Online Chinese herbal medicine consultations

I started offering online Chinese herbal medicine consultations at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. This has proved an invaluable way to safely support people to deal with a wide array of health concerns.

My online consultations involve taking a full medical history – and I may, if appropriate, use mindfulness techniques to help you to feel more calm, settled, supported and well resourced.

Chinese herbs have been used to treat over 300 epidemics during the last 2000 years in China. In Japan, the Kampo formulae I work with are widely used for many illnesses – for example: respiratory conditions, skin conditions, gynaecological complaints, post viral fatigue, infertility, gall stones and inflamed gall bladder, gastric complaints, cystitis and urinary complaints, frozen shoulder, arthritis, panic attacks. digestive complaints, and depletion/illness recovery (see Kampo: A Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice by Otsuka Keisetsu).

In the UK, only registered practitioners can prescribe Chinese herbal medicines. The two main organisations that regulate herbal medicine practitioners (we are voluntarily regulated) are the RCHM (Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine) and the ATCM (Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine). I have worked with Chinese herbs for 25 years and have been registered with the RCHM and am now with the ATCM for 10 years.

Having someone listen to your symptoms and think about them from a different perspective can, in itself, be very helpful and bring new insight into health issues. After the consultation I will be able to provide you with herbs through an RCHM/ATCM accredited pharmacy service, which will be delivered by post.

An online consultation, which can be any online platform you wish, or over the phone, will take 30-60 minutes.

The cost of the initial consultation is £45 or £30 – students, unwaged, NHS/care home staff – and this includes a free 15 minute follow up/check up. I want to make sure you are happy with the herbs I have prescribed. Further consultations after this to review your progress and prescribe more herbs are £35 – or £25 for students/unwaged. Each time a free 15 minute check up is included in the consultation cost.

Payment can be by bank transfer or Paypal.

For patients who are seeking help because of concerns around Covid 19 the initial consultation cost includes daily check ins, if required and wished for – for two weeks.

The cost of the herbs is £25 per 100 gms including postage – approximately 14-18 days worth of herbs.

Please make sure you also consult with your GP/primary care physician/hospital etc – please do not use Chinese herbs as an alternative to conventional medicine.

Chinese herbs for Covid 19

Chinese herbs, which are recognised by the World Health Organisation, have played an important role in the treatment of Covid 19 in China where approximately 90% of those infected with Covid 19 will receive Chinese herbs alongside conventional medicine. In China, Chinese herbs are widely used by the general population and state of the art hospitals offer integrated medicine where conventional medicine and traditional medicines are combined.

A report about the renowned physician Zhang Boli who set up a makeshift hospital in Wuhan with 208 TCM  medical experts describes the results:

This link to a global webinar with Chinese frontline doctors may also be of interest. CGTN Global webinar with frontline doctors

UK Kampo practitioners have also been collating information about formula that can potentially help and describe how they are supporting patients with Covid 19 on the Kampo UK website.

The treatment of Covid 19 falls into different stages each of which involve individualised treatment:

  • Prevention and keeping healthy.
  • Helping the body expel the illness before it invades and goes deeper
  • Harmonising the body if the illness proceeds – giving support so your body can fight the pathogen
  • Detoxification when the illness has gone inside the body – clearing the body of the toxins and waste that have built up from fighting the illness
  • Promoting recovery and strengthening the person after illness

Please note that it is not possible for Chinese herbal medicine practitioners to support hospital patients with Chinese herbs in the UK. 

Client experiences of the Online Service
Chinese herbs for eczema

“During the COVID-19 lockdown I had a flare up of eczema on my face, hands & neck. It wasn’t the first time I’d had a stress-related flare up, and this one was extremely itchy, sore, inflamed and hot, making it hard to sleep at night and challenging to focus on anything but my symptoms during the day.

I really wanted some relief from the eczema without having to go down the steroids route.
Sylvia offered me a virtual consultation, and was very kind, calm and empathic. It was lovely to be heard and to feel that I was in safe hands. The prescribed medicines arrived very quickly in the post.
When I had questions Sylvia responded swiftly and was very solicitous.
My skin is much improved and I am so relieved not to be using steroids” Ms U, London
Chronic health issues
“I came across Sylvia’s website when looking for a natural and effective way to help with some ongoing chronic health problems that were beginning to be tiresome. I am generally very fit and active, having been an athlete throughout my life, with a good diet and healthy lifestyle so I was fed up with being told by my GP that my issues were ‘just aging’ and with being prescribed one drug after another that made me feel ill – the last straw was a strong reaction that I had to an antibiotic I was prescribed for chronic sinusitis, which truly made me feel that I might die – causing a thumping, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and muscle spasms.
Sylvia is a lovely, thoughtful and intuitive person who makes a very careful diagnosis and prescribes a holistic treatment. The herbs she prescribed for me arrived in the post the day after my appointment and are very gentle and actually taste good! I can feel them gradually working for me already. With Chinese herbal medicine, the prescription is individual and is adjusted as you improve, dealing with every aspect of a condition until full health is restored, with no nasty or frightening side effects. I thoroughly recommend Sylvia and her online appointment service. Talking to her on Skype was almost like being in her clinic”. – Catherine T, Kirkudbright, Scotland
Chinese herbs for a gynaecological condition
“I consulted with Sylvia because I was felling very unwell during the lockdown and had been diagnosed with an endometrial polyp.  Only now have I realised just how bad I was feeling before taking the herbs. I had also put 8 kg on in only a four month period, but now I am very close to my normal weight without any special efforts. I feel very well now. Ms Z from Crawley”