Many patients ask what to take for pain and various conditions. Chiropractors typically do not prescribe medications, nor do we advise patients to stop taking prescribed medications.  Instead I offer food supplements as an alternative to an additional pill.

Some people know I studied Chinese herbs while attaining my master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In Chinese medicine, any pill you take must be processed by your liver, which can cause the liver to be sluggish.

Many people are taking five to 20 different pills and supplements a day for various symptoms and conditions. Chinese medicine is not based on symptoms, but based on balancing the function of certain organs in your body.  This is very different from a regular medical diagnosis.

For example you might be diagnosed with spleen Qi deficiency for excessive weight or excessive fatigue (chronic fatigue syndrome) or even diabetes (excessive hunger, excessive thirst and excessive urination).  Stomach heat might be a Chinese diagnosis for shingles. I do not suggest anything other than Chinese herbs because of they do not involve factory processing, which affects the dosage and increases side effects. Chinese herbs are dried in the sun, crushed from their original form into a powder and pressed together.

Most of the Chinese herbs I use are roots, bark, flowers, leaves (kind of like eating multiple parts of a tree or a flower). The best Chinese herbs are boiled in a glass pot for 10-15 minutes to make tea.

For pain, my preference is ginger tea, which is very easy to make.

Purchase some fresh ginger from the local grocery store and boil a slice in enough water for one or two cups of tea. Add natural honey to sweeten. Honey helps strengthen the lungs and kill some bacteria.

Your taste buds will need a little bit of time to adjust, but it works.

For a common cold, my preference is cinnamon stick tea. This remedy helps for people that feel cold all the time and for people with early signs of a common cold like sneezing, nose runny with clear discharge. Purchase the sticks from your local grocery store and boil one stick until it opens in enough water for one or two cups of tea.  Add natural honey to sweeten and strengthen the lungs. In Chinese medicine when the lungs are weak it allows the germs to enter through the skin, the nose and the mouth.

The cinnamon will warm the whole body which allows your natural immune system to fight the cold. The effect is similar to a fever, which is your body fighting to protect you from germs.

If you start the tea after your runny nose has yellow discharge or when you have a cough, you will notice that the cold will not last as long as it has in the past. The normal time span for the common cold is 3 days.

It is my hope that my patients will begin to ask “What can I eat or drink?” instead of “What can I take?” for common ailments.

Dr. Moore