I wanted to give a small description of Chinese herbal medicine, our thoughts about it, and how it may or may not fit into your treatment plan.
There are hundreds of Chinese herbs, and most of these plants are not grown in Europe or the United States. If you go into any health food store, you’ll find dozens of familiar herbs, and these are mostly European herbs, like echinacea, feverfew, valerian. If you’re like me, you’ve tried many or all of them in teas or pills. This is what I’ll differentiate as “Western herbalism” and you could look into sources like the amazing Rosemary Gladstar or Richard Schultze to explore those more.
The catalog of Chinese medicinal herbs, or pharmacopia, is expansive and diverse. Because China is an enormous country, plants grow in a wide variety of climates and conditions, and each of these imparts certain medicinal qualities to them. So, the first point I’d make is Chinese herbs are interesting because they are virtually unknown since they do not grow here, and likely nothing you’d have heard about or tried in the past unless you’ve been to an acupuncturist practicing herbalism.
The history of Chinese herbalism is interesting too, and worthy of a long blog all on it’s own. As the legend goes, a genius in antiquity named “Shennong” is credited with, firstly trying out hundreds of plants by sampling them himself and secondly, cataloging their effects and characteristics in the first herbal textbook. It seems unlikely to me that one individual was so motivated or well-traveled to create such a book, but I love the story of it anyhow. Even today, advanced practitioners of Chinese herbalism gather together at a yearly “Shen Nong” Conference. Sarah has been associated with this group of herbal visionaries under the leadership of renowned teacher Sharon Weizenbaum, through the White Pine Circle, for many years.
Finally, Chinese herbs have been very carefully analyzed using both field experience and clinical efficacy, for centuries or more. As the study of herbs evolved, it was discovered that certain herbs pair very well together, and when you combine a number of them together, they work most effectively rather than if you just take one singly. This realization was the inception of Chinese herbal formulas, which are time tested herbal combinations of 2-15, or more, Chinese herbs, all carefully and intentionally put together in specific combinations and amounts.
Here is one famous and useful example of an herbal pair. Bai Shao is a nourishing plant, and is said to soften and nourish the liver and the blood the liver contains. Chai hu is, amoung other things, an herbs that help move or dredge qi stuck in the liver. These two blend very well together, one softening the liver and making it easier for the chai hu to “clean out” (move, or dredge) the liver qi. This pair can be applied for certain kind of digestive upsets, irritability or stress, but also many other situations. It forms a building block of several very famous, larger herbal formulas such as si ni san or xiao yao san or chai hu shu can san. Sometimes the formula name tranlates into exactly what the formula does, such as in the last formula, which translated as “Chai Hu to Dredge the Liver”.
At Perfect Point Acupuncture, we have been in full time practice for ten years. From the beginning at our classes at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine in 2010, we have been translating herbal classics and using Chinese herbs. We have a large dispensary of Chinese herbs, and typically hand combine them into formulas that are appropriate for your condition. When you come to see us, if we believe that an herbal formula will help your condition, we will let you know.
The legendary Shen Nong, drawn here tasting and sampling Chinese herbs.