Herbal Medicine

Chinese herbal medicine has been used in primary care treatment by the majority of the world's population since before recorded history and is still the most widely utilized medical system in the world today. In China, more than 3,200 herbs and 300 mineral and animal extracts are used in more than 400 different formulas. Herbal formulations may consist of 4 to 12 different ingredients, to be taken in the form of teas, powders, pills, tablets, tinctures, or syrups.

Chinese herbs are often prescribed in conjunction with acupuncture to strengthen the body, maintain and support the flow of Qi. The careful prescription of herbs used in conjunction with diet, exercise, and other complementary alternative medicine treatments restores the body's balance, strengthens the immune system, and helps to prevent disease. Herbal medicine can supplement our diet and fortify our constitution as well as prevent or remedy our ailments.

Flowing River Clinic uses only the highest quality herbal medicine manufacturers (organic herbs if available) made in the USA or imported from Asia. All herbal vendors are GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified and US FDA CGMP certified. All adhere to the legal Chinese Pharmacopoeia guidelines and subject all herbal inventories to stringent in-house and 3rd party laboratory testing to determine moisture content, dissolution, heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium) and microbial content.  Certificates of Analysis are available on all herbal medicines purchased. All vendors keep the heavy metal allowance below the USP required levels (The U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP) determines that safe heavy metal levels for drugs of botanical origin are: lead 10 parts–per–million (ppm), cadmium 3 ppm, arsenic 3 ppm, and mercury 3 ppm.)