom written herbal prescription designed to treat both the symptom or disease and also their individual pattern. Such a TCM pattern is made up of a person's signs and symptoms as well as their emotional temperament and bodily constitution.
TCM practitioners use ingredients from all three kingdoms, i.e., vegetable, animal, and mineral.
However, in my practice, I only use ingredients from vegetable sources. Leaves, flowers, twigs, stems, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and barks are some of the vegetable parts used.
Most of the medicines in the Chinese materia medica have a very low toxicity compared to even common, over the counter Western drugs. When they are prescribed according to a correct TCM pattern diagnosis, they should have virtually no side effects besides beneficial healing results.
In acute conditions, sometimes results can be expected in a matter of minutes.
Chinese herbal medicine is successfully used for a very wide range of conditions.
Among the more commonly treated disorders are:
* Skin disease, including eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, urticaria
* Gastro-intestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, ulcerative colitis
* Gynaecological conditions, including pre-menstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhoea, endometriosis, infertility
* Hepatitis and HIV: some promising results have been obtained for treatment of Hepatitis C, and supportive treatment may be beneficial in the case of HIV
* Chronic fatigue syndromes, whether with a background of viral infection or in other situations
* Respiratory conditions, including asthma, bronchitis, and chronic coughs, allergic and perennial rhinitis and sinusitis
* Rheumatological conditions (e.g. osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis)
* Urinary conditions including chronic cystitis
* Psychological problems (e.g. depression, anxiety)
* Children's diseases
In chronic conditions, some results should be seen within two weeks. Chronic conditions may require taking Chinese herbal medicine for a long time, nonetheless, signs that the medicine is working should be apparent to patient and practitioner alike almost from the very start. When combined with acupuncture, the result are quicker and better.