Chinese Herbs

The doctor usually concocts a remedy from one or two main ingredients appropriate for the illness. Then he/she adds other ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient's yin and yang condition to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main ingredients. Unlike western medication, the balance and interaction of al the ingredients are more important than the effect of individual ingredients. A key to success, moreover, is the treatment of each patient as an individual.

How to Treat with Herbs
Medicinal herbs must be gathered at the right time of the year, when they have the best therapeutic and medicinal value. In most cases, herbs and other medicinal materials are processed before they are used as ingredients of decorations. Pots of the right kind-usually pottery-are used to prepare decorations with, and the different ingredients are put into the pot for boiling n adhering to the order given by the doctor. In addition, special attention must be paid to the right duration and degree of heating as prescribed by the doctor. Prescription is, without doubt, the most significant thing. Different prescriptions are written for different diseases and even for the same disease, prescriptions may vary from patient to patient according to the specific conditions of each. Prescriptions by famous doctors of all ages are inevitably compiled into books to be passed on from generation to generation as textbooks and guidebooks for students of traditional Chinese medicine.