Types of Herbal Medicine
As you might already be familiar about the wide popularity of herbal medicines and their beneficial uses to treat a number of ailments, you should also know about the different types of herbal plants that are extracted into modern day medicines. There are a number of different types of herbal medicines that are used throughout the world. The most commonly known herbal plants and medicines are not just the ones that exist, but there are even other types of herbal plants that most of the people do not even consider being naturally present and these are the ones that have excellent medical properties. Some other exclusive herbs belong to just a single culture while there are other that are known throughout the world.
The common types of herbal plants and medicines
Herbal Teas
Herbal teas are the most common and the easiest to use amongst all types of herbal medicines. This is generally because they can be bought from almost all stores and you can also make some by yourself. You can easily make herbal tea using numerous leaves, flowers or stem of different herbal plants. Each type of herbal plants that is integrated in the tea would have a different function. Therefore, before you try to make herbal tea by yourself, it is important to understand the functions of herbal plants that you would be using. This is because you might even accidentally mix herbal plants with other things that might not be quite complementary.
Herbal Tincture
Among the most commonly known herbal medicines is the herbal tincture. This is generally a liquid solution wherein the herbal plant is steeped into alcohol in order to gain the herbal effects from the plant. The effectiveness of the herbal tincture is largely determined by the amount of concentration of the alcohol that is used.
Fluid and Solid Extracts
Fluid and solid extracts are also among the different types of herbal medicines. The fluid herbal extracts are normally stronger than the herbal tinctures and are very similar to them. These herbal fluids are generally concentrated forms of the herbal tinctures. Apart from this, the solid extracts are also much similar to liquid extracts and herbal tinctures, but these are often dried up in order to preserve the effectiveness. You can also dissolve the solid or dried form of herb in order to gain more from it.
Poultices
The poultices are also among the herbal medicines which should be freshly made to use. This herbal medicine is made from herb that is ground to paste or is mixed with water. The poultices herbal medicines are normally used for injuries like scrapes, sprains and bruises. The herbal ointments are also types of herbal medicines that are in semi solid form. This herbal medicine is normally extracted from vegetable oils and is then steeped for some time before being converted into ointments.
Essential Oils
The most commonly used essential oils are just extracts from different herbal pants of their aromatic compounds and volatile liquids. This type of herbal medicine is generally used for fragrance of soap, shampoos, perfumes and other products and also for aromatherapy. The herbal supplements are usually forms of herbal medicines that are converted into tablets or capsules by different companies in order to meet the demand for herbal use.