Herbal medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine have been around for over 3,000 years and has pre-dated even before the practice of acupuncture in China. Its components consists mainly of vegetable sources including leaves, flowers, twigs, stems, roots, tubers, rhizomes, and bark.  There are also animal and mineral products used on occasion as necessary.  Most of the herbs used (about 80-85%) come from China with the remaining percentage having been integrated from outside China.  Although these herbs come from a different country, they have been proven to work for people in the United States and all over the world.  Herbal products come in different forms – raw, granules, pills, tablets, tea.

While Western medicine typically uses one or a few herbs to treat symptoms, a Chinese Herbal prescription can contain 6-18 herbs, depending on the patient's treatment diagnosis.  Chinese diagnosis includes not only of disease diagnosis, identifying the symptoms, but also a pattern diagnosis, identifying a person's pattern that is causing weakness and disease in them.  The variety of herbs is specially selected to deal with the person's immediate as well as long term problems.  They have hardly any side effects, and if a patient does experience any unpleasant side effects the practitioner can adjust the amounts of herb in their mixture until there are no side effects.

It is important to note that herbal formulas can be mildly toxic if created or consumed improperly without proper understanding. The complexity of the herb’s functionality and its potential toxicity has resulted in government regulation such that only board-certified herbal medicine practitioners can prescribe the herbs. Dr. Nguyen is a board-certified and experienced in prescribing herbal medicines while guaranteeing a safe and effective treatment.