Herbal medicine (phytotherapy) is the practice of using plant extracts to stimulate healing. It is an ancient tradition practiced by all cultures from around the world and is considered to be the oldest and most widely used system of medicine - even today it is estimated that 80 percent of the world’s population is dependent on herbs for their health.

Herbal medicine has many branches including Western, Te Rongoa (Maori), Chinese and Ayurvedic.  Western herbal medicine (as used by Helen) also includes medicinal plants from around the world, and each herbalist will have a dispensary filled with their favourite plant medicines.

Plant medicines have a complex chemical make-up with various phytochemicals producing the therapeutic effect.  Due to the complex nature of medicinal herbs, the whole plant extract has greater therapeutic effect than the 'active' chemical constituents isolated and used. Modern science has confirmed the traditional uses of many herbs and they act in ways unlike any available drug medicine to alter the function or stimulate healing of specific cells and tissues.

A good quality diet (see Food and Nutrition) combined with herbal medicines supply the necessary stimulus to enable your body to heal itself, normalizing cellular or metabolic processes and bringing your body back to a state of health.

Following a Natural Health Consultation, Helen will make a mixture of between 3 and 7 herbs blended together to create a herbal medicine specifically for you.  The medicine is in liquid form and needs to be measured and diluted in a small amount of water before taking. The dosage needs to be taken correctly for the medicine to be effective.

Herbal medicine can be used in conjunction with other holistic therapies to speed up or assist the healing process.

Helen Donnison is a professional member of the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists www.nzamh.org.nz