Chinese herbal medicine

What is Chinese herbal medicine?

Chinese herbal medicine is one of the oldest surviving healing traditions that remains accessible within the practice of modern healthcare. Together with acupuncture it forms the foundation of Oriental medicine.

Chinese herbal prescriptions or herb formulas are usually the combination of 2 to 15 ingredients. These formulas are designed to address the presenting condition, support the underlying physiology and are individualised for each person. They most commonly incorporate ingredients from plants (leaf, stem, flower, root) but can also include ingredients from animals and minerals. When necessary substitutions can be made for ingredients that are incompatible with any specified dietary regimes.

Chinese herbal medicine at Lotus Healing Arts

When used in combination with other management strategies, Chinese medicine has the potential to help people maintain their wellbeing, and manage a range of symptoms across different organ systems. For example, recent studies have shown promising results for the management of symptoms relating to dysmenorrhea and IBS related diarrhea. While the results of a 2017 study suggested improved lung function tests in chronic asthma with the addition of Chinese herbal medicine as an adjunctive therapy to maintenance medications.

When Chinese herbal medicine is implemented by a registered practitioner it is generally considered to be safe. By maintaining their knowledge and continuing education the practitioners at Lotus Healing Arts take every possible precaution to ensure the safety of their patients. However, as with all health treatments Chinese herbal medicine may be occasionally associated with adverse reactions.

At Lotus Healing Arts Karen formulates herbal prescriptions according to your individual or specific diagnoses, based on the results of your evaluation. They can be provided in either the raw form (see above) to be prepared as a tea, granules to be dissolved in hot water, or pills. Syrups and plasters are occasionally prescribed for specific conditions. All raw herb prescriptions are filled by the Beijing Tong Ren Tang dispensary who provide high quality, fresh ingredients tested for sulphides and insecticides. For convenience all raw herb prescriptions can be cooked on their premises prior to delivery. All granule herb prescriptions are filled by The Herb Booth.

The use of products from endangered animals such as rhinoceros horn has resulted in a black market trade for these ingredients and created much controversy for Chinese herbal medicine. Lotus Healing Arts does not use any ingredients of this nature.