Arab Traditional Medicine Herbal Medication Techniques and Treatment Processes

Prof. Dr. Atif Atiya

Lebanon

This paper addresses the herbal medication applied by traditional Arab medicine. It discusses and analyzes the different methods used in treatment, the way the medications are prepared and their efficacy in curing disease.

Some of these methods were so prevalent that people believed that they were the only effective ways to treat specific diseases. 

Traditional medicine usually uses substances preserved at home for use in a timely manner to address an urgent illness in the family. If the body is not healed, a doctor or some other authority in the town or neighborhood is consulted (either for treatment or for transfer to the hospital).

The therapist or the traditional expert uses various methods. They may aim at expelling illness from the bad blood in certain places of the body by cupping; splitting fractures and returning the dislocated bones to their normal position; use of cauterization (moxibustion); use of acupuncture and other techniques, used for the treatment of tonsillitis, jaundice, etc.

Herbal medicine has specific techniques to prepare the drug for treatment. The medication uses substances that grow in nature, and aims to cure the root cause of the illness.

After countless experiments throughout history with herbs, plants, and even animals, traditional medication has become more reliable. Plant and animal products have been used in several ways, depending on the type of disease and its location (whether external or internal). They come in different forms such as powder, syrup, and batched (plaster), after grinding it alone or in combination with other substances proven to be of benefit through trial and error. 

 

Many of these medicinal substances were taken orally.  Others were inhaled after being crushed and softened when they become dry.