Great Britain and Ireland can boast of a centuries old tradition of alternative and holistic medicine from the Druids and Wiccans through to modern medicine’s founders. For instance, cobwebs had long been used throughout the British Isles on cuts and wounds. The silk binds the wound, obviously, but only recent study revealed that English faith in nature’s remedy was supported by antimicrobial elements (including penicillin spores) in the spider’s silk.
Complementary and Alternative Healing: Traditional remedies from old English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish medical practice is frequently being rediscovered. Blood letting and use of leeches was abandoned, but in more limited usage these treatments are now again sometimes preferred over modern practices. Juniper, willow bark (aspirin), flower remedies, cherries, and many common garden herbs were likewise first promoted as health aids by naturopaths and early doctors in Great Britain and Ireland.
