In Uckfield, East Sussex at TN22 5QL. Email francespearlman@gmail.com or message me on +44(0)7436032377 for clinic details and directions. For those unable to attend the clinic in-person, please contact me to arrange an online consultation via Zoom.
Some courses of herbal treatment can be quite short, i.e for acute conditions such as coughs or colds, however, typically for more chronic conditions a longer course of several months may be required to achieve the desired results. Often larger doses are given at the beginning of a treatment (for the first month or so) and then dosages can be reduced for maintenance purposes.
Chinese herbs have been used to treat disease for thousands of years and the clinical knowledge of their actions is well known and respected. However, their potent effectiveness also means that they need to be prescribed properly to avoid possible adverse reactions. When prescribed by a professionally trained herbalist side effects are very rare. As a member of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) I comply with a strict code of professional practice and only use the best quality herbal products that are manufactured to GMP (good manufacturing practice) standards. They are thoroughly tested for authenticity of species, purity of active ingredients, and against contamination from heavy metals and other toxins.
The herbal pharmacies I work with only issue Herb-Mark quality ingredients and are recommended by the RCHM and EHTPA. Herbal prescriptions include a complex assortment of different herbs and each individual will have different herbs/proportions. Due to this fact, special care is taken in selecting each herb to ensure there will be no complications with any pharmaceutical medications you may be taking and if necessary, that it will not cause risk to early pregnancy in menstruating women.
I generally prescribe concentrated herbal granules and powders which are produced in China and Taiwan for the global market. These products are used in Australia and the USA where there are strict quality control laws to ensure high quality and safety of herbal products. Concentrated granules avoid the need to boil up bags of raw herbs which is both time consuming can fill the house with the strong smell of cooking herbs! Granules are effectively freeze dried decoctions that can be reconstituted with hot water much like instant coffee. They provide much greater strength than prepared pills and capsules and are easy and convenient to take.
There are NO animal products used at all in any of my prescriptions, as they are banned in the UK. Herbal substitutes can be just as effective. The use of minerals is also prohibited in the UK, however, some of these substances can be clinically very useful and their use may be allowed in the future. In general the herbs used are flowers, stems, roots, barks, leaves and some non plant materials.
This is highly dependent on the type of formula prescribed and most people get used to the taste fairly quickly. On the whole though, they don’t taste great. However, the advantage of concentrated granules is that they can be mixed with a small amount of water, as opposed to drinking large quantities of herbal tea following the traditional method of decoction.
Herbal medicine has strong traditions in the both the West and the East, however, they do vary quite considerably in their approach to disease. Western herbalism treats conditions from mainly a biomedical viewpoint and the actions of the herbs can be viewed in similar terms to western conventional medicine. They are often taken in alcoholic tincture form or as a tea. Dosages tend to be low in comparison to Chinese Herbs. Herbalism is China has been practiced for over two thousand years and the therapeutic effects of the herbs is based on their taste and properties, although their biomedical action is increasingly the subject of research. They are generally taken in much higher dosage and usually in formulas containing typically 8-16 herbs. These formulas have been developed over time and through extensive clinical experience and are always prescribed to suit the individual rather than simply the condition being treated.
Herbal practitioners will always pay attention to any other medications you are taking, to ensure that there are no incompatibilities in the interactions with herbs you may be prescribed. Drug interactions are rare, however, as Chinese herbs exert strong pharmacological effects, they should always be prescribed by a properly trained and qualified practitioner. Often it is sufficient to separate herbal medicine from the administration of Western drugs, by at least two hours, to avoid any interactions.
Registered Practitioners with RCHM meet the high standards for training established by the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (EHTPA). RCHM practitioners must adhere to the RCHM Code of Ethics and Practice, ensuring they operate with integrity and professionalism. Additionally, RCHM Approved Suppliers are committed to providing a safe, ethical, and sustainable supply of herbal medicines, maintaining high-quality standards across the board.
