What are the traditional Chinese medicine health products?

The common traditional Chinese medicine health care products currently on the market are basically developed in three directions: medicine and food, traditional physical therapy equipment, and external application. However, as someone who has been in the health care industry for almost 8 years, I must first mention that no health care product is "universal". Choosing the wrong one can be counterproductive.

A while ago, an old fan of mine came to complain to me, saying that she followed the trend and bought a saffron gift box costing thousands of dollars. She soaked 3 or 4 saffron sticks every day and drank it for less than 20 days. Not to mention, her menstrual period was delayed by a week. Poria cakes, red bean barley flour, chrysanthemum and wolfberry tea that you often see, as well as five-finger peach soup dumplings and jujube kernel paste that are very popular in the mom circle, are actually categories in the catalog of medicinal and food products. These raw materials themselves are both food and medicinal materials. They are mild enough and suitable for daily mixing, but they are not controversial. Less: For example, many merchants claim that red bean and barley flour is "universal for removing dampness". Many people have been drinking it for more than half a year. The dampness has not been removed, but their stomachs are becoming more and more afraid of coldness. The essence is that they do not distinguish whether they are hot or cold. Red bean and coix kernels are both cold. People with severe cold and dampness drink too much and it will damage their spleen and yang. Of course, the more they drink, the worse it will be.

If you usually have discomfort in your shoulders and neck while sitting in the office, you have most likely come across moxibustion boxes, stone scraping boards, and electronic moxibustion machines. I keep a black and yellow stone on my desk. When my shoulders and neck feel stiff, I will scrape them along the trapezius muscles for three to five minutes. Most of the tightness will disappear immediately. It is easy to use, but I have seen some brave people who do it themselves. I applied moxibustion on my back at home, and not only got a big blister. I have a constitution with yin deficiency, and I got angry and had nosebleeds after moxibustion every day. Now the industry has been discussing the scope of application of moxibustion. It is not at all "everyone can moxibustion every day" as spread on the Internet. I have a hot and dry constitution that is prone to oral ulcers and has a short temper. Too much moxibustion will only make things worse.

There are also the Sanfu patches that long queues line up for at the Sanfutian Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital every year. There are also mugwort cervical vertebra patches, foot patches, and longan and peppercorn patches that office workers love to wear. They are also considered a major category of traditional Chinese medicine health products. My elderly family goes to a regular hospital every year to apply the Sanfu patch for three years. The old chronic bronchitis in winter has indeed decreased, but There are also friends who bought the Sanfu patch online for NT$9.9 with free shipping. After a week of applying it, they developed a red rash on their skin due to allergies, but no effect was seen at all. In fact, the effect of this type of patch product depends on the ratio of medicinal materials, the accuracy of the acupuncture points where it is applied, and whether it corresponds to your indications. It is impossible to say whether it is useful or not.

Oh, by the way, I have to remind everyone that many businesses now claim that health care products can cure all diseases. In fact, our State Food and Drug Administration has long made it clear that such health care products are not drugs and cannot replace drug treatment at all. If there are real discomforts, it is better to find a regular Chinese medicine doctor to identify the syndrome first, and then choose the corresponding product. It is better than following the trend and paying IQ tax, right?