What are the medical herbal therapy preparations?

Currently, the domestically approved compliant medical herbal therapy preparations mainly cover four major usage scenarios: topical, oral, atomized, and acupoint administration. Most of them are mature varieties that have been clinically verified for more than ten years and are not new things that have emerged in recent years.

People who often go to surgery for dressing changes are most likely familiar with Kangfuxin Liquid. It is a typical dual-channel medical herbal preparation. Whether it is oral treatment for gastric ulcers and gastric bleeding, or external application of wet compresses for burns, scalds, and contusions, there are clear diagnosis and treatment guidelines to support it. Last month, I met a high school student in the emergency room who had bruises on his legs after falling while riding a mountain bike. After debridement, Kangfuxin Liquid was used for dressing and dressing. The healing speed was nearly 2 days faster than conventional iodine care, and there was no infection.

Of course, not all products with the banner of "herbal medical use" are compliant. Most of the so-called herbal medical essences and aromatherapy-grade medical essential oils promoted by many bloggers on social platforms have not obtained the approval of the machine name. They are essentially ordinary cosmetics or even three-free products. There has been a debate in the boundary industry about such products. The supporters believe that as long as the purity of the herbal ingredients meets the standards and there is sufficient clinically effective data, it can be expanded into new scenarios such as medical aesthetic repair. The opponents insist that the threshold for the word "medical use" must be strict. Products that have not passed Phase III clinical trials must not mislead consumers by claiming to be medical.

Yinhu Ganmao Powder, which is commonly used in pediatrics, is also an acupoint application herbal preparation that has been used clinically for many years. When children have low fever and refuse to take medicine, it is applied to the navel and Fengchi points. Many parents report that it has a good cooling effect. However, this product is also controversial. Many doctors with a background in Western medicine believe that it has insufficient evidence-based data for reducing fever and is more like a placebo. Doctors of traditional Chinese medicine feel that there are decades of clinical use cases here, and the value of practical application cannot be denied based on the standards of double-blind trials.

There is also Qingpeng Ointment, a Tibetan herbal preparation commonly used in dermatology. It has a clear effect on relieving eczema and gouty joint pain. I bought it for my mother who suffered from chronic eczema. The rash on her ankles was so itchy that she could not sleep all night. It was gone after two applications. Most of the time, this kind of preparation is not completely safe and without side effects. I have encountered patients who were allergic to the acanthus beans in it. After applying it, they developed a large area of ​​red rash. Before using it, it is best to test the sensitivity in a small area behind the ear. Don't apply it on a large area.

In fact, medical herbal preparations are a bit like old marinated recipes that have been passed down in the family for generations. The raw materials are common herbal plants. However, after going through the standardized process of purification, detoxification, and multiple rounds of clinical verification, they are not herbal water that ordinary people cook at home. They are compliant products that can be directly incorporated into clinical diagnosis and treatment plans. Many companies are now developing injectable herbal preparations for anti-tumor auxiliary and postoperative immune regulation. However, because traditional Chinese medicine injections have been controversial about allergy in the past, the approval threshold for such products is extremely high, and there are very few varieties currently on the market. The entire industry is also exploring how to completely eliminate allergenic impurities while retaining the effective activity of herbs, and improve the safety of such preparations.