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Combining East and Western HerbsWestern and Eastern herbal traditions have different, yet complementary, approaches in treatment of disease. For example, let’s look at both approaches to a herbal treatment of an inner ear infection. While in the West, taking Echinacea may be recommended. While Echinacea does boost up the immune system and aid it in fighting off the bacteria or yeast infection of the inner ear, it does not address the more holistic perspective of shifting the environment of the “host” that supported the thriving of the guest bacteria or yeast. Many underlying conditions such as food allergies, seasonal allergies or trapped water after swimming create a hot bed for infection and should be addressed. One of the main differences in the holistic TCM approach to a health problems is that TCM energetics would employ an “herbal shotgun” approach to boost the immune system while also working on ridding the body of the underlying cause of the illness. For example, from the TCM perspective a damp, “swampy” environment in the ear can become a hot bed for bacterial growth. Wax produced from an imbalanced constitution or from cleansing toxins increases the swamp-like condition and may allow recurrent infection. To break this chronic cycle, a TCM practitioner seeks to change the damp environment. The formula, Long Tan Xie Gan Tang, “Gentiana Combination Formula” accomplishes this by using drying and cooling herbs such as Gardenia, Gentiana and Scutellaria that target damp heat in the upper torso. In addition, given our contemporary bio-chemical knowledge of other herbal traditions, we can also include Echinacea and Fo-ti to help to fight infection and support the immune system. The Eastern approach is to shift the “damp heat” swamp-like environment of a waxy, watery-exudate ear, that allows the “guest” to thrive while combating infection. A “drying-cooling” herbal formula, directed to the ear, could include Echinacea and contain berberine ingredients to go after a staphylococcus, or staph infection, as it also works to shift the environment that created the problem. This is the holistic wisdom I bear in mind with every formulation.
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