Tibetan Herbal Medicines
The practice of Tibetan medicine has been prominent in Tibet for well over one thousand years. Traditional Tibetan treatments utilize a variety of therapies and medicines, including behavior modification therapy, changes in diet, acupuncture, massage, and inhalation therapy, among others. one of the most commonly used therapies in the practice of traditional Tibetan medicine involves ingesting herbal formulas. Herbal medicines are used to treat a wide variety of maladies, ranging from the common cold to digestive disorders and even lung disease.
The formulas of Tibetan medicine were original developed in an effort of supplementing the preferred treatments of behavior modification therapy and implementing diet changes. The herbal medicines sought to balance the three humors: rLung (wind), mKrhispa (bile) and Badkan (phlegm). To create these medicines, Tibetans used a variety of different herbs. The average treatment included over a dozen different ingredients. A third of these were found in Tibet (mostly near the Himalayas) and the rest of the medicinal ingredients were from India and China. Because of the effort involved in procuring ingredients from India and China (as well as the difficult preparation of these ingredients to create the medicine), herbal medicines were only used as a last resort when other treatments failed.
Once the appropriate herbs had been collected, they had to be peeled and mixed thoroughly. After being set out for a day, the ingredients were mixed again and then ground together. Finally, the mixture was used to create pills, which were stored in a cloth bag.
Although Tibetan herbal medicines have seen some changes, many of the ingredients are still used today. These include:
-bamboo
-saffron
-pomegranate
-hippophae
-gentiana
-berberis
-ginger
-garlic
-sandalwood
-terminalia
Chebulic myrobalan, an astringent herb, was known as the "king" of the herbs used in Tibetan medicine because it met all the known properties of Tibetan medicine.
