Reviewed by최연승대표원장
If I live on Jeju Island, can I receive a non-face-to-face herbal medicine prescription for dieting? I'd like to know what I need to prepare.
Yes, non-face-to-face consultations are available. Please prepare: ✓ Recent health check-up or blood test results (within 1 year) including liver function (AST, ALT), kidney function (Cr), blood sugar, and cholesterol levels; ✓ A list of all medications and supplements you are currently taking; ✓ A brief history of past diet attempts and any side effects experienced; ✓ A simple record of your eating patterns and lifestyle habits. Based on this, the Korean medicine doctor will assess your constitution and condition before prescribing herbal medicine. For the online consultation, please find a quiet place, turn on your camera, and talk as if you were meeting in person.
Yes, even if you reside on Jeju Island, you can receive a herbal medicine prescription through a non-face-to-face consultation. Telemedicine has become widely available nationwide. However, there are a few items to prepare:
1. **Health status documentation**: The most important is a recent health check-up report. Specifically, liver enzyme levels (AST, ALT), kidney function (creatinine), blood sugar, and cholesterol levels are needed. Since herbal medicine is metabolized by the liver and excreted through the kidneys, this is essential for safety. I once forgot this step and had to request re-examination, so please be sure to include it.
2. **List of current medications and health supplements**: Please mention all Western medicines, nutritional supplements, and any other herbal remedies you are taking. If you have recently used weight-loss injections such as Wegovy or Saxenda, it is mandatory to inform us so that we can adjust the prescription to avoid interactions.
3. **Diet history and side effect notes**: If you have attempted multiple diets, please write down which methods you used, how severe any rebound weight gain was, and whether you experienced side effects such as palpitations, insomnia, heartburn, or constipation. In Traditional Korean Medicine, such issues are often analyzed as Spleen Deficiency (脾虛, biheo) or Phlegm-Fluid Retention (痰飮, dameum).
4. **Lifestyle habits record**: Preparing 3–5 days of meal photos or a food diary, along with sleep hours and exercise routine, helps assess your constitution more accurately. For example, a pattern of frequent late-night eating or stress-induced binge eating will require a different herbal formula.
The non-face-to-face consultation is typically conducted via video call. Please find a quiet place, turn on your camera, and freely discuss any discomfort or questions you have. Although pulse diagnosis requires direct contact, tongue diagnosis (설진, seoljin) and symptom history taking (문진, munjin) via video can still reveal a great deal. After the consultation, the herbal medicine will be delivered to you by courier, and follow-up assessments are usually done every two weeks.
Please note that if you have an underlying condition such as acute liver disease or severe renal failure, non-face-to-face prescribing may not be possible, so you must inform us in advance. Overall, non-face-to-face treatment is a way to receive professional care while saving time and money.