Chinese herbs are natural substances (most are plants) that are taken in the form of pills, powders, or a tea made from cooking the loose herbs. Chinese herbs are effective for many conditions and are often used as the sole Chinese medical treatment. Patients can chose to make an appointment for Chinese herbal medicine without acupuncture, or it can be used as a complement to acupuncture treatment.

Chinese Herbal Medicine is unique from other herbal traditions because the herbs are utilized in complex formulas that are strictly formulated for a specific patient and the herbs are very rarely used alone. Many of these formulas have been used for thousands of years and have stood up to the scrutiny of Chinese scholars for just as long. Additional herbs can be added to these formulas to make it even more effective for a specific patient. These additional herbs are chosen because they have shown to be effective over time or perhaps new scientific evidence has shown that an herb has biochemical ingredients proven to be helpful for a particular disease.

Before Chinese herbs can be administered a diagnosis must be made according to the system of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is a completely different system of diagnosis from western medicine. Many people can have a similar western medical diagnosis, such as arthritis, but can actually have different Chinese medicine diagnoses. For example, one person with a western medical diagnosis for arthritis could complain that her joints are hot and swollen and feel better with ice. Another patient with the same western medical diagnosis complains that his joints feel cold and his pain increases in frigid winter weather. Therefore, the treatment for these patients in Chinese medicine will be very different depending on the Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnosis.

Chinese herbal medicine is a holistic system of medicine without side effects and is designed to leave you feeling better long after you stop taking the herbs. It is a complex system designed to take each person’s individual symptoms into account to create effective results whether you are recovering from an illness or looking to bring your health to a higher level.