WOMEN IN BUSINESS EDITION

14LEADERSHIP

14

PURSUING YOUR CALLING WHOLE HEARTEDLY CAN COME AT ANY AGE. For Gaynor Lottering it began when she was in her late thirties.

In addition to constantly learning, the driving force behind Gaynor’s success-

ful practice is her meticulous and instinctive nature com-bined with her motivation to make a meaningful contribu-tion in people’s lives.

Meticulously precise Gaynor worked as an ad-ministrator in an accounts department. Ill health pushed/ nudged her to pursue alterna-tive avenues of healing when the traditional doctors were unable to effectively help her. Gaynor’s emotional and physical health was at a place where she recognised the choice was hers to change and turn things around.

Gaynor found her answer in a course on alternative medicine in an Odyssey magazine, which could be done via correspondence and class attendance in the UK. On 1 September 2002 Gaynor Lottering qualified as a Phytotherapist. In 2003 she began her practice from her Wendy house and in 2010 she moved into a new wing at her house. But as she says, “It doesn’t mean you know anything just because you have a piece of paper. The real work only begins when

by Vida de Voss-Links • photograph Vida de Voss-Links

DR GAYNOR LOTTERING,PHYTOTHERAPIST

PHYTOTHERAPY is the study of the use of extracts of natural origin as medicines or health-promoting agents. Phytotherapy medicines differ from plant-derived medicines in standard pharmacology. Where standard pharmacology isolates an active compound from a given plant, phytotherapy aims to preserve the complexity of substances from a given plant with relatively less processing.

Phytotherapy as distinct from homeopathy and antroposophic medicine, avoids mixing plant and synthetic bioactive substances. Traditional phytotherapy is a synonym for herbalism and regarded as alternative medicine by for much of Western medicine.

www.sisternamibia.org SISTER NAMIBIA

15

you start practising.” Training in phytothe-

raphy involves rigorous study of medical sciences,

diagnostic skills, pharmacy, material medica and dietetics during the first four years she studied the same subjects as students who become orthodox doctors, which includes Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology and Biology, amongst oth-ers. Phytotherapists are trained in the same diagnostic skills as orthodox doctors but take a more holistic approach to illness. This holistic approach makes the difference since prescribing medication alone often only treats the symp-toms. Gaynor takes great care during her first consultation to identify the cause of the problem in order to treat both the cause and the symptoms. Treatment or suppression of the symptoms will not rid the body of the disease itself. Gaynor’s remedies are intent on restoring the balance of the body to enable its own innate healing powers to kick into action.

The first consultation can take between two to three hours during which Gaynor takes a complete medical histo-ry of the patient, examines the patient physically and takes a urine sample. The treatment is ultimately tailored to suit the patient and will often include four components: herbs, positive lifestyle, diet and exercise. Very often healing is a matter of following these four lifestyle principles and learn-ing how to handle stress better. Together they can restore the body’s balance and health. The second appointment usually follows in two to four weeks time to ensure that the remedy is effective.

Whilst treatment by a phytotherapist is covered by med-ical aid it can be that some patients do not have medical aid or cannot afford the treatment. In such cases Gaynor resorts to at least doing a counselling session with the pa-tient as she believes unresolved emotional issues could be one of the primary contributing factors of chronic diseases. The biggest element of the counselling she shares with the patient is that of forgiveness for any hurt done to them and asking for forgiveness from those the patient hurt intention-ally or negligently. According to Gaynor anger is one of the biggest contributing factors of cancer. To patients who can afford the treatment, Gaynor also stresses the importance of positive thinking and a healthy lifestyle of exercise, good diet, resolving emotional burdens and dealing with stress. Whereas many orthodox doctors believe 99% of patients are hypochondriac, Gaynor believes for 80% of patients there is an imbalance in the body.

Gaynor stresses the fact that phytotherapists are trained to identify the underlying cause of a disease and will thus treat each person very specifically and not simply dispense herbal remedies in response to a condition with specific

symptoms. What can herbal medicine treat? Herbal medicine can

treat a wide range of conditions both acute and chronic in nature. Phytotherapists are trained to understand herb-drug interactions and can safely treat patients who are using pharmaceutical medication. In Europe and Australia some phytotherapists work alongside orthodox doctors in a multidisciplinary setting. A brief list of the kinds of problems that can be treated will follow with two examples each. Conditions treated include problems with the digestive system such as irritable bowel syndrome and peptic ulcers; problems with the gynecological system such as menstrual problems and mammary duct ectasia; heart and circulation problems such as diabetes and angina pectoris; problems with joints and muscles such as gout and rheumatoid arthri-tis; problems with the nervous system such as migraines and multiple sclerosis; respiratory system problems such as sinusitis and tonsillitis; skin problems such as eczema and fungal infections; problems with the male reproductive system such as erectile insufficiency and prostate hyper-trophy as well as problems with the urinary system such as bladder infections and kidney stones.

Gaynor is more than just a doctor who does a diagnosis of the client’s physical body and his or her psychological state; she also makes the herbal remedies she prescribes. These remedies include creams, lotions, medicinal oils, ointments, capsules, teas, tablets and tinctures, which are made from leaves, seeds, roots, rhizomes and flowers. With the help of her two assistants she dispenses tinctures, fills capsules, makes creams and combines dried herbs with alcohol water to make tinctures. They distill, compress, label, pack. This pharmaceutical process of producing and packaging medication can take up to an hour.

Very meticulous care is taken to understand the root causes of the patient’s troubles and to produce the pre-scribed medication. This is no microwave treatment, no quick-fix, but deep care to see the balance restored physi-cally and emotionally for the patient’s healing.

Since she began practising in 2003, Gaynor has had or-thodox doctors come to her as patients or patients referred to her from orthodox doctors. Gaynor never takes people off their medication and also refers patients to orthodox doctors where she thinks she is not able to help them. But as a doctor she spends many hours to understand novel cases to find solutions to these problems. She tries different strategies where necessary and continually expands her ap-proaches, keeping record of combinations of treatment that work for specific cases. In this way she not only builds her personal catalogue of information, but is constantly learning to keep abreast of developments.

HYPOCHONDRIA: The conviction that one is or is likely to become ill, often involving symptoms when illness is neither present nor likely, and persisting despite reassurance and medical evidence to the contrary; extreme