If you have tried Western medicine to treat a medical condition without success, you should consider herbal supplements. However, with the multiple choices available for traditional medicine, picking one that suits your medical needs can be challenging and confusing. At Art of Chinese Healing, we will ensure you obtain maximum benefits from our customized herbal supplements in Los Angeles, CA. We utilize Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal formulas to provide bespoke treatment that helps you regain your health. Our doctors will conduct a medical evaluation for an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right herbal supplements that address your medical needs.

Overview of TCM Herbs

The most widely used herbal formula in the world today is TCM. TCM herbs have been in use in China and many other Asian countries for more than a thousand years. In recent years, the United States and other Western countries have started adopting the therapy as an alternative to pharmaceutical medicine.

The primary therapeutic concept of TCM is herbal formulas, which help treat various medical conditions by interacting with multiple herbs to optimize efficiency and lower the side effects of herbal supplements.

Plants and plant parts have properties with therapeutic elements that promote the body’s health and enhance healing. The special elements are mixed to create a balanced herbal formula whose elements treat the main and secondary symptoms of a condition. These formulas can also treat the primary source of the symptoms. They work the same way as TCM acupuncture by treating the root of the illness and enabling the body to create the synergy necessary to develop its capacity to maintain optimal health.

The Argumentation Behind TCM Formulas

Pharmaceutical medicine views your body as a car with various auto parts, inputs, and outputs. The logic behind Western medicine is concrete, focusing on medical science. On the other hand, TCM bases argumentation or reasoning on Chi, or energy, euphony, and creating energy balance. The power that flows in your body is Qi or Chi, and your health depends on its harmonious balance.

TCM formulas are based on key energy principles. The first principle is Qi or Chi, whose logic is that vital or life energy flows all over the body. Qi is constantly moving and changing, keeping the body healthy. So, when you have disease symptoms, your physician can address them by restoring and maintaining the constant energy flow and change.

The second principle is Yin and Yang. These are contemporary or opposite energies defining Chi characteristics. Yin is feminine, negative, night, cold, and dark, while yang is linked with male, warm, light, warm, positive, and day. The reasoning behind the principle is that everything in life has an opposite, and striking a balance between the complementary extremes is necessary. For example, treating a health condition using pharmaceutical medicine can cure the underlying condition. Still, prolonged use of the medication could lead to other, more severe health complications.

A harmonious balance between Yin and Yang life energies promotes a healthier body. However, when the balance is lost, health complications, leading to diseases, can develop. Therefore, TCM herbal formulas aim to strike a balance and harmony in life energy flow and change.

Preparation of Herbal Formulas By TCM Acupuncturists

Preparing TCM herbal formulas entails using several substances for a harmonious balance, reflecting a holistic diagnosis.

Almost every illness has an herbal formula. However, your TCM expert will not use a general formula to address your condition. They will adjust the formula to ensure it meets the unique nature of your disease. There are several techniques for preparing TCM formulas. The factors your practitioner considers when changing or choosing a suitable herbal formula are:

  • Your primary health objective
  • Your TCM pattern or combination of symptoms
  • Your constitution
  • The condition of your digestive system
  • Your biomedical disease
  • Other medications or herbal supplements you are using
  • Past or scheduled treatments
  • Your dietary limitations, allergies, and diet sensitivities

Understanding your herbaL formula’s basis can be challenging without TCM knowledge. At Art of Chinese Healing, we will educate you on this traditional medicine and how your practitioner prepares the formula to meet your needs.

The first is the external use of plasters, salves, compresses, and liniments to address health issues. The most common external TCM formula is herbal therapy after nutritional treatment. TCM physicians or acupuncturists rely on these herbal supplements to address and prevent illnesses and enhance your overall well-being.

The second technique is preparing syrups, which doctors use to treat sore throats in children. The syrupy nature of the formula makes it easier for children to take than if it were in pill form.  

Your TCM professional can also prepare the herbal formula as a tablet. The Chinese patent formulas in pill form are the most prevalent outside China.

The herbal formula could also be prepared as a Chinese concoction or decoction. It is an ancient technique of formula preparation. The decoction preparation process is lengthy, but the concoction is famous for its taste and aroma. Only people in Asian countries prefer these concoctions because they have been there for a long time and are used to the notorious taste. However, people outside Asia do not prefer herbal concoctions because the flavor and aroma are too strong to withstand.

Lastly, your acupuncturist can prepare the formula as an herbal powder. Because these do not have a notorious taste like that of concoctions, you can easily mix them with hot or warm water to make herbal tea, which is convenient to drink.

TCM Therapeutic Techniques

TCM uses many treatment techniques, the most prevalent being acupuncture. Patient illnesses and circumstances vary, and herbs are tailored to address each patient's unique health needs. The TCM treatments you should know about are:

  • Acupuncture, which involves the gentle insertion of tiny needles into acupoints to form suctions, encourages the life energy running through the body.
  • By mediation, where you sit in silence to keep the body calm
  • Using Tiuna, a body workout that integrates massage and acupressure
  • Using foods believed to have cooling or warm effects to fight disease symptoms and promote healing
  • Application of finger pressure in acupoints and meridians, a technique known as acupressure
  • Cupping therapy entails placing heated cups on the skin to create suctions and improve energy flow
  • Burning dried leaves close to warm acupoints, a method known as Moxibustion
  • Use of herbal medicine in the form of powder, syrup, capsules, and tea extracted from plants
  • Exercises involving slow movements and focused on breathing

Expectations in the Initial Appointment With Your Practitioner

When you visit your doctor for TCM herbal formula, they will begin by conducting a comprehensive health assessment. Your TCM expert will perform a physical evaluation, check your pulse, assess the tongue, and review your medical records. This thorough examination aims to identify energy imbalance or blockage in the organs and prescribe the best therapy for the problem. You must know that if the practitioner determines an energy imbalance in your organs, it does not mean the organ has a physical medical condition.

For instance, your liver regulates energy flow in the body. When there is a blockage of energy flow in the organ, you could experience symptoms like irritability, depression, a bitter flavor or taste in the mouth, a weak pulse, and indigestion. However, because you are experiencing these symptoms, that does not mean you have a medical condition.

Another example is the kidney. When there is insufficient Yin energy in the kidney, you could experience symptoms like night sweats, tinnitus, and dry mouth. Nevertheless, these symptoms do not mean your organs have a physical disease.

Conditions that TCM Herbs Address

All hospital departments use TCM formulas. Herbal formulas can be effectively used as treatments in the following medical fields:

  • Oncology
  • Andrology
  • Neurology
  • Internal medicine
  • Orthopedic
  • Rheumatology
  • Gynecology
  • Pediatrics

In oncology, doctors prescribe herbal formulas to address fatigue, insomnia, indigestion, and dry mouth. Dental herbal rinses protect or treat mouth ulcers, dry mouth, and oral mucositis. Cancer patients also use TCM formulas to complement their treatment, improve immunity, and prevent disease recurrence.

Other oral conditions herbal formulas can effectively address are:

  • Hypertension
  • Fertility
  • Anxiety
  • Headaches
  • Digestive issues
  • Thyroid concerns
  • Menopause symptoms
  • Flu symptoms like sore throats, cough, and runny nose
  • Obesity
  • Back pain
  • Joint pain
  • Allergies
  • Skin conditions like acne, eczema, and hives
  • Parkinson’s disease

Western medicine diagnoses and treats the primary condition. However, with TCM, the goal is to identify energy imbalance or blockage and prescribe herbal therapies to restore harmonious balance and ensure adequate energy flow.

TCM Formulas Candidacy

The decision to utilize TCM is personal. Everyone has their unique reasons for using herbal formulas. You can use the herbs alone or to complement pharmaceutical medicines. You are eligible for the treatment for disease prevention, have unsuccessfully tried pharmaceutical medicine, treat adverse drug complications, or are experiencing various symptoms with no primary root cause. 

However, you should first speak to a TCM acupuncturist or certified herbalist for an examination to determine if you are a candidate for herbal formula and the most effective therapy based on your symptoms or medical needs.

Persons Inelegible for TCM Formulas

When you have a chronic medical condition like cancer, kidney, or liver disease, you cannot entirely avoid Western medicine and use herbal formulas. You just need to use the formulas to complement the pharmaceutical treatment you are on.

Almost everyone is eligible to use herbal formulas. Still, the herbs must be administered cautiously when treating minors, using herbs to complement other drugs, scheduled for an operation, breastfeeding, or if you are an older adult.

Herbs Comprising TCM Formulas

Your practitioner usually combines multiple herbs to create a TCM formula and does not utilize a single herb. The various herbs in the formula are picked based on your medical needs and symptoms. The formulas include pills, capsules, powder, concoctions, and teas. The herbs you are likely to find in your TCM formula are:

  • Turmeric
  • Ginger
  • Kelp
  • Nutmeg
  • Red yeast rice
  • Funnel
  • Goji berries
  • Licorice root
  • Gotu Kola
  • Astragalus
  • Ginseng
  • Fennel
  • Jujube dates
  • Dandelion

You could have used some of these ingredients in your kitchen to make food, soup, or tea. Nevertheless, these herbs are grown, processed, and packed in TCM to improve body function.

For instance, ginger is used in the kitchen to improve the flavor of food or tea. Nevertheless, ginger treats flu symptoms such as nausea and vomiting in TCM. Besides, recent scientific studies demonstrate that ginger has antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory effects.

Similarly, liquorice root is a plant root people commonly use to make candles and drinks. Nevertheless, the herb treats cough, sore throat, and chronic pain in TCM. When using the root for medical purposes, you should be cautious, as it could lead to adverse side effects if you suffer from hypertension or suffer from a specific illness. For the medication to be effective and to avoid adverse side effects, you should visit a TCM practitioner for a medical evaluation to determine if the herb will effectively help treat your symptoms with little or no side effects.

Fruits have many gastrointestinal benefits and improve your immune system. Therefore, people eat fruits daily to acquire these dietary benefits. However, specific fruits like jujube dates are excellent healers, and TCM practitioners usually incorporate them in their formulas.

Additional Ingredients in TCM Formulas

Herbal formulas use plant parts like leaves, roots, flowers, branches, and fruits. TCM practitioners combine these plant parts with mushrooms or herbs to create formulas. However, they do not just pick any plant as an ingredient. Their choice of plants and herbs is backed by scientific studies that support their use in TCM.

TCM formulas are combinations of multiple herbs. Therefore, preparing the formula can be difficult because finding the specific herbs to treat your symptoms is challenging. Besides, combining various herbs is more beneficial than a single one. So, when considering herbal formulas for your illness, talk to a profound TCM practitioner to evaluate your condition and prepare a tailored formula with a combination of herbal ingredients that address your individual health needs.

Expectations After Treatment Starts

Once your TCM practitioner has confirmed your candidacy and explained the ingredients in the herbal formulas, they will begin treatment. An experienced practitioner will first prescribe one or two weeks of prescription. After one week, they will check for allergic reactions to the herbs. However, the one-week prescription does not mean you will start noticing changes in your health within these few days. The prescription is a trial to identify any negative effects of the herbs.

When your expert determines that the formula suits you, they will change it every two weeks as the condition improves or symptoms change. Many factors are considered when deciding to adjust a formula, including minor changes in sleep pattern, digestion, mood, headaches, menstrual cycles, pain, and bowel movements. As your body heals, it shifts in minor ways, so your practitioner must adjust the formula to suit these changes.

After you regain health stability or move into the maintenance phase of treatment, you will only visit every three to six weeks to make a few changes in the formula. When you fully recover, you can slowly wean off the herbs. Regarding long-term use, you only take the formula on specific days of the week and take other days off. Besides, your practitioner will keep switching the herbs, as some can have adverse effects after prolonged use.

Herbal Formulas vs Herbs

Formulas offer a myriad of benefits over herbs. The preparation and mixing of multiple herbs provide many benefits you cannot derive from a single herb. Typically, formulas are created after years of scientific studies observing the interaction of the ingredients, effectiveness, and effects in treating certain conditions. When research shows that combining many ingredients is advantageous, professionals use the formula to treat various conditions and symptoms.

Before prescribing a formula, your TCM practitioner considers many factors, like lifestyle, diet, and symptom patterns. As the symptoms improve, the formula changes. You can treat one condition with several formulas because the practitioner adjusts the treatment with symptom changes. Like modern medicine, follow your practitioner's prescription instructions for maximum benefits. 

The Safety of TCM Formulas

It is safe to use herbal formulas, but only if a TCM practitioner has prescribed them. Unlike pharmaceutical medicine, which the FDA must first approve before use in the marker, TCM does not go through FDA approval. There are few studies on them, and a lack of regulations means they could be contaminated. Some formulas do not interact well with your medication and could make the condition worse or cause severe side effects. If you are in Los Angeles and are considering herbal formulas, contact Art of Chinese Healing to speak to our TCM practitioners to answer your questions regarding the practice.

Find the Right TCM Practitioner Near Me

Only a few scientific studies have corroborated the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine during disease and treating symptoms. However, TCM is still gaining popularity in the U.S. as it brings a new perspective into health. When considering herbal formulas, do not self-administer because they could lead to major complications. Instead, speak to an experienced TCM doctor. At Art of Chinese Healing, we will identify an energy imbalance or blockage, determine your eligibility for the herbs, and explain the pros and cons before starting treatment. Contact us at 310-405-1610 for tailored formulas in Los Angeles.