Chinese Herbal Medicine

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Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine is a complete medical science based on physiological functionality. Our herbal extracts are medicinal grade and different from herbal extracts found at health food stores.

Herbal remedies may contain ingredients from animal, plant, or mineral sources. More commonly, the plant sources used are leaves, flowers, roots, and bark of plants. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine is and has always been, a progressive medicine. Herbs originally came from mainland China and over time have included new herbs originating from Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and the Americas. Progress marches onward with research and some of the old herbs have been scientifically re-evaluated, with clinically proven new uses. ​ 

Centuries of research, development, and application of Chinese herbal medicine has produced a medical system that is an effective and low risk of side effects as compared to Western pharmaceutical medicines.

Chinese Herbal Medicine is one of the most sophisticated forms of natural medicine in the world. It was developed over 2,500 years ago and consists of over five thousand substances from plants, animals and mineral sources. The earliest known medical book of scrolls titled "The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic" was written about 300 B.C. as a complete medical science based on physiological functionality and covered pulse diagnosis and herbal medicinal treatments for health disorders. Over the ages, Famous Chinese Doctors expanded, improved, and refined herbal knowledge providing a host of comprehensive medical books on Chinese Medicine. Today extensive scientific research continues in the knowledge of herbs. 

Western herbal strategy treats single symptoms as defined by Western medicine, utilizing one or two herbs. In contrast, Chinese herbal formulas may contain over twenty herbs that are tailored to work synergistically into a balanced formula based upon a patient’s diagnosis derived by using the theories of Chinese medicine as well as pulse diagnosis. 

Chinese herbology classifies each herb by its specific properties - temperature, taste, direction, function and action and organ channels that it affects. These categories allow the Chinese herbalist the knowledge and flexibility to modify or create new formulas to treat multiple symptoms and correct the underlying imbalances.

In the Chinese tradition, single herbs are combined together into a formula. This formula approach allows the practitioner to administer a smaller amount of each individual herb, thereby reducing or eliminating side effects. Also, by combining different herbs into a formula, the herbalist can custom design the formula following a treatment strategy for the individual patient. 

At Pleasant Hill Community Acupuncture, custom herbal formulas are dispensed in granular form. The granules look like instant tea, and the dose dissolved in warm water as a tea.

It is important that Chinese herbs are purchased from a trusted source. At Pleasant Hill Acupuncture, herbal manufacturers are closely scrutinized and uses only those that guarantee their products and produced in factories that safeguard against contamination with rigorous, repeated testing to deliver the safest, highest quality products. These products meet or exceed current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO) and provide safeguard with rigorous, repeated testing. Please ask if you have additional question