Chinese Herbal Medications: the Diagnosis

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Chinese herbalist practitioners begin their diagnosis of a patient from the first moment they meet. Their goal is to come up with holistic herbal remedies that meet the patient’s overall needs. Diagnosis of a patient’s illness is made in four steps:

1. Observing: The patient’s skin tone, posture, condition of the nails, the color and appearance of the tongue, and the eyes….. All of these things tell the Chinese herbalist practitioners many things.

2. Questioning: The patient will be asked a lot of questions such as the quality of his appetite, the color and frequency of urine, the frequency and consistency of bowel movements, fever, thirst, headaches, dizziness, and pain. At the same time that the herbalist is asking questions he is doing the third step of his evaluation.

3. Listening: As he listens to the answers to his questions, the herbalist will also be noting the strength of the patient’s voice and the number of breaths he takes as he answers questions.

4. Examination: Many times the physical examination of a new herbalist patient will consist of the taking of his pulse. The pulse is not only taken in the wrist, it is also taken at other points like the ankle and the neck.

The Chinese herbalist practitioner is ready to prescribe the Chinese herbal medications to the patient after he has done these four steps. It may not look like there has been much of a physical examination done to those who are more familiar with the practice of physicians who practice Western medicine but the Chinese herbalist practitioner will have established the chi of the patient and his Yin and Yang balance.

His Chinese herbal medications will be accurate, as well as, effective. Sometimes he will prescribe acupuncture in addition to herbs to help correct the Yin and Yang balance and to make the herbal prescriptions more effective.