Chinese Herbal Medicine FAQs
Chinese herbal medicine is a major aspect of traditional Chinese medicine, which focuses on restoring a balance of energy, body, and spirit to maintain health rather than treating a particular disease or medical condition. Herbs are used with the goal of restoring balance by nourishing the body.
The main complaint from anyone who has ever had Chinese herbal medicine (in broth form) is the evident atrocious taste. This is especially common among people in the West, where few people have ever experienced Chinese herbal medicine. People in the Wes have been accustomed o ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED grape cough syrups, cherry sore throat sprays, bubble gum antibiotics, and so on. The point is, these modern medicines don’t really taste like candy unless flavoring agents make them that way. When patients receive Chinese herbal medicines no attempt has been made to try to hide behind artificial agents to make the medicines taste better. If one considers Chinese herbal medicine to be unpalatable, then one should try taking dextreomethorphan (conventional cough syrup), phenol (in sore throat sprays), and amoxicillin (an antibiotic) WITHOUT artificial flavoring agents!
Modern medicines in pill form are Chemical (i.e., toxic) drugs with extremely powerful effects. That’s why every drug is in a very small pill form. Just a minute amount is enough to last for hours. If one also took these chemical drugs in LIQUID form, one may not think Chinese herbal medicines is that bad.
There are a few ways to take the herbal broth. One way is to inhale a couple times, hold the breath, and try to drink the entire cup of medicine all at once. Immediately RINSE the mouth out with water and take a teaspoon of honey or orange marmalade. Another way is to use a straw, the kind that can bend at an angle and place it towards the back of the mouth. These are only two ways; you can experiment with ways that will work for you. Medicine that is taken in its pure form without artificial flavors is the most potent.
“Sweet things eaten prove in digestion sour. Bitter medicines are sweet to the body.”
Modern medicines in pill form are Chemical (i.e., toxic) drugs with extremely powerful effects. That’s why every drug is in a very small pill form. Just a minute amount is enough to last for hours. If one also took these chemical drugs in LIQUID form, one may not think Chinese herbal medicines is that bad.
There are a few ways to take the herbal broth. One way is to inhale a couple times, hold the breath, and try to drink the entire cup of medicine all at once. Immediately RINSE the mouth out with water and take a teaspoon of honey or orange marmalade. Another way is to use a straw, the kind that can bend at an angle and place it towards the back of the mouth. These are only two ways; you can experiment with ways that will work for you. Medicine that is taken in its pure form without artificial flavors is the most potent.
“Sweet things eaten prove in digestion sour. Bitter medicines are sweet to the body.”
DRUGS and Herbs are to be distinguished from each other; drugs are manmade chemicals with powerful efficacious modes of action as well as dangerous side effects. Herbs are nature made foods with great healing properties and no side effects. A healthy person would never in his right mind take a drug, so why a sick person should be given any? A sick person’s body is already in a weakened state. The side effects of a drug are sometimes worse than the disease itself. It would be correct to reason that a person would live longer by not taking the drug.
Western Medicine
In designing DRUGS for diseases, pharmaceutical companies mainly go by these guidelines:
- Does the drug stop the disease?
- What is the degree of damage caused by the drug’s side effects?
Western medicine notices that the well-being of the patient is second. Western medicine suppresses the symptoms of the disease while doing nothing to remove the underlying cause. The drugs do not treat the patient, but the disease itself. For example, two people with diabetes may exhibit slightly different symptoms. Western medicine would just diagnose the disease as diabetes and give insulin to each and every patient with diabetes.
Here are the guidelines Chinese medicine abides by when designing HERBAL remedies:
- If a healthy person takes the herbs, there should be no side effects.
- Does it benefit the patient?
In Chinese medicine, if an herbal remedy has any detrimental effects to a healthy person, it is immediately discarded. Chinese medicine also realizes every person is a special individual with unique disease symptoms. The herbal remedies prescribed for a patient is very personalized according to their own specific symptoms. Chinese medicine looks for the cause and cure for the disease. For example, two people with diabetes may exhibit slightly different symptoms. Therefore, they would each receive different herbal remedies.
This is a very common question. The majority of our patients are from referrals. These referred patients come to our center with high expectation. They expect after all the years of suffering with their illness and side effects from drugs, that our well known Chinese medical center will correct their problem in a short period of time. This is an incorrect assumption. Virtually every patient that seeks treatment at our center has already been through everything Western medicine has to offer. Western medical treatments carry with them adverse side effects, most of which are from long term drug use. Ask yourself. “How long have I had the disease? How long have I been taking my drugs?” everyone’s body is different need time to both eliminate the side effects from drug therapy AND to treat the illness you had to begin with. If you’ve had a disease for many years AND to treat the illness you had to begin with. If you’ve had a disease for many years and have also been taking side effect causing drugs, you need to realize that it will take some period of time for you to recover from your illness. Also, your body is very accustomed to the drugs you’ve been taking for many years. Because of this you may feel uneasy after taking the first few doses of our herbal medicines which are totally new to your body. This is perfectly normal. Time will allow your body to slowly get adjusted to our medicines.
Chinese medicine unlike Western medicine doesn’t really have any side effects. The effects you’re feeling are mostly from the elimination of toxins from the body, especially from all the drugs you’ve taken over the years. Think of a person who has taken illegal drugs for many years. Then think of how the person feels when they’re in withdrawal. It’s almost the same analogy. You may experience some vomiting, diarrhea, or other forms of “discomfort” after taking herbal medicines but that is merely the medicine eliminating toxins from the body.
Our general rules are: if after getting the first course of treatment, you don’t see any improvement, either make another appointment to see us or do no seek further treatment with us. If your condition is 50% better, continue to take the prescribed medicines. If your condition is 75%-80%better, you may elect to have your liquid medicines made into a capsule form. If all of your symptoms are gone, there is no need to return unless you would like a follow up appointment or some new symptoms have surfaced. We do not guarantee the outcome of our treatments nor do we refund services or herbal medicines. This has been stated on the consent form you signed prior to seeing the doctor. But we do guarantee one thing, and that is we will try our best to bring you back to health. That is the best we can offer.
