Last year, I completed my specialisation in Chinese Medicine; besides being an acupuncturist, I am now also a herbalist. I find that to understand the cause of the complaint, I am thinking and diagnosing more and more like a herbalist. Because I have better understanding about what is going on, I make different choices on how to resolve the complaint. Much more often I prescribe Chinese Herbs for this reason.
There are many herbal formulas. We call these patent formulas. Think of it as a kind of basic recipe. But no two people are the same and everyone has their own constitution. Every complaint is therefore different. A herbalist composes a personal recipe suited to your complaint and will not give you a standard jar of herbs with a patent formula.
In Western medicine, patients are overly given generic medication, often prescribed according protocol. Examples are:
- too often and too much anti-biotics for chronic cystitis,
- anti-depressants are too quickly prescribed for mental complaints,
- or corticosteroids as a final remedy for pain.
These heavy drugs are not always helpful. Western-trained doctors mainly treat the manifestation. The deeper cause of the syndrome is not always understood. Yet true healing can only take place if one can treat the cause of the complaint.
To understand what’s going on, I do a complete anamnesis. Often people think that complaints in other parts of the body are not important. But your whole constitution must be seen. I treat a pattern and every symptom is important. If the diagnosis is correct, I can treat difficult complaints.
In the last few months I have treated patients with Chinese medicine who could not find help the usual way.
A few examples:
- Pre-menstrual migraines,
- Chronic dryness in the body,
- Obstipation complaints,
- Difficulty and painful miction at night,
- Weekly headaches,
- Treatment of hip pain due to osteoarthritis,
- Chronic shoulder and neck pain,
- A persistent feverish feeling after corona infection,
- High respiration combined with anxiety,
- Mental agitation due to heat congestion,
- Menstrual and menopausal problems,
- Chronic cystitis,
- Vaginal discharge after sexual intercourse.
I cannot treat all complaints and often refer to a GP or specialist for tests and scans. But with proper diagnosis, difficult or misunderstood complaints can be treated with Chinese herbs.
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