Many people considering undertaking treatment with Chinese herbal medicine ask me what the cost will be. It is obviously a reasonable question, but the answer is not simple for a variety of reasons:
- Chinese medicine rarely uses single herbs. The usual way they are used is in a mixture of between 4 and 18 herbs, which is termed a “formula”. If a formula can be purchased already mixed and that is suitable for the client, that is cheaper for the client than for me to buy each separate herb and make up the formula myself.
- The herbs can come in different forms, such as dried herbs, pills or soluble granules, each with its own advantages, disadvantages and costs.
- Herbs come in different quality grades, and obviously the best quality costs the most.
- The evolution of the symptoms under treatment is not entirely predictable. We may have to continue longer than expected, we may have to modify the formula, we may have to stop, reconsider, and start with a different formula. It is not a case of, “Take this for a couple of weeks and you’ll be cured”.
There are other considerations apart from cost. Making a tea from the dried herbs is the traditional way of taking herbs, and hundreds or thousands of years experience has shown this way to be effective. However, in a busy life it might be considered laborious, as the herbs need to be weighed out accurately and boiled for up to an hour each day or each second day. On the other hand pills and granules are quick and easy to dispense and take. However, it is not always so easy to provide a personalised formula when using pills.
But back to cost. Let us consider the relatively uncomplicated case of a middle-aged patient who since a couple of months has been experiencing fatigue, decreased appetite, abdominal distension, gas, loose stools, loss of appetite, a feeling of heaviness and lethargy, a sticky feeling in the mouth and a cough with small amounts of white sputum.
This person’s symptoms point to a Chinese diagnosis of “Spleen Qi Deficiency with Wetness accumulating”. I could prescribe a formula of six herbs called “The Six Gentlemen”. It contains ginseng, licorice, aged tangerine peel, two other herbs called atractylodes and pinellia, and a fungus called poria. This will strengthen the digestion, improve energy levels and eliminate the phlegm and the cough. Let us say the person needs to take this for a month and that resolves the symptoms satisfactorily.
I have carried out detailed costings of five different options. The costings involve the cost of the herbs to me, shipping and my fee for providing the herbs as well as mixing and packing them for the client if that is necessary. The options considered for the costings were:
(A) Dried herbs purchased individually and mixed by me for the client.
(B) The dried herbs already mixed by the supplier. (Not always available).
(C) The formula ready-made and presented as concentrated extracts in pill form.
(D) Soluble granules of each separate herb mixed by me for the client.
(E) The formula ready-made and presented as soluble granules of concentrated extract. (Not always available.)
After costing out these options, I threw out option A as it is just too expensive. Having done that, I can tell you that as of September 2025, your outlay for the herbs in the case described would likely be between €140 and €270, depending on which form of the herbs were available.
I will always choose the most economical kind of good quality product that is suitable for the individual patient and that is available in the necessary time frame
Photo: Royalty-free photo from https://www.hippopx.com/.
Robert Hale Herbalist 