East Asian Medicine is a treasure trove of useful modalities and techniques for the treatment of illness, and one of the most powerful tools we have available is the targeted use of herbal medicine preparations. Chinese herbal medicine has been continuously practiced, theorized about, and documented for well over two thousand years, and this abundance of clinical documentation has resulted in an extremely precise, comprehensive system of medicine that is able to effectively treat an enormous variety of conditions. Chinese medicine is based around a rigorous diagnostic framework, and every symptom the patient presents with is taken into account, as well as objective signs that indicate the patient's constitution. Once we have a very clear diagnosis and treatment principle, we use multiple medicines in formulas that are very precisely balanced in order to treat the chief complaint, the pattern of symptoms, and the patient's overall constitution.
Chinese medicine may seem strange to us in the west at first glance. There are hundreds of herbs that come from a variety of different sources, and the formulas have foreign sounding names. Often, the way herbs are administered can give people pause because we aren't used to them. That said, some of the most profound results in treatment can be obtained with a correct medicine delivered at the right dosage. We have helped treat a wide range of chronic and acute internal conditions using herbs, and their effectiveness has been recognized by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Health. Chinese herbal medicine is being practiced in hospitals all over the country for conditions ranging from digestive disorders to Lyme disease, from prostatitis to post-chemotherapy induced nausea. We hope to demystify the experience here at the Tao Healing Arts Center of Ithaca-Trumansburg Acupuncture, and help you get better.. We would like to spend a moment answering some of the questions people have when we recommend Chinese herbal medicine.
Safety
For many, the safety and quality of the medicine is a concern. Several articles in the news as of late have shown an unfortunate trend to cut corners in the herbal supplement industry, and this is a valid concern in the unregulated world of dietary supplements. In our selection of medicines that we use, like everything else we practice here at the Tao Healing Arts Center, we have rooted all of our clinical protocols in the best practices of the profession. We are eager to demonstrate how safe and effective Chinese herbal medicine can be. This means that we have only selected herbal medicine that have met Australian Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. Australia has rigorous laws and standards regarding herbal medicine. These standards include demonstration of sterile production, batch lot identification, and proven safe ingredients. Our selection of Chinese Herbal Medicines meet the highest standards of safety and testing, and are the brands that we ourselves use, and give to our children when they are sick, because we are able to know precisely what is in them, where it came from, and that it was properly produced and handled. You can take your herbs with confidence, knowing that what you are putting into your body is not only natural, but also safe and evidence-based.
Routes of Administration
Our practice of herbs has evolved after years of clinical experience. While getting results is obviously the goal, your comfort as a patient is of equal importance. Many people who have tried Chinese herbal medicine have had a difficulties with formulas due to their rather unique smell and taste. At the Tao Healing Arts center, we have opted to utilize a combination of encapsulated granules, as well as high quality tablets to deliver medicines. We have chosen to emphasize capsules and tablets because they a completely eliminate any concerns about taste or smell, while still delivering the optimum effective dose of the herbal formula without having to take large number of smaller, less reliably extracted pills.
Efficacy
There are numerous studies demonstrating the efficacy of hundreds of different Chinese herbal medicine preparations. There are several western pharmaceuticals that have been culled from Chinese herbs, and there are many more that are in various stages of testing and FDA approval. When Chinese medicine is practiced within the diagnostic framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the results can be particularly dramatic for a variety of otherwise challenging to treat conditions. Based on our clinical experience and successes, we tend to select herbal formulas as the primary treatment for:
*Skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea. We are particularly effective in the treatment of acne both in pediatric and adult cases. Chinese herbal medicine can often trigger dramatic results and relief from dermatological conditions.
*Conditions of the inner ear, including benign positional vertigo, chronic ear infections.
*The treatment of tinnitus.
*Women's health, including mastitis, premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, polycystic ovary syndrome, and infertility.
*Men's health, including impotence, benign prostatic hypertrophy, and low testosterone levels.
*The treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Epstein Bar, Post Lyme Disease Syndrome, and shingles.
*Relatively immediate relief from seasonal allergies, as well as acute and chronic sinusitis and sinus headaches.
*Digestive and epigastric disorders, including Crohn's disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), hiatal hernia pain, and GERD.
*Perimenopausal hot flashes-- in fact, this is one of our most common conditions in the clinic because of its high success rate.
*Insomnia, and disorders of arousal (parasomnias) including night terrors, sleepwalking, and REM behavioral disorder.
*Anxiety, panic attacks, and stress.
There are many more conditions that Chinese herbal medicine can effectively treat; these are merely the ailments that we have regularly treated with consistent and replicable success on a frequent basis. Please call 607-387-4577 to book an initial consult for your condition!