Experiences with Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine

I would like to comment on training and certification for Chinese Herbal Medicine in the United States. In California in order to be a licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.) you must pass a California state exam which requires you to be proficient in Chinese Herbal medicine. You must know over 300 single herbs by heart and about 100 herbal formulas by heart in order to pass this test. If your practitioner is licensed to practice in California they are most likely quite proficient in Chinese herbal medicine.

The national board exams also have rigorous herbal requirements but not all states require acupuncturists to pass the herbal components of the exam. As a person who has passed both the California and national herbal exams I can attest to their rigorousness. Ask your practitioner whether they have passed a board exam in Chinese herbal medicine. If they have, they most likely are quite comfortable with herbal formulas, unless they choose not to practice herbal medicine.

For those of us who love to practice Chinese herbal medicine, we love finding herbal solutions to health problems. I think of myself as an "herb geek". I feel especially happy when a patient comes back excited by the excellent results they've had.

Traditional Chinese Herbal medicine is incredibly effective solution for many illnesses. From the common cold to hepatitis C to depression and beyond. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has had clinical trials of several thousand years and over a billion people have benefited from its excellent solutions. This is a proven, ancient medicine that is still as relevant today and it ever was.

The common cold is a simple example of the power of Chinese herbal medicine to kill viruses and bacteria in a way that Western medicine just doesn't. When you go to a traditional Chinese herbal medicine practitioner he/she will ask you some questions, look at your tongue, feel your pulses and determine which of a series of patterns your symptoms match. Once your diagnosis has been established, your practitioner can choose from a variety of herbal formulas to find the very best one for you. Because the diagnosis is so precise to your unique situation the herbal formula can be customized to best suit you. This is best done when your practitioner develops a custom formula for you using single herbs which you can decoct (cook) into a tea or soup. Most Americans prefer herbal formulas in pill form for their convenience, even though a pill will be a bit less custom than a tea where the practitioner can adjust the dosage of each ingredient.

Before I went to Acupuncture school myself I had only had experience with herbal formulas in pill form. These had worked very well for me both in preventing illness and in resolving infections. When I was in school the Chinese teachers often prescribed teas for us which they customized. These were even more powerful. I remember having bronchitis for 4 weeks when one of my teachers made me a tea so powerful that in 2 days I felt significantly better.

I've had similar experiences with herbal formulas I've prescribed for my patients. I've seen my patients be on the mend and back in action within 24 to 48 hours after being very sick with a bad cold or more serious infection for example. I've also seen very dramatic changes in my women clients who've had severe pain from menstrual cramps or endometriosis where a Chinese herbal formula completely got rid of pain. In addition to killing infections or eliminating pain Traditional Chinese herbal medicine is really effective at building up what's deficient in your body whether it's tonifying your immune system to help you fight off disease preventitively, or building up a very depleted system as in the case of a person dealing with chemotherapy or radiation, or a chronic illness (e.g. cancer, AIDS, HIV, hepatitis).

If you've never tried Traditional Chinese herbal medicine but are curious about it, find a practitioner you feel comfortable working with and ask questions. Many of us speak English very well and are happy to answer your questions. In California the herbs we sell have to meet very high quality standards. I tend to purchase the herbal formulas I sell from California companies I trust because I know the quality will be excellent.

These are horrible medicine. Chinese doctor said she will cure my thyroid forever. She gave me all herbs that regulates kidneys, spleen and liver etc which i came to know later after research, not a single one was for thyroid. Anyways, just after 10 days of taking those herbs, my periods disappear. i went to doctor and she looked into my pulse and said there are 60-70% chances that I am pregnant. My pregnancy blood test came out negative. In all my visits i keep telling her that i am using IUD. On my last visit she asked me "what is IUD"? i wasted my time and money and now i am going to my ob-gyn to fix my blood and harmonal chemistry that she has ruined. I will not recommend these stupid herbs to anyone as there is no research to support them. And YES they have side-effects. I am regretting i gave it a try:(

After a few week of treatment for my acne I got really sick, It was like the herbs that I drank trigged something in my body, Iv'e never had eczema, herpes or hives before in my life, and suddenly it all came at once including a really bad case of even worse acne than I had before, I had to spend to days in the hospital because of an infection due to my condition of herpes. After spending about 1261.80us dollars i got about 40 dollars back and never heard from them again. Now i struggle with really bad eczema in my face, and it comes back every three weeks plus I got my acne offcourse. So I would say that chinese medecine ruined my face totally. I was a quite good looking 25year old with some acne (not much) now im a 27 and look like crap. But hey, apparently it works for some people, my mother went to the same place and got treated for her menopause problems and on that recomendation I went to see them, I should't have...