What exactly is Oriental Medicine and Chinese herbs?
Oriental Medicine consists of two main branches, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. It also includes certain types of body work and breathing exercises, such as Qi Gong. “Chinese” herbs are different from “western” herbs in that they are prescribed together in formulas and customized for each individual. For example, not all people will take the same herbs for a cough. It depends on the root cause of the cough, the person’s constitution and other patterns involved. Chinese “herbs” include not only leaves, branches and flowers, but also roots, tree bark, fruit skin, mushrooms, shells and animal products such as bones. Please let your herbalist know if you are a vegetarian and have concerns about animal products in your herbal remedies.
