A. How to Cook a Chinese Herbal Formula
The Kind of Container
The best container is ceramic. Glass is okay. It is important that your teapot has a lid. Materials to avoid include cast iron or metals. Chinese herbs can interact with these metals casing chemical reactions that can alter the therapeutic qualities of your herbs, or worse yet, have an unhealthy effect on whoever drinks the tea. Stainless steel is better than the other metals. Teflon coatings are not as good as ceramic coatings.

Cooking :: Soak the herbs. Place the herbs into the water. The water should cover the herbs by about an inch and a half. Let them sit for 15 minutes without turning on the heat beneath the teapot. Some sources suggest allowing the herbs to absorb the room-temperature water for one hour.
:: Bring water to a rolling boil. Then, turn down the fire to a low simmer.
:: Cook herbs for 20 to 30 minutes. There is a great deal of variation in the time necessary to cook herbs. It depends mostly on the kind of herbs you're cooking. The average is 20 minutes. Diaphoretics are cooked for no more than 15 minutes. Aromatics only get steeped for 5 minutes. For tonic herbs, 40 to 50 minutes is appropriate. Don't lift up the lid, especially with aromatic herbs as the volatile oils can evaporate out of the mixture very easily.
:: Strain the tea and Re-cook the same herbs a second time.
:: Drink it. If you find the taste disagreeable, then your tongue is working right. However, if you find the taste so unpalatable that you don't drink it, then you need to do something to make it more drinkable. We suggest watering it down a bit. This helps a great deal. Also, it seems that after time, the body begins to crave a certain formula, especially one that is well suited. The taste will become more and more attractive.

* If there is a special instructions from your acupuncturist, please follow that instruction. The above instruction is a general rule but depending on the condition of the patient, it could be vary.

B. Type of diseases that could be beneficial from acupuncture treatment
Review of Controlled Clinical Trials of Acupuncture" by WHO - recommended the following diseases for treatment in 2002

headache & earache facial pain or spasm Bell's Palsy Sinusitis Ringing in the Ears Jaw dysfuction Meniere's disease Nosebleeds Bronchial Asthma Allergies, Hay Fever Cancer pain Chest pain Radicular pain Spinal nerve Nerve Injury Shingles Muscle & Joint pain Joint Stiffness Rheumatoid Arthritis Osteoarthritis Diabetes Mellitus Obesity Infertility Erectile dysfunction Insomnia Alcoholism

Gall Bladder Disease Passing Gallstones Kidney Stones Post Surgical Pain Low Blood Pressure High Blood Pressure Nausea Vomiting Stomach ulcer Intestinal ulcer Irritable Bowel Syndrome Ulcerative Colitis Spastic Colitis Stomach Cramps Menstrual Camps Menstrual Tension Stroke Paralysis Closed Head Injury Hemiplegia Drug addiction Tobacco Addiction Insufficient Lactation Inverted Fetus Labor pain Toutette syndrome

Side effects of Chemotherapy and radiation therapy Reflex sympathetic Dystrophy Competition Stress Syndrome Strengthening the Heart in Heart Disease