Patients who use herbal medicine to treat their illnesses and take herbal tonics and need to make their own decoction should understand the correct decoction method. The correct method of decoction of Chinese medicine will directly affect the efficacy of Chinese medicine. If the decoction is not done properly, the efficacy of the medicine will be greatly reduced and even the previous work will be lost. Therefore, it is important to master the correct decoction method. The following is a description of the precautions for decocting and taking Chinese medicine.
I. Choice of decoction utensils.
A suitable vessel for decocting Chinese medicine at home is pottery with a lid (casserole, tile pot), which is chemically stable and is traditionally used for decocting Chinese medicine at home. In addition, some people suggest using enamel pots for decocting Chinese medicine, because there are many acid and alkaline substances in Chinese medicine, in fact, the chemical nature of the enamel surface is unstable, and it is easy to react with the acid and alkaline components in Chinese medicine at high temperature, so it is better not to use enamel pots for decocting Chinese medicine. When decocting Chinese medicine, avoid using iron, copper and aluminum pots. Because of their chemical instability, they are easily oxidized, and the oxidized layer on the surface can easily react with the acidic and alkaline ingredients in the Chinese medicine to make the medicine lose its effectiveness.
At present, there is a kind of electric ceramic decoction pot designed for decocting Chinese medicine, which can adjust the temperature and reduce the time of medicine available, but the price is high.
Second, add water to soak.
Before decocting Chinese medicine, you need to add water to macerate (soak). How much water to add? There are also regulations.
The water used for decocting Chinese herbs should be clean drinkable water and should be cool. Especially the decoction of the first decoction should not be added to boiling water or hot water for maceration in order to avoid immediate starch paste and protein coagulation in the tissues of the herbs, which makes it difficult to dissolve the active ingredients. After adding water, first macerate for about 30 minutes, in winter or solid texture of the herbs can extend the maceration time to 1 hour, in the hot weather of summer, the maceration time should not be too long. Soaking overnight in summer can lead to acidity and deterioration of the drug due to high temperature is something that should be contraindicated.
How much water is appropriate to add to each dose of Chinese medicine? The amount of water to be added for the first decoction is 3-5 cm above the surface of the drug after placing the herbs in the decoction pot, or just press the herbs lightly with your hand and add water until your palm is submerged, which is about 600 ml. After the first decoction is finished, strain out the liquid and add water for the second decoction. The amount of water added for the second decoction should be 1-2 cm above the surface of the dregs, and warm water should be added for about 350 ml. If it is a tonic Chinese medicine, the decoction time is longer, the amount of water can be increased appropriately. Some patients like to drink Chinese medicine can add more water and decoct more juice. This is only talking about the general dose of herbal medicine, if the formula is larger, you can add more water in appropriate amount.
Third, decoction method.
Chinese herbal soup is usually decocted twice, divided into the first decoction (the decoction is the first juice) and the second decoction (the decoction is the second juice). After two decoctions, the first decoction can decoct 30%, the second decoction can decoct 40%-50%, and the extraction rate of the active ingredients in the herbs can reach 70%-80% after the two decoctions are combined. And the third and fourth decoction only accounts for 20%. Therefore, it is usually decocted twice, and some tonic medicines can be decocted three times. The decoction should be controlled by fire. After the Chinese herbal medicine is macerated and started to decoct, it is usually first used with a high fire, and after boiling, it is changed to a gentle fire (reduce the fire) to keep it in a slightly boiling state for a certain time, while it should be stirred several times in the middle to facilitate the dissolution of the active ingredients. However, it should be reminded that if the herbal medicine deteriorates after the water is boiled dry, the pot will be burnt and should be discarded and not used again. The medicine should be poured out immediately after decoction, not after leaving the fire for a while. This will cause the medicine to seep back into the herbs.
IV. Decoction time.
The first decoction of common Chinese medicine takes 20-25 minutes from the time the liquid begins to boil. Use a clean vessel to hold the decocted filtrated liquid and place it in a safe place. Then add water to decoct the second juice, the second decoction is usually 15-20 minutes after boiling. The first decoction is 10-15 minutes for aromatic and antiphlogistic medicines and 5-10 minutes for the second decoction; the first decoction is 10 minutes for laxative medicines (such as raw rhubarb) and 5 minutes for the second decoction; the first decoction is 30-40 minutes for tonic medicines and 25-30 minutes for the second decoction.
The amount of herbal medicine for adults should be controlled at about 400ml for one dose of two decoctions. If the amount of medicine for children is less and thicker, the first and second juice can be mixed and left to clarify for a period of time, and then the supernatant can be heated and concentrated to the right amount, generally the amount of medicine per dose should be controlled at 100-150 ml. For herbs used for urinary tract stones, add more water to increase the amount of liquid and take it frequently to facilitate the discharge of stones.
Some individual herbal medicines that require special decoction or treatment: When opening a packet of herbal medicines, first check whether there is a separate sub-packet of the medicine, and if so, it should be treated separately according to the instructions on the sub-packet. There are usually the following cases.
1. First decoction for a long time: Most of the first decoctions are of ores, animal bones and shells. Such herbs should be decocted first with water for more than 30 minutes so that the active ingredients can be fully dissolved. The other category is toxic drugs, such as saposhnikovia, Chuanwu, Cao Wu, Leigong Vine, etc., especially in excess of the commonly used amount, must be first decocted for a long time, about 1-2 hours, so that the toxic components decomposition, the use of drug safety. In addition, herbs such as Dendrobium can only be effective by first decocting for a long time.
The Chinese herbal medicine is recognized by the Chinese medical profession as having a lot of toxicity, the amount of Chinese medicine doctor to treat the patient is chosen very carefully, the general doctor are strictly control the dosage of medicine, the dosage in each payment of Chinese medicine generally does not exceed 15 g. More than the prescribed dosage needs to be signed by the doctor on the prescription.
2, after the next: after the next is the other drugs first decoction for a certain period of time, and then added to this type of drugs with decoction. There are two main types.
One type is aromatic herbs containing volatile oil, such as mint, cardamom, incense, etc.
The other type is drugs whose active ingredients are unstable when exposed to heat, such as hooked vine and raw rhubarb, etc. It is advisable to add them to the same decoction within 5 minutes before the first decoction is ready.
Note: For this type of medicine, it must be soaked separately in another vessel before decoction, and then put into the decoction with the water for soaking the medicine and the medicine when it comes under. If not soaked, it is difficult to decoct the active ingredients in the dry drug in a short time.
3.Melting and rushing in: mainly gum or sugar drugs, such as gum, honey, etc., should be added to the decoction and heated to make it melt, mixed and then taken.
4.Melting: For crystalline salts, like Xuanming powder, etc., it can be added directly to the decoction and melted in the hot liquid.
5, another decoction into: mainly precious drugs, such as ginseng, Cordyceps, Tin Pei Feng Dou, etc., need to be decocted separately to take the juice alone, or blended into other liquids to take, and will eat the original medicine.
6, punch: should not be into the decoction or valuable drugs, such as raw rhubarb, Panax notoginseng powder, antelope powder, Chuanbei powder, etc., usually into a fine powder swallowed with boiling water, or punch into the soup with the medicine, the best for such drugs melted in water and slightly heated on the fire, boiling can be, so conducive to absorption. Difficult to dissolve in water drugs, such as amber, vermilion, etc. to avoid fire decoction, direct punching.
7, large doses of herbal decoction: some prescriptions have a large amount of single herbs in large doses, or a particularly large amount of each dose, such as the conventional proportion of water, the amount of decoction is too much to take; such as adding too little water, the herbs can not be submerged in water and the decoction is not transparent, most of the active ingredients can not be extracted, and can not achieve the desired therapeutic effect. For this type of Chinese medicine, the following methods of decoction can be adopted.
(1) Decoction of juice instead of water method: first decoct the herbs with water to get the first juice and second juice, then combine the decoction and add it to the rest of the herbs to decoct the first juice, and then add water to the dregs to decoct the second juice such as Zao Xin Tu and corn beard.
(2) Decoction and juice method: Separate the herbs from other herbs, add water to the decoction separately, combine and mix the decoction, and take the decoction depending on the amount of liquid, if too much, then further concentrate and divide it.
(3) Juice concentration method: Divide the medicine into several parts, add water to decoction separately, combine the decoction of each part, and then concentrate it appropriately and take it in parts.
V. Serving method.
1, time to take drugs: human physiological activities, pathological changes follow a certain time pattern. General drugs should be taken one hour before meals. After obtaining the drug for the treatment of fever, the first decoction can be taken at any time regardless of the time. Deworming drugs are taken in the morning on an empty stomach; tranquilizing drugs are taken before lunch break and at night before going to bed; tonic drugs should be taken on an empty stomach. Drugs for digestion; drugs for gastrointestinal diseases should be taken half an hour after meals; drugs for malaria should be taken two hours before the onset of the disease. In short, it is necessary to master the regularity of the time of taking medicine, and by choosing the best time to take medicine, in order to maximize the efficacy of drugs and better serve the clinic.
2, the number of times to take: Chinese medicine soup is generally 1 dose per day, separated from the morning and evening two doses, or divided into morning and evening three doses (friends can take in the morning and evening); critical illness, can be a time to take, or two or several doses per day; throat disease more slowly pharynx; vomiting patients can be taken first a small amount, after a large number of multiple frequent doses.
3. Method of taking medicine: Chinese medicine tonics are generally taken in a warm way. Patients who boil their own Chinese medicine at home should preferably decoct it on the same day and take it on the same day to ensure the freshness of the liquid. If the decoction is taken for a fraction of a day at a time or the bagged liquid is taken for several days, it should be stored in the refrigerator to avoid deterioration. Chinese medicine should be taken warm and heated in a suitable way before taking, such as reheating the liquid and boiling it, or soaking the bagged liquid with the bag in boiling water. It is advisable to take the relieving medicine hot and to cover it with warmth or drink hot porridge to help sweat out. If the Chinese medicine practitioner’s dialectic is hot evidence of taking cold herbal medicine, it should be taken slightly cooler. Hot herbal medicine for cold evidence should be taken hot. However, when the disease is heavy and the evil is very strong, refusing to accept the medicine and vomiting occurs, hot medicine can be taken cool or cold medicine can be taken hot.
General vomiting patients, the doctor in the soup with anti-vomiting drugs, before drinking the medicine should add a little ginger juice, or chew a little ginger or Chen Pi, and then take the soup medicine. The way to take the medicine for patients with vomiting is usually to take it cold and in small amounts several times, so that after the medicine to stop vomiting has worked, then drink the rest of the medicine and you won’t vomit.
Patients who are comatose and treated with Chinese medicine, or stroke patients who have difficulty swallowing and choking on water, or elderly patients who are seriously ill and cannot cooperate well with the treatment with tonics, are treated by nasal feeding.