Chinese Herbal medicine is the main modality or treatment method within Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM. TCM is the World's oldest, continually practised, professional medicine. Its written history stretches back not less than 2,500 years and its practice is undoubtedly much older than that. Although acupuncture was the first Chinese modality to gain wide acceptance in the West, Chinese herbal medicine is quickly establishing itself as one of the most popular and effective alternative therapies in the Western world.

Chinese herbal medicine, when practised as part of TCM, is based on an individualized pattern diagnosis as well as a disease diagnosis. This means the TCM patient receives a custom written herbal prescription designed to treat both the symptom or disease and also their individual pattern. Such a TCM pattern is made up of a person's signs and symptoms as well as their emotional temperament and bodily constitution.
Western herbalism primarily uses single herbs or groups of herbs which treat the same symptom or disease. A TCM formula may include 6-18 different kinds of herbs. It is carefully crafted to include herbs addressing a person's main symptoms as well as the their entire pattern.

TCM practitioners use ingredients from all three kingdoms, i.e., vegetable, animal, and mineral. However, in my practice, I only use ingredients from vegetable sources. Leaves, flowers, twigs, stems, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and barks are some of the vegetable parts used.

How are Chinese herbs taken?
The most common method of taking Chinese herbal medicine is as a decoction. This means that the herbs are cooked at a low boil for an hour or more and then strained and drunk 2-3 times per day. However, there are also herbal pills, tinctures, and powdered extracts for those who do not have the time or taste for drinking traditional decoction.
Pills and powders are good for prolonged administration in the case of chronic disease where formulas do not have to be very potent or changed on a frequent basis. Pills and powders are also commonly used to consolidate therapeutic results after a successful course of therapy with decoctions.

Most of the medicines in the Chinese materia medica have a very low toxicity compared to even common, over the counter Western drugs. When they are prescribed according to a correct TCM pattern diagnosis, they should have virtually no side effects besides beneficial healing results.
In acute conditions, results can be expected in a matter of minutes. In chronic conditions, some results should be seen within two weeks. Chronic conditions may require taking Chinese herbal medicine for a long time, nonetheless, signs that the medicine is working should be apparent to patient and practitioner alike almost from the very start.