Learn the powers behind single Chinese Herb Essential Oils and how you can use them on your own.
Welcome to our new Chinese Herb Essential Oils Series.
You may be familiar with Chinese Herbal formulas already after working with a licensed Herbalist or Acupuncturist. Formulas are typically made up of 2-8 Chinese herbs and are available in different forms: pills, powders, or raw herbs that you cook into a decoction and drink. These formulas are ingested by mouth for a prescribed amount of time and are adjusted depending on the progress that's made.
Essential oils are yet another way we can harness the power of plants and use herbal medicine with a different route.... topical use! Through intricate distillation processes, a highly concentrated and potent form of the herb's healing compounds are extracted. In Chinese Medicine, we view the essential oils of Chinese herbs as the pure "essence" of the plant which resonates with our own body's "essence", laying the groundwork for deep healing to occur on both physical and energetic levels.
What's most exciting to us about Chinese Herb Essential Oils is their ease of use and strong potency. The use of herbs topically speeds up the rate of absorption (our skin is great at that!) and bypasses the digestive system where some of the healing properties of our herbs may be lost if our digestive system is weak. When using essential oils on the body at certain acupoints, we are able to combine thousands of years of knowledge in both herbal medicine PLUS acupuncture during your treatment!
What will I learn in this series?
Each post will feature one Chinese herb that we available in essential oil form. We will go over the different properties, healing actions, and common uses of each herb, plus any relevant acupuncture points or channels that may share similar therapeutic effects as suggestions for where to use the oil topically.
We will include relevant studies and research that we find as this information becomes more common and available to us. Finally, Chinese Medicine is starting to get the attention it deserves in the research world!
Lastly, we will have some Chinese Herb Essential Oils for sale in the clinic, diluted to appropriate concentrations for at-home use, so that you can continue the progress we make during your appointments with daily application of herbs.
Learn more from your acupuncturist at Hidden Root Acupuncture!
*The statements in this series of posts have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant or nursing or using pharmaceutical medications, please consult your doctor before using essential oils.