Herbal medicine / Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Herbal medicine, or herbalism is the use of plants (and minerals) for medicinal purposes. It's one of the oldest proven forms of medicine in the world and has been passed along the centuries.
Herbal traditions such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Unani-Tibb have a recorded history of continuous practice spanning several thousand years to present day.
Even in the West, there is a vast treasure of herbal knowledge that uses plants, age-old wisdom and instinctive, learned knowledge of the body as the tools to balance health.
Modern herbal medicine is a holistic system that can draw upon the rich knowledge from all cultures of the world, to treat the whole person, instead of just their disease symptoms.
Dis-ease is considered to be a manifestation of imbalance and disharmony within the patient and their life. Herbal and all holistic methods of treatment aim to treat the person rather than disease and symptoms, though it focuses on the patients response to disease; internally and externally.
With the advent of technology and the growing dependence on modern pharmaceuticals, most of us have forgotten the art of living and looking after ourselves.
How to know the herbalist is qualified?
Contemporary herbalists all receive extensive training, and all complete at least 3 years of intensive study, which includes supervised clinical training, pathology of disease and human physiology before they qualify as a registered herbalist. They also study botany, pharmacology, herbal therapeutics and clinical methods.
Once qualified, continuous professional development (CPD) becomes a part of every professional herbalists practice and development. All herbalists adhere to a professional code of ethics and conduct.
Different practitioners will use varying methods of diagnosis according to their herbal tradition. Qualified, professional herbalists are found amongst several professional bodies in the UK. These include the Unified Register of Herbal Practitioners (URHP), the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH), the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP) or the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM).
What happens when you visit me as a professional herbalist?
As with other professional therapists, the first step is to book your first consultation with me, ask me any questions and possibly fill in a questionnaire prior to the first visit.
The questionnaire, which I normally send in the post before your consultation, allows you time to consider your health, any current health concerns or symptoms and overall lifestyle.
Your initial consultation will normally last up to 1.5 hours. During this session, I'll take a full medical case history by going through the questionnaire, recording any current medication, any medically diagnosed condition, past and pending operations as well as details of life habits. The first consultation allows you to explore any issues with diet, lifestyle, family medical history and emotional well-being.
Using these questions, examining your tongue and taking your pulse helps me to identify the root causes of any imbalance with health and lifestyle. I use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a diagnostic framework to decide which herbs are best suited to your constitution and health conditions.
The herbs that I work with can be native and peculiar to the UK and Europe, as well as originating from China and Asia. However, any conventional pharmaceutical prescription and supplements you take have to be taken into consideration to determine any potential herb-drug interactions before deciding what herbal prescription is suitable for you.
I recommend a treatment strategy which includes a personalised herbal prescription, dietary suggestions and lifestyle changes. Good communication between herbalist and patient is essential.
Whenever any holistic treatment is received, it is advised that you inform your GP. Normally with your consent, I inform your doctor that I am treating you, unless you prefer your doctor not to be contacted.
It's important to remember that only a medically qualified doctor can legally diagnose a medical condition. On occasion, you''ll be advised to seek additional advice or treatments from other therapists or your GP.
Is Herbal medicine safe?
In the right hands, yes, herbal medicine is safe. Herbalists use the whole plant material when producing an herbal prescription, retaining the herbs natural balance, maximising the healing potential of the plants used and making it easier for the body to use.
Using the whole plant minimises the possibility of side-effects, which occur with misuse of herbal medicine or with personal sensitivity to plant constituents. Unless indicated, most mild herbs are of equivalent toxicity to most common foods.
Just as certain individuals may have adverse reactions to certain foods, so a small proportion of people will react adversely to some herbs.
It's important to realise that many modern drugs originate from isolated plant extracts that are commonly synthesised in the laboratory. Both herbal medicines and modern pharmaceuticals have a part to play in your healthcare choices.
When professionally practiced, herbal medicine is much more than replacing herbs for drugs; it aims to provide you the patient with the best choices to balance and heal yourself.
What can Herbal medicine treat?
Herbal medicine addresses many of the health concerns that people take to their GP, and can be used by people of all ages to treat minor, short-term ailments and chronic conditions.
It often helps those conditions that conventional medicine can manage yet is unable to cure. It's also possible to treat more severe illnesses with herbs and conventional pharmaceuticals.
Conditions which have been helped by herbal medicine include:
- Respiratory conditions
- Digestive difficulties including IBS
- Allergies
- Pain from headache, backache or arthritis
- Skin conditions
- Sports injuries
- Menstrual and menopausal conditions
- Infertility and impotence
- Stress
- Sleep disorders
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Addictions
You don't have to be unwell to consult with a professional herbalist. Many people find the care of a herbalist helps maintain their current good health, or optimises their well-being prior to beginning a new venture in life.
For more details or to book a session, please contact me (John Weeks), either by email on or by telephone on 01933 439655.
You can also see my profile here.
For more information on Herbal medicine, please visit the Unified Register of Herbal Practitioners at their site www.urhp.com.
The Nightingale Clinic
