Herbal Consultation
The study of Chinese herbal medicine has evolved over centuries and exists in the modern world as a powerful tool to treat and prevent illness. Plants have been used medicinally for thousands of years. Early physicians in ancient China developed a sophisticated understanding of how to use herbs as effective medicine through careful observation and repeated tasting and testing.
What To Expect During Your Session
Herbal Consultations begin with a discussion of medical history and health goals. Based on our conversation, pulse and tongue assessment (important diagnostic tools in Chinese medicine), we prescribe and package a personalized herbal formula to address your unique health concerns. We also provide simple cooking instructions for your herbs and answer any questions about the cooking process. Follow-up Herbal Consultations include a discussion to quantify symptom improvements as well as time for re-prescribing or modifying and packaging your herbal formula.
Why We Use Raw Herbs at Point Acupuncture
We have an authentic Chinese herbal pharmacy stocked with raw herbs. Raw herbs are the purest form of Chinese herbal medicine—dried, cut, and ready for use without refinement. Using this method delivers the strongest therapeutic effects. It allows us to customize and modify a formula to suit your exact needs, as well as modify the formula as symptoms and illness patterns shift and improve.
The raw herbs we source are organic and lab-tested for heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants. Rest assured, Point Acupuncture stocks top-quality medicinals. Our herbs come from Kamwo, Spring Wind Herbs, and Nuherbs.
After assessing your health needs, we will write you a customized herbal prescription. The herbs are carefully measured and packaged for you to take home, where you’ll prepare them by cooking the ingredients into a concentrated tea. Taking a raw herbal formula requires some simple preparation. Patients are given instructions for either cooking their herbal formula on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or in an instant pot. Herbal tea is stored in the fridge and consumed as needed, usually 1 cup 2 times per day.
Drinking an herbal formula is a powerful way to support your health and maintain progress between treatments. Whether you need a formula to create significant change in the body or offer a gentle nudge to maintain optimal health & wellness, your Chinese herbal formula is tailored to treat both the symptoms and root cause.
*Please note that appointment cost does not include the price of herbs.
More About Chinese Herbal Medicine
In ancient China, medical philosophers began to understand herbs by their directionality, flavor, and temperature. When ingested, herbs (and foods) have a specific direction or vector in the body. The directionality of an herb is determined by its flavor and temperature. Each herb’s flavor (sweet, bitter, sour, acrid, salty, bland) and temperature (cold, cool, neutral, warm, hot) determine its therapeutic effect on the body. For example, spicy foods often have acrid and warm characteristics that cause mild sweating and flushing on the face, moving qi and blood up and outwards. In Chinese medicine, illness is also recognized as having directionality, and more often than not, illnesses present with more than one vector. In order to address this, Chinese herbal formulas are often multi-layered in their approach to treatment.
Your First Herbal Consultation
Your first Herbal Consultation begins with a thorough intake outlining health history and treatment goals. In addition to discussion, tongue and pulse assessments are used to gain further insight into your case. Based on your unique health concerns, we will write you a personalized herbal formula. Along with the packaged formula, you will receive cooking and dosage instructions.
Your Follow-Up Consultation
During follow-up visits, we discuss the changes you experience from taking herbs. How your body shifts and responds to your formula is important diagnostic information that informs treatment strategy moving forward. The dosage and length of time you take your formula will depend on your individual case. We will modify your formula as necessary based on discussion and symptom changes.