Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine is a complementary therapy that uses of whole plant preparations to treat illness and disease and to restore health. Herbal medicines treat the person holistically, as a whole and not just the symptoms and tends to support the body’s natural healing processes rather than just attacking the disease.

Herbal preparations are made from parts of the whole plant (eg. leaves, flowers, berries, bark, root) and contain many constituents, some of which are more active in restoring health within the body and other which, Herbalists believe, help with absorption and prevent any side effects. Herbal medicines may take many forms – tinctures, dried herbs, juices, tablets, creams etc.

Medical herbalism may be used for a wide range of conditions with complete success and there are very few cases in which it cannot offer some help. It can be applied at any stage in life; newborn babies, children, adults and elderly people can by helped with Herbal Medicine.

Commonly seen conditions include:

Digestive: eg. indigestion, ulcers, colitis, irritable bowel syndromes

Respiratory: eg. asthma, coughs, colds, bronchitis, ear infections

Hormonal: eg. menstrual, menopausal and thyroid problems

Psychological & Emotional: eg insomnia, anxiety, depression

Skin: eg. psoriasis, eczema, acne

Immune System: eg. reduced immunity, recurrent infections

Circulatory: eg. high blood pressure, angina, varicose veins

Urinary: eg. cystitis, thrush

Herbal medicine is safe and effective – this has been proven over thousands of years of use. It may be taken in conjunction with orthodox medicine and in such a situation, ideally, the Herbalist will work alongside the doctor.

Each person is assessed individually for treatment, considering past medical history, diet, lifestyle, stress etc. and usually a number of herbs are put into one individualised prescription. There is no one specific remedy for eczema, headaches etc., as different people with the same illness will need different medicines.

The initial consultation takes 1 hour after which it is agreed between herbalist and patient what is to be treated and a herbal mixture is made up for the patient to take away. At follow up appointments, at 2-4 weeks and usually lasting ½ hour, progress is reviewed and any necessary adjustments to the herbal prescription are made.