While every major system of alternative medicine makes at least some use of healing herbs and other medicinal plants, Western herbalism has been an especially fertile ground for exploration. Today there are dozens of sub-categories of herbal medicine; some are practiced by a few disenfranchised fringe practitioners while a few are practiced far more extensively. Here are the main 5 branches of herbal medicine--in alphabetical order:
1. Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is based on the use of concentrated substances known as essential oils. Usually distilled from leaves, bark or roots, essential oils have long been used to scent cosmetics, flavor foods and (to a lesser extent) preserve various consumer goods. But some people believe that essential oils, with their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties can also promote health. The exact practice of aromatherapy varies from practitioner to practitioner. Some believe that aromatherapy works primarily by promoting relaxation and encouraging the body's own natural healing while others believe that aromatherapy's essential oils are in-and-of-themselves powerful medications capable of treating cancer, diabetes and various infections.
2. Bach Flower Therapies. Based on the research of an English physician name Edward Bach, the remedies that bear his name are made by steeping flower petals in water and/or alcohol then further diluting the resulting "tea" with more water or alcohol. The finished remedies are too dilute to contain any of the "active" ingredients of the parent blossoms and, in fact, don't even have a distinct odor, but users believe that the manufacturing process imparts an "energetic signature" onto the finished product.
3. Herbal Remedies. Usually made from "cut" herbs, these remedies are the remedies most familiar to use here in the West. After collecting the appropriate materials, an herbalist may dry or otherwise process the herbs before packaging them in the forms of capsules, teas or loose herbs. Herbal remedies also include things like tinctures and infusions.
4. Homeopathy. Invented by a German physician name Samuel Hahnemann, the practice of homeopathy was the first major offshoot of Western herbalism to really take root. Dr. Hahnemann believed in a theory he described as "like curing like" and developed a healing modality that matched the side effects of herbs to diseases that caused similar symptoms. Today, homeopathy is so well known that people unfamiliar with the difference, use the terms "herbal medicine" and "homeopathy" interchangeably.
5. Phytopharmaceuticals. As their understanding of chemistry and biology grew, researchers of the late 1800s and early 1900s began to search for the "active" ingredients in the most popular herbal remedies. The ability to identify and separate those "active" components eventually led to the development of standardized extracts like those now made from St. John's wort, ginseng and saw palmetto. Decried by some herbalists as the botanical equivalent to heresy, standardized extracts are praised by others for their high quality and consistent dosages.
