Professor Wang Mianzhi is proficient in the decoction of traditional Chinese medicine. Here are some of his suggestions on the decoction of herbal medicine that friends who take herbal medicine need to pay attention to.
1. Decoction Method
(1) The utensils for decocting herbal medicine should not be made of iron or steel (aluminum) pots. It is best to use sand pots or enamel pots. In addition, the pot should have a lid.
(2) It is best to use rainwater or ground water for decoction, and underground water or tap water can also be used. If using tap water, pay attention to adding more time to disinfect.
(3) In terms of heating, modern coal stoves, gas stoves, and electric stoves are better than the traditional mulberry and reed fires, as they can control the temperature and time.
(4) Generally speaking, the decoction time for heat-clearing medicine, purgative medicine, and exterior-releasing medicine should be short, while the decoction time for other medicine can be longer, especially for nourishing medicine, which should be longer.
(5) Before decoction, the medicine must be soaked for a long time. Generally, soak in water for about an hour, and for some medicines like Poria cocos and chicken blood vine, the soaking time should be longer. After soaking, then start decoction.
(6) Use high heat at the beginning of decoction, and switch to low heat after boiling. If it becomes turbid during decoction, it must be discarded and should not be boiled again with water, as it may cause abdominal cramps.
(7) Generally, the medicine should be decocted twice. For some large dosage medicines with a lot of juice, such as Codonopsis pilosula, Astragalus membranaceus, Angelica sinensis, cooked Rehmannia glutinosa, wolfberry, Ophiopogon japonicus, and Ophiopogon japonicus, they can be decocted three times.
(8) Some medicines need to be decocted first. For those crushed by a machine, they can be decocted for 10 minutes, while those crushed manually should be decocted for at least one hour. The medicine that needs to be decocted first should be cooled before adding other medicines, and it should be soaked thoroughly before decoction.
(9) Some medicines need to be added later, such as Fructus Amomi and Fructus Cardamomi. After decoction, put them in, stir with chopsticks, cover, and let them simmer without further boiling, otherwise the fragrance will be lost.
(10) Some medicines need to be decocted in a bag, one is to prevent hairy substances from irritating the throat, such as Flos Inulae; the other is to prevent sticky substances from sticking to the pot, such as Semen Cuscutae and Semen Plantaginis.
(11) It is more difficult for children to take medicine. You can reduce the dosage, soak the medicine with boiling water when boiling, but it should be sealed. After cooling, simmer it once on the fire, so that one decoction can be taken twice, reducing the amount of the medicine solution by half.
2. Administration of Medicine
(1) The usual dosage of traditional Chinese medicine decoctions is to decoct the medicine twice, which is a daily dosage. If the condition is severe, the dosage can be appropriately increased.
(2) The medicine should generally be taken warm and should not be left hot in the pot. After decoction, it should be poured out, and when taking the medicine, it can be reheated with water to avoid stimulating the stomach with cold medicine.
(3) When taking the medicine, it should be taken on an empty stomach, usually 1-2 hours after a meal is considered an empty stomach, not necessarily in the morning.
(4) Some medicines need to be taken in a timely manner, especially after crushing, such as almonds, peach kernels, and niubangzi. Heating or storing them for too long may cause oil leakage and vomiting after consumption.
(5) When the patient is unconscious or has a high fever, sheep horns can be used. Cut off the tip of the horn, put it in the mouth, and slowly pour it in.
(6) For tonic medicine or some herbal medicines for treating internal medicine miscellaneous diseases that are not caused by external pathogens, the time for taking the medicine can be flexible.
(7) For medicines that expel pathogenic factors, such as diaphoretic medicine, heat-clearing medicine, and purgative medicine, the decoction time should not be too long. The first decoction and the second decoction are usually separated by three to four hours.
(8) For diseases caused by external pathogens, such as releasing exterior medicine, the best time to take the medicine is at midnight.
(9) Chronic diseases and internal medicine miscellaneous diseases often require long-term medication, which does not affect work. They can be taken on an empty stomach in the morning as usual.
(10) Deworming medicines are best taken just before administration.
(11) For purgative medicine, except for external pathogenic diseases and heat accumulation, it is best to take on an empty stomach.
(12) When using Chinese medicine to treat malaria, it must be taken 1-2 hours before the onset of the disease. If taken too late, taking the medicine will worsen the symptoms. In addition, malaria has a regular pattern of attacks. If the attack is advanced, it means that the disease is easier to cure, and if it is delayed, it means that the disease has worsened. When calculating the time, this time must be taken into account.
(13) For treating cold diseases with hot medicine, let the decoction cool down a bit to prevent too much heat in the body after taking the medicine, which may cause vomiting. If vomiting occurs, you can wipe the tongue with fresh ginger, and for severe cases, you can add three to five drops of ginger juice, but not more.
