From time immemorial, the use of drugs has been regarded as the most important, most diverse and most precise form of therapy in traditional Chinese medicine. Around 500-600 plants, minerals and animal materials form the heart of the Chinese Materia Medica and are compiled as medicines in formulas. When used internally, these herbal medicines are either boiled in water or porridge and infused as tea, or administered as herbal pills or powders, as well as tinctures. For external use, pastes, ointments, compresses and plasters are used or baths, steamings and incenses are made. Professional prescribers of Chinese herbs mainly compose multi-component formulations that correspond to the pathological pattern and cause of the disease as well as the symptomatic properties of the diagnosed disease.

The effect of each individual remedy is clearly defined according to its property and quality. The property of fresh ginger, for example, is neutral to slightly warm, its quality is pungent and it has an effect primarily on the lungs, but also on the stomach and spleen. With medical understanding, ginger gains more precise details. Fresh ginger clears the surface of the body and dispels cold. It warms the center, i.e. the stomach and spleen, and stops vomiting. It also clears phlegm from the lungs and stops coughing.

Each prescription is individually tailored to the patient's requirements and usually consists of around 12 herbs and drugs. The medicines are either dispensed dried, boiled and drunk warm as a decoction, mixed in granular form as a powder that can be taken with water or dispensed as a tincture mixture. The duration of therapy depends on the type of illness. Acute conditions can be treated in one to three weeks, while chronic conditions and constitutional weaknesses take longer and often need to be treated repeatedly.
Many of the traditional Chinese herbal formulas have been documented and used in Asia for more than 2000 years and over 5000 different herbs are available to a traditional Chinese medicine herbalist.