New to Chinese Medicine? Start Here!

New to Chinese Medicine?

If You Have Questions, We're Here to Help!

What is Traditional Chinese Medicine and How Does it Work?

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a complete system of medicine that’s existed in its current form for at least 3000 years. When working with an experienced practitioner, TCM can address almost any health issue.

As practitoners, we look at your symptoms then use that information to identify patterns of imbalance. Even if your symptoms seem uncommon or unrelated to each other, thousands of years of observation and refinement have revealed the predictable ways these patterns manifest themselves.

We address those patterns with formulas—mixtures of herbs that are combined in specific ratios to create a change in the body’s internal environment. When the pattern is resolved, the symptoms associated with it disappear.

chinese herbal tea chrysanthemum and goji berries

How is TCM different than other types of herbal medicine?

In the west, herbalists tend to think in terms of single herbs that have broad actions. For example, turmeric for fighting inflammation, or milk thistle for general liver health. From there, one specific compound found in the herb is often identified as the “active consituent” and extracts of the plant are standardized for that compound (i.e. curcumin in turmeric, or silymarin in milk thistle).

TCM takes the opposite approach. Instead of using single herbs that have broad actions, we use combinations of herbs to create very specific effects in the body.

If someone walks into my pharmacy looking for something to help with inflammation, I start asking questions… Where in the body is the inflammation showing up? How long have you been noticing symptoms? Are you having any other symptoms along with the inflammation?

In the west we tend to attribute a wide array of symptoms to systemic inflammation, but in TCM we treat inflammation in many different ways depending on how it’s showing up in your body. Inflammation of the joints points to a different pattern than inflammation that’s causing brain fog, digestive issues, or skin irritation. All four problems may have an inflammatory component, but each of them would be treated completely differently in TCM.

Do I Need to See a Practitioner to Find the Right Formula?

Some patterns can only be diagnosed and treated by an experienced practitioner, but there are a lot of conditions that can be helped with formulas that are available without a prescription.

I usually tell people to think of Yong Sheng like an herbal Walgreens… We do fill custom herb prescriptions that are sent to us from TCM practitioners, but we also have a full range of products that are available over the counter.

For acute conditions you could treat with something off the shelf at a regular pharmacy (like colds and flus, allergies, digestive upset, pain, trouble sleeping, mild skin conditions, etc), we likely have an over the counter formula that will address your symptoms. Anything you’d need to see a doctor for (like conditions that are chronic or more serious in nature) will most likely require a visit to a TCM practitioner for a more precise diagnosis.