Herbal Medicine

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In ancient China, herbs were regularly added to the food, and they were used as food.  People knew the properties of the edibles around them and how to heal common ailments.  The herbs that we prescribe today still follow these traditional principles. 

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Trying to explain how herbs work is both very simple and very difficult.  It is simple in that the herbs trigger the body to behave in a more desirable way.  The mechanisms of how they do this are more complicated, mostly because herbs are categorized in many different ways simultaneously. When individual herbs are put together into formulas they have synergistic effect on each other which can empower, focus, or slightly modify the effect of an individual herb.  A metaphor given to be to describe formulas is to look at each formula like a song.  Each note in that song is a different herb.  Together the combined herbs have a certain effect on the body, much as each song evokes a different response in the listener.

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​Herbs and formulas are prescribed on an individual basis according to a grouping of symptoms.  For example, if two people come in with insomnia and one person also has hot flashes and dry skin, while the other person also has anger, headache and dizziness, different formulas are prescribed to treat each case as the insomnia is due to different root causes.

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I often use herbs in conjunction with acupuncture to treat a wide variety of acute or chronic internal medicine conditions including: fertility, period problems, menopause symptoms, migraines, digestive issues, sleep disturbances, low energy, stress, and depression and anxiety, just to name a few.  If you're still wondering if Chinese Medicine can help you, contact me!

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