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Vanessa Chellembron
Herbal Medicine Aromatherapy Liverpool
About My Therapies
A Medical Herbalist can treat almost any condition that you might take to your GP, and address both the cause and the resulting symptoms of your illness or condition. Treating you ‘holistically’ means treating you as a whole person, an individual and taking all aspects of your life into account to help you to achieve better health.
One of the things that has stood out for me in my experience of treating patients, is how much of an impact stress can have on our health. Symptoms of stress can start with recurrent infections, reduced immunity – the tendency to pick up coughs and cold, poor sleep, insomnia, anxiety, mild depression, menstrual problems and digestive problems – commonly known as ‘IBS’. Stress can also then progress on to more serious illnesses. If this sounds familiar to you, then Herbal Medicine can help you. Seeing a professional Medical Herbalist is very different to trying to diagnose yourself, and then getting something off the shelf from your local health store because you have read a magazine article saying that some such herb might help you. This can often result in disappointment, and a belief that ‘herbs don’t work’. This is unfair – on you and on the herbs.
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A Medical Herbalist will listen to you, ask you questions about your current health problems, and also look at your past medical history, your diet, lifestyle, and any other relevant factors. The first consultation will take an hour to an hour and a half. It is important for me to know all of the medicines / supplements you are taking, herbs can interact with prescribed medications from your GP and it is important to avoid this. A Medical Herbalist is the best person to understand this interaction and to give you useful advice, then prescribe appropriate herbs for you. At the end of the consultation, I will take your pulse and blood pressure, and if necessary, carry out a physical examination. I will then make up a mixture of herbs (your herbal prescription), give you precise instructions on how to take the mix – usually about 5mls in some water, 2 or 3 times a day. I may also give you some advice on diet and lifestyle.
I use organic herbs wherever possible, from suppliers that I know personally. I use mainly tinctures – which are herbs in a alcohol extract, and make up mixtures for patients (your herbal prescription) according to your physical symptoms, your constitution and whether the herbs will suit you.
People get the most benefit from seeing a Medical Herbalist when they are prepared to take their herbs every day (just simply having the bottle of medicine in your kitchen isn’t enough!), and gradually make some positive changes in their lives. I believe it is important to have support and encouragement when making such changes, and this is where the follow-up consultations come into their own. I give as much support as necessary, but also believe in empowering people, you get the most benefit from the treatment when you are prepared to take some responsibility for your own health, and I can help you to do this.
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Typically, you will be seen 2 weeks after your initial consultation, then usually every 3 or 4 weeks after that. Usually people notice an effect from the herbs within about 4 weeks, with some people it is quicker – around 2 weeks, and some people it can be longer. Everyone is different after all. Herbs do work, but it is important to get exactly the right mix for you. At the follow-up consultations, I will discuss your ongoing condition / symptoms, and make any changes necessary to your mix.
Our bodies are able to easily recognise herbs, in the same way that our bodies recognise vegetables (except for those few who steer clear of all vegetables in favour of processed food!), and know how to respond to them. Our bodies respond well to herbs, your course of treatment can last 3 months, sometimes 6. The decision is always yours, you need to feel you are benefiting from both the consultations and the treatment.
Some people benefit so much from the herbs that they often return to me if their health starts to lose its balance, this often coincides with a time of increased stress.
Sadly it’s usually impossible to remove all the stress from our lives, (I would be a millionaire by now if I could!), so taking more responsibility for managing your life, with the encouragement and support that I give, combined with the herbs proves to be the most beneficial option. Seeing a Medical Herbalist is a choice that you make, it is the first step to taking responsibility for your health.
A Medical Herbalist will treat you as an individual. We are all different, we don’t all look the same, or behave in the same way, we are all individuals – just look at your friends and family, are two people ever really identical? We may have similarities with our loved ones, but we are never identical to them. So it follows that two people with the same condition will probably receive different herbs from a Medical Herbalist because … they are different. If two people suffer from IBS, they will have different symptoms, eat different things and have different digestive functions, it makes sense that they should be treated as individuals and not as ‘IBS sufferers’. People are not solely defined by their health problems, they are more than just a list of their symptoms.
I am very interested in helping people tackle stress in their lives. Stress can often have a huge impact on our health, it can lead to reduced immunity and many other health problems. Today we all lead very busy lives, with mobiles phones, emails and the internet taking up our valuable time, that used to be free of such mechanical devices!
We barely have a moment to ourselves, thinking that we have to fit as much in as possible, regardless of the harmful effects of such a stressful life. It is only when a problem starts to overwhelm us that we start to take notice of it and realise its impact on our health. We have lost sight of retaining balance in our lives. Taking herbs that have been individually prescribed for you by a Medical Herbalist is one way to help to restore balance to your body.
I work from my Practice in Rodney Street, Liverpool on Mondays. Appointments are usually between 9-6pm, evening appointments are available on request.
Consultations
40/hr, your first consultation will usually cost £40 - £60, and your follow-ups cost £20 - £40. Medicines are (on average) £7.00 p/week.
Visiting a Medical Herbalist could be your first step to better health.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions
Herbal Medicine Liverpool
Medical Herbalist Liverpool
Aromatherapy Liverpool
Aromatherapist Liverpool
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