Why herbalists don’t treat fibromyalgia

Many of the clients I work with have failed to find answers with conventional medicine. As you might imagine, this means I end up working with a fair number of people who have issues such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmunity, etc.

So, how does an herbalist treat these conditions? The simple answer is we don’t. In part, this is because we aren’t licensed to practice medicine. We don’t look at a client with, say, fibromyalgia, and start recommending herbs A & B. 

Secondly, even if we could treat diagnosed conditions, herbalists take a much broader approach and look at the person overall and what’s not functioning properly. Simply taking herb X for condition Y - although this is how people generally self-treat using supplements, and can be effective - is not how herbalists develop recommendations for a client. There are herbs that help with symptoms but the deeper value of herbs is found when applied to the body’s systems.

Thirdly, most herbalists don’t see the inability to treat diagnosed conditions as restrictive. We have our own criteria for developing recommendations. We often recognize dysfunction where medical providers don’t. Many of our herbal clients appear in near perfect health on their medical labs and yet something is clearly wrong. Let me say that again because it’s worth emphasizing. Our clients with chronic issues often look great… on lab reports. But, when we apply an herbal diagnostic criteria it becomes very apparent that they are not healthy.

All of this is not to say that a medical diagnosis is unimportant to an herbalist. We need to know if you have something that we should consider when recommending herbs. Some herbs are not appropriate for people with certain conditions. And, I always recommend clients have regular medical check-ups. I generally view herbalists and medical providers as complementary rather than competing. That being said, the typical goal of conventional medicine is to manage the symptoms of chronic conditions. Herbals strive to help the body heal, often with great success.

So, back to fibromyalgia and what this all means. When I’m meeting with someone who has fibromyalgia, as with any condition, the medical diagnosis is not my focus. I’m looking at where their body is not functioning properly, and it’s always in more than one system. Then comes the question: what can we do to help the body improve?

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Larry Leach, Herbalist, Evergreen Health Clinics