Presentation
When herbs are prescribed for individual patients the practitioner weighs
out a day’s dosage of each herb and combines them in a bag. The patient is
given a bag for each day that the herbal formula will be taken. The herbs
are then boiled in water by the patient at home. The boiling process takes
from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, and portions of the resulting decoction are
consumed several times during the day.
A Chinese herbal dispensary and dispensing area are shown in Figures
6.8 and 6.9.
Another modern way of delivering herbs is through granulated herbs,
which are highly concentrated powdered extracts. These powders are made
by first preparing the herbs as a traditional decoction, after which the
decoction is dehydrated to leave a powder residue. Practitioners can mix
these powders together for each patient into a custom formula. The powder
is then placed in hot water to recreate the decoction, which eliminates the
need to prepare the herbs at home, but still retains much of the original
decoction’s potency.
Example of a prescription
An example of the ingredients for a dried herb prescription is shown in
Figure 6.10.
Traditional Chinese medicine | 155Figure 6.8 Dispensing area in Chinese herbal medicine pharmacy.