How to boil Chinese medicine to get the fullest effect of the medicine, this is often a confusing problem for patients. Boiling medicine does require some small skills, and is never just a pot of boiling. What is the correct way to boil Chinese medicine? Here is a detailed introduction with you. A. Preparation 1. Choose the utensil The best choice for decocting Chinese medicine is to use a casserole, enamel pot, followed by a stainless steel pot, do not use iron pots, aluminum pots and other metal utensils to avoid chemical reactions that affect the efficacy. 2. Soak in cold water Place the drug in a vessel and soak in cold water for about 30 minutes, with the amount of water generally exceeding the surface of the drug by 3-5 cm. If the roots, ores, herbs, can extend the soaking time; flowers, herbs, or decoction time is longer to add or reduce the water at your discretion. The water should be added at once, and it is not possible to add water in the middle of the decoction or to add water to the dry decoction. Second, the decoction process 1, the fire control decoction fire has a “martial fire” and “civil fire”. The nature of the drug is different, the choice of fire is also different. Usually, for the treatment of exopathic diseases, it is appropriate to use martial fire to decoct urgently; for tonic and tonifying herbs, the decoction time should be extended, and it is appropriate to decoct for a long time with a “gentle fire”; for herbs with more toxic side effects, such as sapodilla and aconite, it is appropriate to decoct for a long time with a “slow fire” to reduce their toxicity. 2, boiling time A dose of medicine is usually decocted twice, usually 20-30 minutes for the first decoction and 15-20 minutes for the second decoction. The first decoction is 15-20 minutes for sweating medicine, and the second decoction is 10-15 minutes; the first decoction is 40-60 minutes for tonic medicine, and the second decoction is 20-40 minutes. 3.Dosage of medicinal juice The amount of 150~200ml of decoction is appropriate. Children’s dose is reduced as appropriate, generally 50~100ml. Special decoction method 1.First decoction Some herbal medicines with hard texture and not easy to decoct the active ingredients should be decocted for 30-40 minutes first, then mixed with other medicines and decocted, such as tortoise board, dragon bone, oyster, etc. 2. After decocting, drugs that are aromatic and contain volatile oil or will destroy the active ingredients if heated for a long time should be put into the pot 5-10 minutes before other drugs are decocted, such as peppermint, sand, etc. 3.Melting After other drugs are decocted and dregs are removed, the juice is filtered and then the melted drug is added to the juice, heated over low heat and stirred until it is completely dissolved, such as gum. 4.Wrap decoction Seeds, pollen and fluffy drugs need to be wrapped in gauze bag and put into the group of drugs for decoction, in order to avoid sticking to the pot and paste and fluffy off and mixed into the soup to irritate the throat, such as scape seeds, spineflower, talcum powder, etc. (The above 4 kinds are special decoction methods commonly used, if the doctor has special instructions, you should follow the doctor’s advice.) D. Time of taking medicine Usually mix two decoctions and take them in two doses, with an interval of about 4~6 hours. It can also be decocted once and taken once. Tonic drugs should be taken before meals, laxative drugs are taken on an empty stomach, drugs that stimulate the stomach and intestines should be taken after meals, chronic diseases are served regularly, and some sedative and tranquilizing drugs that help you sleep should be taken before bedtime. Whether before or after meals, there should be an interval of 30 to 60 minutes to avoid affecting the effectiveness of the drug. The specific time and number of doses should follow medical advice.