Patient Heal Thyself
What if you could walk out your front door and harvest medicine to heal yourself and your family? Would you miss having to drive to the pharmacy or even worse, having to make an appointment and then driving to see the doctor? Probably not. Creating an herbal medicine chest is not difficult and the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that arise from knowing that, with the help of our herbal allies you can keep yourself well, is life changing.
Creating our own healing remedies is not a new concept for humans so we should not look apon the process as difficult, scary or intimidating. It is a skill that until about a hundred years ago most people took for granted and in fact most of our great grandmothers probably knew how to make very basic cures-recipes that had been handed down for generations with the chain only broken due to the advent of current pharmacuetical science and shrewd marketing. It is interesting to note that among the top industrialized nations in the world, the United States is the most medicated but the least healthy and has the lowest life expectancy. So do we really need to be taking so many heavy, possibly dangerous, sythetic drugs? Well that's a question that each person needs to research well and answer for themselves but on this page we will discuss another, more gentle option. And one that forces the individual to take back control of their own health. This page is a very basic introduction to making herbal medicine so I highly suggest you invest in two great books on the subject if you would like to proceed to actually making remedies at home. Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech and The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook by James Green are affordable and available on Amazon.com. Read on and be liberated!
Making Teas, Decoctions and Tinctures
Don't let the terms scare you. These three medicines are variations on a theme. Basically, soaking the herb or root in either boiling water or strong alcohol. The tea is familiar to everyone and the simplist medicine to make. Most folks have made herbal teas and not even thought of it as a healing brew but depending on the herbs used, it most certainly can be. Think Chammomile tea to help you sleep or Peppermint tea to settle an upset stomach. See how simple this is?
A decoction is just a really stong tea made by boiling the herb, usually roots, bark or berries, rather than just soaking them in hot water. The resulting tea can be drunk or used externally as a compress.
A tincture is made by soaking the herb in 90-190 proof alcohol for at least 4-8 weeks and then straining the spent herb from the liquid. What remains is a liquid that has extracted many of the medicinal qualities of the herb in an easy to administer, concentrated form. Tinctures have a very long shelf life and are thus a great addition to the herbal medicine chest.
Making Compresses and Poultices
Ok, I realize these words sound very archaic to us but I bet our gradmother's could tell you exactly what they are and how to make them. Both compresses and poultices are similar in that they are used externally to treat wounds or skin problems. They only differ in how they are made.
A compress is very simply a cloth, usually cotton, soaked in a tincture, decoction, tea or herbal infused vegetable oil. It is placed against the skin or held in place with a strip of cloth and can be repeated as needed for localalized skin afflictions.
A poultice is made by placing the herbal material either macerated or whole leaf on the skin. The herb needs to be held in place in order for it to do it's work so it's best to get it to a spreadable consistancy and then cover it with a cloth. Poultices are most often used to extract poisons or infection from a wound and can be used warm or cold. The former increases the blood flow to the wound while the later decrease inflamation at the site.
If this short description has gotten you the least bit interested in taking charge of your own health then I've accomplished my mission! The truth is that most doctors's visits occur for very minor illnesses, most of which could be treated successfully at home with a little knowlege and plants that you can grow right outside your front door. In addtion to the two books mentioned above, there are two great websites to help you out. Herbmentor.com is a subscription only website but has a forum that is great for getting your questions answered as well as many other great learning tools. I highly recommend this site for dedicated beginers and I'm not affiliated with them in any way except that I subscribe to their site. Learningherbs.com is a great place to get started and is free. Herbal health is a journey and is a marathon not an all out sprint so go slowly and enjoy the ride!