There are contraindications for decocting Chinese medicines in terms of utensils, water, time and special medicines, which must be strictly in accordance with the doctor’s requirements.
1. Apparatus: avoid decocting Chinese medicine with tin, iron and other materials, try not to use copper, aluminum, stainless steel, enamel and other materials, so as to avoid the reaction of certain components of the drug and metal, often reduce the efficacy of the drug, and even produce toxic side effects, it is best to use ceramic, tile pots, pots and other utensils to decoct Chinese medicine.
2. Water: Avoid using boiling water or unclean water to decoct Chinese medicine, generally use tap water, clean spring water is the best. Avoid using too much or too little water, to the extent of soaking the surface of the drug, can be soaked in cold water for half an hour before the decoction, so that the active ingredients are precipitated.
3. Time: avoid decoction time is too long or too short, should follow the doctor’s instructions to decoct Chinese medicine, such as tonic herbs need to be decocted for about half an hour, antidepressants, aromatic herbs decocted for more than ten minutes, so as to avoid the active ingredients precipitation is not enough, over-evaporation, paste the pot, and so on.
4. Special drugs: such as gypsum, rhubarb, tortoise board, ginseng, Colla Corii asiatica, sand nuts, Xinyi, etc., the decoction method of such drugs mainly has the first decoction, the second decoction, the packet decoction, the other decoction, the melting, and so on, and the appropriate method must be selected in accordance with the regulations, so as not to cause waste.