Herbal medicine consultation
This is a conversation first. The practitioner asks a long stretch of questions, looks at the tongue, takes the pulse, and may write a formula. You decide later whether to collect anything from the pharmacy.
- How long
- The talk is often 15–30 minutes. Collecting herbs, if you choose to, adds a queue of its own.
- What you wear
- Ordinary clothes. Nothing is uncovered unless they also do a hands-on treatment in the same visit.
- Marks
- The conversation leaves no marks. If they also needle or cup, those marks are the ones described on those pages.
- What it feels like
- A lot of questions that can feel personal — sleep, appetite, digestion, mood, cycle. The herbs themselves, if you collect them, have a strong taste and smell. You do not have to collect them on the day.
What happens
You describe what has been going on, including things that do not seem connected. The companion keeps the thread so a detail is not lost in the back-and-forth.
Tongue and pulse are common. You may be asked to sit with your wrist on a small pillow.
If they write a formula, you hear what it is for in their words, how it would be prepared, and the price before anyone walks you to a window.
Paying for herbs is a separate hospital charge. You can take the written names home and decide later. We will not tell you to take them.
We will not tell you what this will do for you. The practitioner speaks for themselves. We translate it, including when the answer is that they would rather not go ahead.
How a companion helps here
- The question list is long. An interpreter who stays with the whole conversation is the difference between a useful visit and a shrugged one.
- Pharmacy windows move quickly. You hear the cost and the collection steps in English before you join that queue.
- If a formula does not fit how you already take medicine at home, you can say so and ask them to think again — or to write nothing.
