Herbs

The Chinese herbal therapy is based on more than thousand years of experience. Over time, about 5,000 substances (vegetable, animal and mineral) got incorporated in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In everyday life, however, only about 500 of them are used. In our centers no substances from animals are used. In China, the use of drugs accounts for two-thirds of the treatments; in the western world the content is less considerably.

Medicinal herbs are characterized by three features:

• Thermal (hot, warm, neutral, cool, cold)
• Tastes (sweet, spicy, salty, sour, bitter)
• Site of action (functional circuit)

An essential aspect of treatment with medicinal herbs is their pretreatment. By purifying, crushing, soaking or roasting, the effect of formulation changes. The medicinal herbs are always prescribed in combination. Only the interaction of the individual herbs in a recipe results in the treatment effect.

The Treatment with Medical Herbs

The Formulation of Chinese medicinal herbs is an art and takes a lot of experience. For patients classic recipes are selected and customized after diagnosis. The herbal formulas are usually taken as a tea distributed throughout the day. The taste of the herbs is sometimes a bit strange for persons not familiar with chinese herbs. How long the treatment lasts depends on the disease and its progress. In Switzerland, people use herbs of high quality and they are subject to strict controls.

A medicinal herb treatment is often combined with acupuncture.