Reed Acupuncture Balanced Medicine

Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is another modality of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is often integral to successful treatment. Like acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine stimulates the body’s own restorative processes. Chinese herbs are all natural and derived from organic substances found in plants, barks, roots, flowers, and even minerals and animal products. They have long been used in China to successfully treat disease and ailments and their efficacy is well documented there.

Single herbs are rarely used in Chinese medicine, but instead are carefully blended into balanced formulas, some of which are thousands of years old. Personalized herbal formulas can also be created that are specific to a person’s constitution and ailment. Chinese herbs are very safe and rarely cause negative or harmful side effects when prescribed by a well-trained Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner.

Traditionally when a patient was prescribed an herbal formula they were given a bag of sticks, leaves, roots and barks and then given instructions to soak, cook and strain the herbs to produce a highly concentrated decoction.  This decoction would be ingested over the next 3-5 days.  Fortunately, today there are more options for modern patients.  In Dr. Reed’s practice, herbs can be prescribed in a few different ways to suit the individual. Dr. Reed has a granule pharmacy including single herbs and formulas which she can customize for the individual.  Granules are made by the same process described above and are "cooked" down into a highly concentrated substance that is then dried to create granules.  This enables Chinese medicine practitioners to customize individual formulas without having to send a patient home to spend two hours cooking their formula.  For those who find the granule teas difficult to drink tablets or capsules can be given, but they may take a longer time to produce the same results as they are not specifically customized for the individual. Dr. Reed also carries a variety of topical ointments, linaments, and salves for external issues and she also carries Standard Process whole food nutritional supplements.

Reed Acupuncture

Kirsti Reed, DOM, LLC
Doctor of Oriental Medicine