The two worlds of science and nature seem to have found a happy medium with the rise of bio herbs and herbal supplements. Plants have always been a fixture of healing, providing cures for centuries before modern medicine ever did. Today, those tools are still at your disposal. Whether it’s as simple as a piece of aloe vera plant to heal a burn or revive dry skin, or something more specialized like natural fertility pills to support the reproductive system and promote female fertility, the scope and reach of bio herbs is undeniable. But with all its potential, there are still many misconceptions out there surrounding the use of herbal remedies.
The Legitimacy Problem
When compared to mainstream medicine, herbal remedies are often passed off as an illegitimate gimmick or fad. This is a misconception that is not helpful to patients or healthcare providers, as it undermines the many established and potential benefits of herbal remedies. As the Wall Street Journal states, alternative medicine is a $33.9 billion-dollar industry, with lobbyists and marketing strategies to boot. And the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that over 30 percent of adults and 12 percent of children in the US use solutions developed outside of conventional Western medicine. This is no trendy fad by any means, as alternative medicine is a serious field with sound support.
However, the University of Maryland asserts that herbal medicine may be used in conjunction with conventional medicine to treat a variety of conditions from common allergies to asthma, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, and even irritable bowel syndrome.
Alternative to What?
Another misconception is that “alternative” medicine doesn’t work as well as conventional (“real”) medicine, which can be problematic when you’re trying to establish remedies like bio herbs as more mainstream solutions. The NIH defines alternative medicine as a “non mainstream approach [used] in place of conventional medicine,” automatically placing herbal remedies and the like as something other than “real” medicine.
The word “alternative” almost implies that the patient or care provider doesn’t know what they’re doing, that they’re ignoring established medical protocol and putting themselves at risk. This is a misconception that can be fixed by changing how we think and talk about these remedies: more as “complementary” to the established practices, or as techniques that can one day be adopted into mainstream medicine and removed of its “alternative” label.
Old World vs. New World
Another common misconception of bio herbs is that they are simply the old way of doing things. Herbs, having been around since before modern medicine, are often seen as archaic or as anything but revolutionary. The truth is that there’s so much we have yet to learn about these natural wonders. Herbal remedies can hold the key to a healthy society if we all just took the time to understand their potential. To refuse to learn more is an affront to progress. Patients, healthcare providers, and our health system all benefit when we decide to embrace innovation as well as tradition, keeping our minds open to new ideas and different approaches to healing.
