Objective To explore the clinical effect of chinese herbal steaming-washing on the senile psychotics . Methods 97 senile psychotics were divided into the treatment group and the control group, and the control group was given conventional treatment, but the treatment group was given both conventional treatment and chinese herbal steaming-washing. Used the brief psychiatric rating scale(BPRS), the condition of simple mental state examination (MMSE),and curative effect evaluation standard of insomnia to evaluate the mental symptoms,cognitive function,and the improvement of the sleep. Results The chinese herbal steaming-washing had an efficacy in improving the psychi-atric symptoms of the senile psychotics other than thought disorder, P<0.05, but it had no difference on the influence of cognitive function P>0.05. The effective rate of sleep improvement was 91.7% in the treatment group and 65.3% in the control group.The chinese herbal steaming-washing significantly reduced the utilization rate of sedative hypnotics from 63% to 21% in the senile psychotics. Conclusion The chinese herbal steaming-washing can improve the sleep of the senile psychotics and the mental symptoms,has no obvious side effect and dependence. The operation is simple,convenient and suitable for long-term use.