Why Use Chinese Herbs?
Chinese herbs can be used for many medical problems, such as:
-Headaches, body pain such as low back pain, shoulder pain, sciatica, neck and jaw pain, and many other acute pain and chronic pain issues (including pain due to autoimmune illness)
-Infections ranging from boils and acne, and yeast infections to infectious disease such as cold and flu and earaches
-Seasonal allergies and strengthening the immune system and the body’s resistance to disease
-Gastro-intestinal illness such as low appetite, diarrhea, constipation, IBS, Crohn’s disease, stomach ulcer
-Gynecological issues including dysmenorrhea (painful periods), amenorrhea (lack of periods), menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, infertility, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), PMS and more
-Low energy, anxiety, emotional lability and depression
Chinese herbs are a very healthy choice for many health issues, as they harmonize the systems of your body naturally, they are gentle and are something you can implement daily. Chinese herbs can be used in conjunction with acupuncture for a most comprehensive approach to health concerns, or they can be used on their own.
You are designed uniquely. Your unique design, which can also be referred to as your “constitution”, comes into play when customizing an herbal formula for you, whereas Western medicine is a “one size fits all” approach. This is the amazing feature of Chinese herbal medicine, as it provides effective and continuous support for your health and wellness, adjusting as necessary to do so.
How Do Chinese Herbs Work?
Herbs are innately intelligent. They differ from Western medicines in that they have a blend of components that regulate the body systems by building weaknesses, taking away what is excessive and finding optimal strategies to balance and harmonize. In other words, Chinese herbs target the issue at hand in a variety of ways. This intelligence allows flexibility in adjusting to continuous shifts happening within your physiology daily, and identifying just what is necessary to do so. This differs from Western drugs because drugs are designed to target specific actions of cells and coerce them to specific actions, no matter if this is what is needed or not.
The creation of Chinese herbal formulas utilizes ancient knowledge that has been gathered over at least 2,000 years. Therefore, “Classic Herbal Formulas” are ones that have stood the test of time. These Classic Herbal Formulas can be altered accordingly to the unique profile of you, when using granular (powdered) herbs. Patent herbs are in pill or tablet form. These cannot be customized, but are extremely effective, and for some patients, a much easier way to take herbs. (We have both options at our in- house dispensary.)
Herbs, in general, have a short “half-life” compared to Western medicine drugs. Half-life is defined as the length of time required for the concentration of a substance to decrease to half amount of its starting dose in the body. This means that for optimal results, herbs are taken several times per day, whereas typically a drug stays in the body for a longer period and may need to be dosed less frequently.