Why Herbal Medicine Is Made Differently for Each Person

"We have the same complaint — so why is my mother's medicine different from mine?"

I get this often. Same diagnosis, same place hurting, same clinic — and different medicine.

Today I want to talk about that. What matters in herbal medicine is not only what goes in, but who it goes to and how.

A medicine presses a switch

A medicine presses some switch in the body.

But whether that switch is the one this person needs right now, or one already on, that shouldn't be pressed further, differs from person to person. Weak digestion or strong, blood pressure high or low, sleeping badly or well — the same complaint can call for a different switch. (Why the same diagnosis is treated differently in different people)

So the same complaint gets different medicine. Not to be fussy about it — press a switch without looking and it may land well, or it may not.

The same herb has a direction

Take an herb whose direction is to warm and lift. For someone whose energy has sunk, that is exactly what is needed.

Give the same thing to someone already lifted — face flushing, sleep gone shallow — and it pushes once more in the direction they were already going. Stifled, hot, sleeping worse.

The same herb suiting one person and not another is not a matter of imagination. It is a question of whether that body needed that direction right now.

And that is the part you can only know by looking at the person. That is where my work sits.

First I decide what is needed now

Before I compose a prescription there is one thing I settle. Does this body need turning back, or holding steady?

When a disturbed state has to be turned back, the action must be definite. And what is definite brings a margin to watch, so I use only as much as is needed and then withdraw. Setting the end at the beginning is part of the same thinking. (When to stop the medicine)

When the present state has to be held, the character is different. Gentle, long, inside a wide margin of safety.

The same person is on one side at one time and the other side later. Reading that, and setting the direction, is my first step.

On the phrase "it's natural, so it's safe"

One thing worth noting.

"Natural" does not itself mean safe. Nature holds poisons too. The strongest of them come from nature.

Whether a compound came from a plant or a laboratory has no direct bearing on safety. What sets safety is what, how much, to whom, and for how long. The medicine I make sits under the same measure — which is why I set the amount and the duration before I start.

So I ask at the first visit

"If there's something you keep up with these days, let me know."

If a direction overlaps, it lands stronger than intended; if it cancels out, the medicine doesn't land and I can't see why. Known in advance, I can compose around it.

If you take blood thinners, blood pressure medicine or diabetes medicine, do tell me — there are things to look at together. (Can you take herbal medicine with prescription drugs)

And whatever you take, if hives, breathlessness or facial swelling follow, or the eyes or skin turn yellow, stop and get seen.

Finally

Choosing a good ingredient is not the hard part. The hard part is reading what this body needs now.

That is why the same complaint sends out different medicine. Looking at the person, setting the direction, using only as much as is needed and then withdrawing — that is the work.

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Written by Dr. Heo Ji-young (PhD in Korean Medicine Pathology, Kyung Hee University · former Research Professor of Herbology, Kyung Hee University)