What are the types of medical herbal therapy preparations

The core types of medical herbal therapy preparations currently used in regular domestic medical scenes are basically divided around drug delivery scenarios. The mainstream categories are oral, topical transdermal, and intraoral drug delivery. There are also a small number of customized preparations for special scenarios.

The first thing I came into contact with in the outpatient clinic was oral administration. A while ago, there was a girl who had suffered from chronic gastritis for three years. She always felt nauseous after taking western medicine. Finally, she was prescribed non-cooking granules that combine Codonopsis pilosula, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Poria cocos. In addition to this kind of non-fried granules, there are also more familiar mixtures and ointments, such as Chuanbei loquat ointment and Shiquan Dabu ointment, which are prescribed to old patients with lung deficiency and chronic cough every autumn and winter. They are all medical oral herbal preparations with national drug approval, and they are not the same as the food-grade throat ointments on the market.

In addition to those that are eaten, topical products are even more popular. During the last community free clinic, several elderly people with waist and leg pain came to ask about Musk Zhui Feng Ointment and Yunnan Baiyao aerosol. They all fall into this category. There is also the rehabilitation fluid that is commonly used by patients with bedsores recently. It can be used as a topical wet compress to promote wound healing and can also be taken orally to treat gastric ulcers. It is a special model that crosses scenarios. However, clinical practice is still classified as the topical category according to the main indications.

There is also a type of intraoral administration dosage form that people seldom take the initiative to pay attention to, but is frequently used in gynecology and anorectal medicine. For example, the Sophora flavescens suppository commonly used in gynecology to treat fungal vaginitis is to make effective extracts of Sophora flavescens into suppositories and insert them directly into the vagina for administration. It works faster than oral medications and does not irritate the gastrointestinal tract. The Xiongdan Zhiling suppository commonly used in the anorectal department has the same logic, and is especially friendly to old hemorrhoid patients.

However, there is still some controversy over the definition of medical herbal preparations in the industry. Some scholars believe that only those that have obtained national drug approval and are circulated nationwide can be counted. Others believe that in-hospital preparations from regular traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and customized products that have been clinically proven to be effective should also be included in this category as long as they are used under the guidance of medical staff in medical scenarios. There is no completely unified standard yet.

We ordinary patients don’t actually need to worry about the details of classification. As long as it is prescribed by a regular hospital and carries a formal approval, if it is used according to the doctor’s instructions, there will be no pitfalls.