CHINESE MEDICINE

Chinese medicine has been around for a very, very long time. The first evidence of the type of medicine that led to the Chinese Medicine in use today dates back to about 6,000 BC, which was during the neolithic (new stone age) period. However, much of what we know about Chinese medicine comes from a book called the Huangdi Neijing (HDNJ), or Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic. There’s some controversy about when it was written, but most scholars agree that it was about 2,000 years ago, sometime between the second and first century BCE. The HDNJ is a massive encyclopedic text of Chinese medicine. You can think of it as their version of the Merck Manual.

The HDNJ had several sections. One was on anatomy. They listed the average weight, volume and measurements for all of the internal organs. They named the organs and described their functions. (In fact, they knew that the heart is the organ that pumps blood through the body more than 2,000 years ago. This wasn’t discovered in western medicine until the early 16th century.) They knew which vessels flowed away from the heart, which vessels flowed toward the heart, and which vessels supplied which organs.

The HDNJ also had detailed sections on pathology. They described how diseases develop and how to treat those diseases with acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage and dietary and lifestyle changes. In short, the Chinese were practicing truly preventative medicine 2,500 years before the term was even coined. (excerpts from Chris Kessler)

herbal medicine

In the course of your treatment Chinese herbal remedies may be prescribed. They may be dispensed in pills, capsules, granule powders, or sublingual tinctures. Most herbal formulas can treat a wide variety of symptoms while stimulating the body's natural healing process.

Acupuncturists are the only licensed health care professionals in California who are trained and tested for competency in prescribing herbal formulas. Chinese herbal medicine has been practiced safely and effectively for centuries and should be prescribed by a professional that thoroughly understands the benefits and risks.