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Already using collagen powders or beauty capsules? Before adding Chinese herbal granules, bring your full product list and talk through suitability, labels and directions at the Lane Cove clinic.

Plenty of people who look after their skin and appearance already take something, perhaps a collagen powder, a beauty capsule bought online or a tea a friend suggested. Adding Chinese herbal medicine to that routine deserves an unhurried conversation first, because a plant-based product is still an active substance once it is in the body.

Bring the whole list

Dr Christine Shen, Acupuncturist, sees herbal medicine clients at the Lane Cove clinic and will ask about prescription medicines, vitamins, beauty supplements and anything ordered from overseas. Include creams and serums too if you are unsure whether they count. Two useful questions: what is actually in the granules, and who to contact when part of the instructions is unclear.

What you receive from the clinic

Herbal medicine here is dispensed as concentrated granules in bottles, each with its own written directions for preparing, measuring and storing the product, plus a use-by date. A bottle that resembles one you have seen before, or a prescription that belongs to a relative, says nothing about what suits you. Keep the original bottle and its label together so the details are never separated.

Some habits are worth leaving behind altogether: increasing the amount because progress feels slow, lending your bottle to someone else, or assuming a product suits you because a family member liked it.

Keeping the details on hand

Your plan should name the product, set out its directions and include an agreed review time. Let Christine know whenever your GP starts or stops a medicine, and tell your GP or pharmacist about the herbal product as well. If a rash, stomach upset or other new symptom appears and you cannot tell whether the granules are involved, seek advice instead of guessing at a new dose. Pregnancy or planned surgery is also a reason to check in before continuing.

Next time you book a massage or facial, slip your product list into your bag. It takes only a moment to ask whether a separate herbal consultation would be worthwhile for you.