Phytotherapy is the study of the use of extracts from natural origin as medicines or health-promoting agents. Where standard pharmacology isolates an active compound from a given plant, phytotherapy aims to preserve the complexity of substances from a given plant with relatively less processing.Traditional phytotherapy is a synonym for herbalism and regarded as alternative medicine by much of Western medicine. This type of therapy is a very old method of medicine and has been used by many different cultures throughout the world. South Africa is one of the countries known to have a rich history of such medicine and in some parts of the country this method of practicing medicine still exists. It is through recent research that scientists have found that some of the remedies from the natural plants really work and some even better than off the shelf everyday medicine. Phytotherapist usually prepare and formulate medicine themselves using Herbs. They can create a syrup, cream, lotion or ointment for a number of things. Phytotherapist normally formulate medicine out of herbs for a specific problem for an individual. For example, “Several herbs may be mixed together in a tea or tincture formula, providing different effects for different areas of the body. The whole idea is to allow the plant extracts to work as closely as nature intended, to balance and heal the various organs and systems in the body”.
