As I seem to have been having a number of friends in hospital recently, I thought it might be timely to remind you of my pre-hospital routine if you are undergoing surgery and to add in some news about the interaction between herbs, drugs and hospitals. My own pre-surgery routine is very simple: three days beforehand I start taking Arnica 30 twice a day, plus Rescue Remedy in water. The arnica deals with trauma and emotional shock before the operation, and helps recovery of internal bruising faster and I usually ask the nurse in charge to make sure it’s under my tongue the minute I wake up and Rescue Remedy helps again with any fears arising from the operation. I keep up this regime up to a week after the operation and add in at least a gram of vitamin C as it is essential both to help support your immune system and recover from any anaesthetic by helping remove it faster from your system.

Herbs and Surgery: As more people are regularly taking supplements and vitamins as part of their healthcare routine, this timely report comes from a US team from the Department of Plastic Surgery at Cleveland’s University Hospital. They are giving this list to any patient who is undergoing surgery, for whatever reason, and I thought you would like to know about it.

* For bleeding effects: gingko biloba, garlic, ginseng, dong quai, feverfew, fish oils

* For drug interactions: echinacea, goldenseal, liquorice, St. John’s wort, kava, valerian root

* For cardiovascular effects: ephedra, garlic

* For anaesthetic effects: valerian root, St. John’s wort, kava

* For photosensitivity effects: St. John’s wort, dong quai

* For hypoglycaemia effects: ginseng