How does herbal medicine work?

If you cut your finger, you can apply any number of creams, but ultimately the healing comes from the body itself, not the preparation you choose to apply. This is the principle behind herbal medicine as a therapy. Herbs bring the body back to balance. As well as being powerful medicines, they’re also foods that provide nourishment and healing to the body as a whole.

Although two people might present with the same complaint, each will experience their illness differently. For example, someone with hay fever may have red, itchy eyes and a runny nose; another person may feel tired and have an itchy, dry throat. Although both people technically have the same condition, their symptoms are totally different.

When formulating a prescription, herbalists take the uniqueness of each person into account. Different plants benefit different people. Herbal medicine works holistically in that the person is always the most important variable in the equation. This is why no two herbal prescriptions are ever the same.

Here at the dispensary we stock a large number of plants which are used to make a variety of medicines such as tinctures, teas, creams, salves, powders and capsules.