Plant Medicine

Why Try Plant Medicine?

Plant medicine aims to get to the root cause of the problem and usually presents few or no side-effects. Plant medicine is effective in treating many common conditions from skin ailments and irritable bowel to anxiety and insomnia. A number of plant medicines now have significant scientific research to show their clinical efficacy and how they work pharmacologically. In some cases, where studied in ‘head-to-head’ clinical trials, plant medication has been shown as effective as single drug medication, carrying few or no side effects such as addiction.

However, everyone is different and in order to ensure you take effective plant medicine, just like taking drugs, it’s important to take the correct prescription and the correct dose for your individual needs, medical condition/s and current medication.

Dilston Dispensary of Herbal Medicine

This summer you can have easy access to qualified information at the Dilston Dispensary of Herbal Medicine with medical herbalist Davina Hopkinson on Wednesdays 12.30-2.30 pm, May to September.

Please contact Davina in advance; davinaherbalist@gmail.com to make an appointment. The dispensary is also available online via phone or video call (normal consultation rates apply).

Consultation, Medicine & Prices: £25 for thirty minutes. £45 for forty-five to sixty minutes. Plant medicine is purchased separately at approx £8.50 per 100ml /weeks prescription.

Davina Hopkinson gained her degree in Herbal Medicine at Lincoln University. A Herbal Medicine degree is a challenging and in depth qualification, involving not only a deep understanding of the plants, their properties and their medicinal uses but also the study of anatomy & physiology, pathophysiology, psychology, nutrition and clinical examination. Davina is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (N.I.M.H.), established in 1864, it is the largest body of herbal practitioners practicing in the UK.

Dilston Dispensary of Herbal Medicine is here to provide you with easily accessible qualified information about your individual plant medicine needs and to offer over the counter suggestions.

Finding the right combination of plant medicine specific to your needs is at the heart of plant medicine and is necessary to ensure effective medicine. But it can be difficult these days with the array of products available. Plant medicine involves individually tailored prescriptions of often more than one plant to treat your whole condition. Often people spend a great deal on supplements and remedies that are not appropriate or helpful. Dilston aims to offer qualified over the counter suggestions and effective plant medicine that is tailored to each person’s need.

Dr Nicolette Perry, pharmacognosist at Dilston Physic Garden, says “Visitors to the physic garden regularly ask which plants can help treat common conditions like irritable bowl, sleep problems and anxiety and which plant medicines are safe to take with certain conditions or medications. We are delighted that Davina Hopkinson and other medical herbalists and a pharmacist here in the North East are able provide qualified professional safety-assured information on effective plant medicine.”

Today many plant medicines are being tested in human studies and clinical trials and how they work in laboratory scientific research. A number are shown safe and effective to treat common conditions from anxiety to digestive issues and the scientific research shows just how the plants ingredients work, and in a number of different ways, to achieve results. A number of plant medicines tested have also been shown as effective as their drug equivalents, for example in treating anxiety and often have fewer or no side effects such as addiction.

However, many people do not realise that in order to prescribe effective plant medicine you must be a qualified medical herbalist affiliated with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Medical herbalists study for 4 years and undergo extensive clinical training”.

The Dilston Dispensary of Plant Medicine is a first for the North East and Davina has worked alongside Dilston Physic Garden for many years.

About Davina

Davina has over 20 years experience in prescribing effective plant medicines to patients. Davina says, “One of my favourite plant medicines is verbena. Use of this herb has been recorded consistently since Egyptian times and it used to be revered as something of a cure all. These days one of its main uses is a relaxing nerve tonic. The English herbalist Culpepper described it as being useful for people who are “frantic” and I think this is an apt description, who these days is not frazzled and stressed out!”

Davina works from home and visits patients in their own homes around the North East and works with the physic garden in promoting and organising educational school visits for children as well as running the Junior Medical Herbalist Club and her popular Children’s Potion Clubs over the summer.