PHARMER THOMAS

Welcome to Pharmer Thomas’ page and products.

This is Thomas Avery Garran aka Pharmer Thomas, and I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome you to this page and the entire Herban Pharmer website. First, I want to say how honored I am to be a part of this company. A company that embraces my ethic is hard to find and I believe Herban Pharmer is just such a company. And now, if you will indulge me I will tell you a little about myself and my work, how these products came to be, and what I hope to bring to you now and in the future.

I have been working with herbs for about 20 years and practicing since the early 1990’s, first studying the Western herb tradition through books and a few classes, then with a number of teachers in Santa Cruz, CA I began to blur the line between Western and Chinese herbal medicine, and later at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where I received my Masters degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine. Along the way I have had the honor to study with many great teachers of both Chinese and Western herbal medicine. Currently I am living in China studying with doctors here to further my knowledge of clinical Chinese medicine.

In 2008 my first book, Western Herbs According to Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Practitioners Guide was published and I am currently working on a second volume. This is, I feel, my primary contribution to the field of herbal medicine. I am not the only person to combine Western herbs with Chinese medicine; in fact, the Chinese have been doing it for centuries by adding such herbs as Myrrh and American Ginseng to their standard materia medica. My philosophy is that where the herb grows matters not, what matters most is the correct choice of an herb for a given situation. Therefore, the more choices and awareness of choices practitioners and lay-herbalists have, the more informed their choices can be. This, I believe, has great potential to benefit patients around the world.

Of course, using medicinal plants requires practice and skill, but I believe it is incredibly important to remember that there are medicinal plants growing all around us. For the lay-herbalist using the herbs that grow in your local area can often mean convenience and the ability to have fresh and high quality herbs by spending very little time while you’re out on a hike. Perhaps you can’t pick everything you need, but the sense of being, in this way, a part of your or your family and friends healing process is very rewarding.

For the practicing professional herbalist I realize that most don’t have the time to gather and process herbs for your practice. But the importance of having a wider selection and sometimes a better choice for a patient can not be understated. Furthermore, by using more plants that are from closer to your location you are saving valuable resources that are otherwise used to transport herbs all over the world. And it has been said that using herbs from your area may be more appropriate for a person. Although I am not sure about the last point, if it might help a patient I am willing to try as long as I am not hurting them.

Over the years of playing with plants, as I like to say, I have worked to try to find ways to integrate Western medicinal plants into the Chinese medical paradigm. These formulas are but a small contribution to what I hope will offer many people relief from suffering. Over time I will be releasing more of these types of products and I am also hoping to offer formulas for use internally. Please feel free to contact me with any questions of comments regarding these products or any other questions you might have pertaining to my work.

In Good Health,

Thomas Avery Garran

AKA Pharmer Thomas

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