You might be familiar with herbal teas, but there are a number of ways that herbs are used medicinally. Not every herbal preparation is used with every herb. Here is a basic overview of some of the ways to prepare herbal medicines:
- Compress – A cloth is soaked in a cool herbal infusion, and then applied topically to the skin.
- Decoction – A very strong herbal tea made by reducing the “tea” often by as much as half its original volume to concentrate the medicinal properties.
- Electuary – Is a mixture of honey and dried herbs held together with honey, where there is enough dried material that the electuary is formed into herb and honey packets, pills, etc.
- Formentation – Is a cloth, similar to a compress, soaked in a strong hot infusion, and then applied topically to the skin. Heat is part of the treatment so apply to the skin warm.
- Fresh/Dried Herbs – Herbs for the most part can be eaten, from the garden or added can be dried, simmered or in cooking pots to add to meals.
- Herbal Salve – Salves are made by adding wax to a herbal infused oil to create a semi-solid herbal preparation for topical applications.
- Herbal Soap – Soap is often made with herbal infused oil, fresh herbs, or herbal tinctures like homemade witch hazel extract. Herbal soaps are used as a disinfectant or for treating skin conditions.
- Infusion – Is often made from steeped herbs. Herbs are often steeped for long periods and can be made into either a hot or cold tea.
- Infused Honey – Is a mixture of herbs and honey. A small amount of herbal material is added to honey and allowed to infuse. Usually 1 part herbs to 2 to 5 parts honey.
- Infused Oil – Dried herbs are infused into a carrier oil for internal or external usages. Most commonly used for topically applications such as soaps, salves, or cosmetics.
- Infused Vinegar – Vinegar is used as a herbal preservative. In vinegar herbal material is added to vinegar and the vinegar will extract its medicinal properties the same as when making a tincture.
- Oxymel – Is a mixture of herbal material, vinegar and honey. It is general added to teas similar to using syrups.
- Poultice – Is the practice of finely chopping or pulverizing herbal material for topical applications for things like bug bites or stings.
- Tea – Made by adding herbs to hot water.
- Tincture – This is the practice of using alcohol as an extract for use with fresh or dried herbal material. Most preparations are made with just alcohol but some preparations utilize a double extraction method of first with alcohol and then water is added to pull out both the water and alcohol soluble constituents.
- Succus – This is the practice of using extracting fresh juice from a plant which is taken by mouth through a dropper in similar ways to taking tinctures. This practice is not widely used because the preparation has a short life.
Often in herbal preparations, various herbs are mixed together to complement and amplify the medicinal actions. If you’re interested in developing your own herbal formulations, I’d recommend taking this online course in Mastering Herbal Formulations from the Academy.