Herbal medicine is the use of plant preparations to treat disorders of a physical,nervous or emotional nature. It is as old as mankind itself, and the modern herbalist tries to combine that wealth of experience and knowledge with modern research and understanding.
It can be used to treat a wide variety of both acute and chronic conditions (see conditions) both as stand alone treatment and as a complimentry treatment alongside mainstream protocols.
A herbalist will attempt to treat the person as a whole and work on the root cause of the problem rather than just giving symptomatic relief. As well as supplying herbal preparations advice on diet and lifestyle will also be given.
The plants are prepared in a variety of ways, tinctures, capsules, oils, creams and teas are the most common, but retaining the inherent healing potential of the natural plant.