Choosing a herbal remedy
One of my herbal teachers, revered American herbalist Paul Bergner, uses this example to illustrate why a herb might work for one person but not another.
Say you have a headache. A friend who’s into natural remedies swears by Lavender for headaches. So you take a Lavender tea and it does nothing at all. If anything, it makes the headache worse.
Another friend with some plant medicine knowledge recommends Willow bark. So you decoct some, gulp it down and lo and behold—headache gone!
Why did the Lavender not work?
It hinges on two things: the nature of the headache and the actions of each herb.
If your headache is caused by tiredness, deficiency or exhaustion and your face is pale, you need a remedy with a tonic action—Willow bark.
But If your headache is caused by tension, a real throbbing monster made worse when you bend forward, you need a remedy with a relaxant property—Lavender.
Taking a tonic herb when you’re already over-activated will make the headache worse. Taking a relaxing herb when you’re already lacking in energy won’t help either.
So your friend who swears by the Lavender remedy had a tension headache. Yours, though, was to do with tiredness or deficiency, so the Willow bark worked a treat.
This is one of the reasons why over-the-counter herb teas so often don’t seem to help. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all herbal remedy for everyone.
Matching herbal actions with physical constitutions
This is only one, simple example. There are all sorts of reasons why a person might get a headache and any number of herbs that can help—and they may not even have painkilling properties. Cramp bark, for instance, is brilliant at relaxing muscle tension. If you have a headache caused by a cricked neck, Cramp bark alone might be enough to fix it.
Herbs have different actions and people have different physical constitutions. Matching them up for a safe and effective outcome is why herbalists take years to learn their discipline.
If you want to know which herbs will help you safely and effectively, get in touch.
