First, the decoction before soaking Generally add cold water over the surface of the medicine, soak before decoction, the active ingredients are easy to decoct. General soaking about 30 minutes can be, but also according to the texture of the herbs themselves and the weight of the season, the temperature differences are treated separately. Flowers, grasses and leaves can be soaked for 20 minutes; roots, seeds, fruits and ores, crustaceans should be soaked for 30 to 60 minutes. In short, the herbs to soak shall prevail. Second, the choice of decoction utensils decoction container and the quality of the liquid is very close, historical records that, “silver for the top, magnetic second”, do not advocate the use of tin, iron and other pots and pans decoction. Because some drugs encounter tin, iron and other metals will precipitate, reduce solubility, and even cause chemical changes, side effects. Currently advocate the use of ceramics, tile pots and do not use iron pots, copper pots, and preferably do not use aluminum pots and stainless steel, enamel containers to decoct, to ensure the efficacy of Chinese medicine. Water is the most commonly used solvent for decocting Chinese medicine soup, and it is generally preferable to use clean cold water, such as tap water, well water, distilled water, etc. The amount of water used should depend on the weight of the medicine, the amount of water used, the amount of water used, and the amount of water used for decoction. The amount of water used should depend on the weight, volume, water absorption capacity, decoction time, fire and the amount of medicine required, etc. Generally speaking, it is appropriate to diffuse the water over the medicine by about half an inch. Decoction of the amount of water should be added at once, do not add water several times in the middle, not to mention the medicine decoction dry and then add water to decoction, decoction dry medicine should be discarded. Fourth, the decoction of the fire decoction of Chinese medicine has a “fire, fire” points, urgent fire decoction of the “fire”, slow fire decoction of the “fire”. Generally, the fire is used first, and then the fire is used later, i.e. the fire is used at the beginning, and then the fire is used after the decoction is boiled. Different formulas require different decoction times. Treatment of exogenous symptoms of sweating to relieve the surface of the drug decoction time should be short, the treatment of deficiency of the tonic drug decoction time should be long. Fifth, the method of service has to be careful Decocted soup is generally appropriate to serve one hour before meals, gastrointestinal stimulation of the drug is appropriate to serve after meals, nourishing medicine is appropriate to serve on an empty stomach, tranquilizer is appropriate to serve before bedtime, chronic disease is appropriate to serve at regular intervals. Generally, a dose is divided into 2 to 3 doses, one dose a day, in case of special circumstances, you can take two doses a day to enhance the efficacy. Usually, the Chinese medicine soup should be served warm, and for specific cases can also be served cold. Sixth, there are contraindications to medication Chinese medicine has always been “eighteen against”, “nineteen afraid of” said, so never blindly use folk remedies, secret prescriptions, do not be a “Langzhong” brewing The “bitter wine”. Must be under the guidance of a doctor to formulate the medicine. Take pregnancy as an example, some drugs have side effects that damage the fetus or even abortion, so it should be regarded as a contraindication to pregnancy, such as croton, marionette, halberd, spotted fibers, musk, trigonelline, curcuma longa, leeches and so on. Should be used with caution during pregnancy are peach kernel, safflower, rhubarb, citrus aurantium, epiphyllum, dry ginger, cinnamon and so on. Seventh, when taking medication, “taboo” problem During the medication period, where cold, fishy and other indigestible or irritating food, should be avoided as needed. In addition, in addition to the groundnut, He Shouwu taboo onion, garlic, radish, mint taboo crab meat, Poria taboo vinegar, honey taboo raw onions and other conventional, should be based on specific conditions in accordance with the doctor’s instructions. Eight, why decoct Chinese medicine to add the lid Some people in the decoction of Chinese medicine, in order to operate convenient, often do not cover the lid. For this reason, the Chinese medicine practitioner reminded patients, decoction of Chinese medicine do not forget to cover the lid. After research, the vast majority of plant-based traditional Chinese medicine, such as Magnoliaceae, Rutaceae, Asteraceae and other plants contain volatile oils. Volatile oil in medicine has a wind, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and so on. However, the solubility of volatile oil in water is very small, the specific gravity of the vast majority of volatile oils are lighter than water, so it is easy to evaporate with the water vapor, if the decoction of traditional Chinese medicine does not cover the lid of the pot, the active ingredients within the traditional Chinese medicine will be easy to “run” with the water vapor, reducing the effectiveness of the drug. Nine, decoction of Chinese medicine how to master the fire Decoction of Chinese medicine is very concerned about the fire, that is to say, pay close attention to the decoction of fire and decoction time length. The fire should be mastered according to the nature of the drug. The smell of antidepressants is aromatic, and most of the active ingredients are volatile oils. Decoction for a long time can make the excessive volatilization and loss, it is generally appropriate to use the rapid decoction method, the decoction time should be short, the first decoction can be boiled for 15 minutes, the second decoction can be boiled for 10 minutes. The tonic drugs, because of its nourishing and greasy quality, need to be fried for a long time to be able to juice, generally use the martial arts fire decoction boiling, and then changed to a gentle fire decoction, the first decoction of the drug decoction boiled, and then the gentle fire decoction for 20-30 minutes, the second decoction of the drug decoction boiled with the gentle fire decoction for 30-40 minutes. For medicines with long decoction time, it is necessary to stir 2~3 times during the process of decoction to prevent the bottom layer of medicines from scorching. Some people are not careful with the Chinese medicines, so they add water to the decoction and give it to the patient, which is not proper and may even be dangerous. This is not appropriate, and even dangerous. Because the scorched drug may be qualitatively changed. Ten, decoction of Chinese medicine is not the longer the thicker In daily life, most people think that the thicker the effect of the decoction of Chinese medicine, the longer the decoction time, the more active ingredients, in fact, is not. Decoction of Chinese medicine is the active ingredients in the herbs continue to release, the process of dissolution, when the concentration of active ingredients in the balance of Chinese medicine and liquid, the process stops, and then continuous decoction, not only will not make the active ingredients within the drug to continue to dissolve, but also make the liquid in the active ingredients continue to evaporate and reduce the active ingredients in the liquid, and even make the active ingredients in the high temperature for a long time to be destroyed, resulting in a reduction in efficacy. It can be seen that Chinese medicine is not the longer the better, different prescriptions, decoction after the time requirements are different, should follow the doctor’s instructions. Eleven, before the decoction of Chinese medicine can not be washed before the decoction of Chinese medicine should not be cleaned. This is because: 1, washing can make the water-soluble components of the medicinal herbs lost: due to a number of medicinal herbs contain sugar and glycosides, can be dissolved in water, after washing, will be lost part of the active ingredients, resulting in a reduction in efficacy. 2, water washing can make the loss of powdered herbs: Chinese medicine and a lot of herbs are powdered, but also some in the preparation of drugs need to be crushed, such as peach kernel, bone, talcum powder, etc., if the water washing, will cause the loss of these drugs. 3, water washing can lead to the loss of some of the herbs accessories: as some herbs in the concoction process to add honey, wine, bile and other accessories, and these accessories are soluble in water, if the water rinse, can lead to some of the accessories lost. For example, bile nanxing and rhubarb made of wine in commonly used herbs. Therefore, before decocting Chinese medicine, it is not advisable to rinse the herbs with water, so as not to cause the loss of the components of the herbs, affecting the efficacy of the drug. Twelve, fried burnt Chinese medicine, please discard Chinese medicine can cure the reason for the disease, because it contains alkaloids, saponins, tannins and other active ingredients. The purpose of the decoction of Chinese medicine is to decoct the active ingredients in the medicine to facilitate the treatment of the disease. Whether the method of decoction is appropriate or not has a great deal to do with its efficacy. Decoction time is short, the active ingredients of the drug decoction does not come out, affecting the effect of the disease; decoction time is too long, will make the active ingredients (such as volatile components) was destroyed or lost, and will also be the medicine fried. Once the Chinese medicine is burnt, its nature will change. For example, tonic Chinese medicine burnt, its taste will become bitter and astringent from sweet, it is impossible to play the role of tonic; blood stasis medicines burnt, will become a drug with hemostatic effect. Most of the Chinese medicine fried, the active ingredients will be destroyed, or even the opposite effect, the heat can not clear heat, the tonic can not be tonic. Therefore, the burnt Chinese medicine should be discarded.