Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine: An Ancient Healing Tradition

The Foundations of Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine is a 3,000+-year-old practice that utilizes around 365 natural materials, including roots, stems, bark, leaves, flowers, seeds, minerals, shells, and select animal materials. These medicinal substances are detailed in The Materia Medica of Chinese Herbal Medicine, a foundational text that categorizes herbs by their properties, functions, and contraindications.

Unlike Western pharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese herbal formulas are carefully crafted using a synergistic combination of herbs to restore balance in both the body and spirit, rather than treating symptoms in isolation.

Traditional Preparation: Herbal Decoctions

Historically, herbal prescriptions were consumed as decoctions—raw, dried herbs were boiled in water to extract their therapeutic properties, then consumed as a hot tea. While decoctions remain highly effective, modern herbal medicine offers various convenient forms to suit individual preferences and lifestyles.

Forms of Chinese Herbal Medicine

Granules & Herbal Extract Powders

• Dissolved in warm water to create an herbal tea

• Similar in consistency to instant coffee

• Produced through a process of decoction, slow drying, and grinding into a fine powder

Teapills, Capsules & Tablets

• Taken orally for convenience

• Created by extracting herbal compounds into a concentrated system, then shaping them into teapills or tablets

Tinctures & Extracts

• Liquid herbal extracts taken orally, placed on or under the tongue

• Often in an alcohol base for preservation, while children's formulas use a glycerin base

Topical Liniments & Poultices

• Applied directly to the skin for musculoskeletal or dermatological concerns

• Formulated as poultices, patches, ointments, or liniments

  
  

A Personalized Approach to Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine is highly individualized, with formulas tailored to each person's unique constitution, symptoms, and health goals. Whether taken as a tea, capsule, or topical remedy, these herbal solutions work in harmony with the body's natural healing processes to restore balance and promote long-term wellness.