Herbal Inn and similar - Beware!!

samiii_2

With these shop poping up all over the place on busy high streets, I decided to pay them a visit. I have been having problems sleeping and feeling stressed, so I thought to give them a try.

As I entered I was greeted by a friendly lady who asked me how can she help. I told her if they have any kind of relaxation teas/herbs. She advised me that I should see their doctor for a no fee consultation.

I was told during the consultation that I have a weak pulse, weak immune system, and low energy

They drew up a plan and advised me that I would need 5 medicines, costing £100 for a weeks supply (8 weeks for the treatment) and accupuncture at £35 a shot and needing 7-10 sessions. I promptly told them I cannot afford this and left.

Unknown to me, a friend of mine has also been to another one of their stores in recent weeks, she was suffering from heavy periods and pain.

She was told a similar thing that she had a weak pulse and weak immune system and that her kidneys are not functioning well. Also they suggested accupuncture.

Now, the who place seems like a rip off to me, why should we both have the same diagnosis of problems? we were also prescribed similar medicines.

My friend did pay for a weeks worth of medicine and took 3 accupuncture sessions and has not made any difference to her problems.

I would like to advise people, just be carefull, and dont fall for all the hype and propoganda surrounding how good chinese medicine is. For sure if you go to a good practitioner and if done properly can be very effective, but half these guys cant even speak english and you useually have a sales person in with you as a translator.

Regards to my problem, I took a visit to my local Holland and barrett and bought some st Johns wart, and some natural sleeping capsules and these have been a big help!

AndySmythe

Hi Samiii,

I'm a journalist and I'm researching the issue of Chinese Medicine for the BBC. I'm wondering if some shops are a bit of a con and I came across your post. Would it be ok to find out a bit more about this? Which branch of the Herbal Inn was it (it's a chain as I understand it)?
When did you visit Herbal Inn and do you know of anyone else who've had similar experiences? At this stage I have to stress that I'm not necessarily doing a story about it, but just trying to speak with as many people as I can.

Many thanks,

Andy

jcorbygas

2 years ago, exactly the same happened to me. I also had a weak pulse etc (made me worry about whether I had heart problems) and had chinese herbs prescribed and acupuncture. I found the acupuncture was good although it did not treat the original problem I went in for, which was tinnitus, but the medicines, apart from tasting disgusting, did nothing for me. My husband also visited so between us I think we spent around £700 (this was pre moneysaving days).
I think proper Chinese medicine is good but I think the Herbal Inn places do charge too much.

nausea_bagwash

My sister and I have been going to Herbal Inn for some months now. The same experience as others have mentioned, you are greeted by a very pleasant young lady who is bilinguial it seems. She translates everything we say to the 'doctor' who is also very pleasant but speaks hardly any English. We had a change of 'doctor' a few weeks back and this one seems to speak more English and has more experience than the previous one - or at least that is what we have been told.

I too was told I have a weak immune system but in my case it could have been true because I have Lupus which is an auto-immune disease. I went to Herbal Inn because the normal medical profession were doing nothing of any use. After some time I was told my immune system was a lot better. I was also told my spleen wasn't working properly.

One thing that puzzles us is that we keep being given different medication. The ones that really did seem to work were stopped and we got something different that made us take a backward step healthwise. We have had to ask for the same medication that we had before. I was told that my spleen was working much better.

Indeed there does seem to have been improvement in some areas, to be fair to them.

A great idea would be to take along someone English who speaks Chinese but sits there pretending he/she doesn't understand and listen to what is being said when the receptionist/sales lady translates for the 'doctor'. For all we know they could be saying all sorts of irrelevant things.