Western Herbal Medicine

What is Western Herbal Medicine?

Western herbal medicine (WHM) involves the use of plants to create herbal remedies to help prevent or treat various illnesses and promote wellness in individuals. Various parts of the plant may be used, such as flowers, roots, fruits, leaves, and bark to create a herbal remedy.

The tradition of WHM, dates back to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 BCE- 370 BCE), the ‘Father of Medicine’. Hippocrates stressed that the whole body needed to be in balance for health. If an imbalance was present leading to ill health, it would form in one or more of the four humours of the body. Treatment of the imbalance was by way of herbal remedies, food and exercise. Other well-known historical physicians Galen and Disocorides, are believed to have used herbal remedies in their practices. Disocorides (50- 80 AD) is said to have written the first manuscript describing botanical medicine from a scientific approach. The De Materia Medica, detailed the use of over 600 medicinal plants. The use of various herbal formulas is one of the oldest and possibly the most widespread form of medicine.

Today Western Herbal Medicine is the subject of increasing interest in the medical and wider communities. Research is currently being conducted in the use of medicinal herbs for various medical conditions and their use in clinical settings based on patient centred care. In some studies, the whole herb is given to a patient, whereas in other studies, isolated active chemicals, or constituents of a plant, may be extracted, purified, and administered to the patient.

Herbal remedies are used for many suggested purposes, such as improvement or general support of digestive, respiratory, circulatory, immune, endocrine, and nervous system processes.

What to expect at a Western Herbal Medicine consult

  • Our herbal consultations are not intended to replace medical care or medical advice. Herbal consultations are educational, and are not intended to treat disease, but support health and healing processes.
  • Each consultation is individualised to the patients needs. Often a herbal tincture, mineral celloids, nutritional supplementation and nutritional/lifestyle changes will be recommended.
  • The cost of herbs is not included in the consultation price. Herbal remedies will range in price, ask your Practitioner for further pricing.
  • Please bring a list of your medications and supplements to your consultation.

The Initial Consult

The initial consultation is an in depth interview focusing on health history and health patterns.  During the consultation, mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical patterns will be considered when formulating a personalised program. This is a very thorough consultation process to allow the practitioner time to provide the best possible recommendations for your needs.

Further testing such as hair mineral analysis, environmental allergy testing, DNA testing or blood testing may be suggested.

A Herbal Tincture prescription will then be created, unique to your presenting signs and symptoms.

Why do we start with a liquid herbal tincture?

A liquid medical herbal dispensary allows a clinical practitioner to provide an individualised treatment.

With a liquid medical herbal dispensary, a clinical practitioner has:

  • the ability to treat their patient’s signs and symptoms.
  • the ability to work around drug interactions.
  • the ability to continuously change and update treatments when the patient begins to improve.
  • the ability to adapt treatment, move on to other areas when symptoms begin to heal and assist with new changes in health in follow up appointments.

Taste can be an issue in liquid medical herbs, we have many suggestions to improve taste. There have been recent modern advances in the use of liquid herbs. We can now provide herbal remedies that are alcohol free for those that may have an allergy etc. Ask your Practitioner for further information.

If a patient is struggling with taste, a formulated herbal tablet, from a scripted Practitioner only company can be prescribed.

The treatment in tablets is still effective. However there is generally an increase in cost and many tablets may be required instead of one liquid herbal tincture.

Cost: $150 (1-1.5 hours).

The Follow-Up

The first follow-up is scheduled 2 weeks after initial consult, then at 1 month intervals. Follow-up consults take between 30-45 mins.

Cost: $85 (30-45 mins).