April 29, 2026

Today in our live Q&A chat inside the Confident Herbalist Tribe community, we had the BEST question come up. In fact, it was so good, I wrote an article. This is the kind of question that I can't fully address on social media because it's illegal to do so. But I can teach students in our private school.

Thankfully, this is still allowed!

The question was about a healthy young man's desperation and need for help. He asked for help dealing with an acute sinusitis infection he had suffered from for six weeks and two rounds of antibiotics that did nothing for him.

I'm sure you can imagine the pain and stress of his situation!

When antibiotics don't work, it's a sign that other methods need to be used. In fact, these other methods (herbalism and aromatherapy) should be our first line of defense for any kind of common ailment. Antibiotics should be the LAST consideration because of how harmful they are to our body.

Enjoy this latest article where I share my thoughts about his situation, plus a multi-layered, safe, effective approach for tackling acute sinus infection in an otherwise healthy young man. It's too long to share here, but I think it will be very helpful for you as I share how a holistic herbalist develops a protocol for a client....in layers

When antibiotics fail.....

​Herbal Medicine Protocol for Acute Sinusitis​

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Some Herbal Things to Make for May Day

May 1 is the perfect day to do some things that make your home feel fresh, your body feel cared for, and your spirit feel grateful for the season God has us in right now.

1) Dandelion Pesto

I have SO been going crazy for dandelion flowers this spring! The past two years, I haven't worked from home, and now that I am again, it is SO wonderful. I can get outside to visit my plants whenever I want to.

Our grass has grown up quickly, and the dandelion flowers are incredibly adaptive. They just grow longer stems, so you still have the sweet flower faces sitting on top of the sea of grass. Joe was going to mow, and I asked him to leave me a patch where most of the flowers grew. Now our park area looks like it has a bad haircut. But that's the herbalist's way!

Here's one of my favorite spring recipes: Dandelion Pesto. You can also use nettle leaves if you like instead or with the dandelion leaves. It's delicious, nutritious, and easy! Plus you can freeze it for later, too.

​Dandelion Pesto for Foraged Health​

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2) Forsythia Flower Recipes

Depending on where you're located, you probably have sweet, sunny yellow forsythia flowers to pick!

Did you know they have some medicinal properties? They're wonderfully anti-inflammatory. And, you can also use them as food. Here are some ideas for using forsythia:

​Forsythia Flower Syrup​

​Forsythia and Cherry Scones (SO good!)

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3) Flower Facial Steam

Herbal steams aren't just great for the respiratory system....they're amazing for the health of your skin, too! They are sincerely a fabulous beauty treatment in their own right.

To make an herbal flower steam, just boil some water.

Then pour it into a sturdy bowl that won't tip over easily.

Add your flowers! Consider rose petals, calendula, lavender, dandelions and forsythia (of course), and any other blossoms you have available. If you like, drop a beautiful floral blend of essential oils (lavender, ylang ylang, jasmine, neroli, petitgrain, rose, helichrysum, geranium) into the steaming water.

Important: Just one to three drops of essential oil is best, so if you want to use several essential oils, you'll need to make up a blend.

In fact, here's a nice blend: Lavender, bergamot, ylang ylang

Cover your head with a towel, and hover over the bowl. Breathe in deeply and refresh both your skin and your lungs.

Did you know that both your skin and lungs are also two of your important detoxification organs? What a beautiful way to support them!

Do you have my FREE Guide to Herbal Steams? If not, you can get it through that link!

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Great news for the School!

Did you know that I wrote a 665 page textbook? On top of all the other herbal texts found in our courses and inside the Confident Herbalist Tribe?

Yes, I wrote it back in 2024 for our incredibly robust Aromatherapy Specialist Certification course. It's filled with videos, the text, and all the things that make it a certification course.

Well, the premier aromatherapy organization and board, the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), has approved our school, HHH School of Botanical Arts & Sciences (SOBAS) to be on their "approved school" list!

If you've ever wanted to become a certified aromatherapist, we've got you covered, and for now, the price is still at the original beta launch price from 2024.

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The Herbal Homestead

The garden is up and running now. The chickens are happier. The horses are hopping along.....

And then a tragedy struck.

My little horse, Buddy, went blind last Thursday evening. He also developed ataxia (a type of palsy), and couldn't put weight on his left side. You can imagine how scared I was!

I called the emergency vet, and she was very kind. But she couldn't come out for several days (she still hasn't been out to see him as she is super busy). She asked if I had medication (banamine or butol), both of which are only available by prescription.

No, I didn't. And no, she couldn't provide a script without seeing him.

Can I just tell you?

It was just ONE MORE (of many) moments when I prayed a prayer of thankfulness that I invested time and money in learning herbalism over the years. I was SO thankful.

Why?

Because I wasn't hopeless, with no idea how to proceed! It's truly the BEST feeling.

I immediately sprang into "herbal action."

I began dosing him with enough willow bark tincture (mixed with oats and honey) for his size, and did this three to four times a day to bring down the inflammation and pain. (Both banamine and butol are anti-inflammatories, from what I gather.)

Although he couldn't see and he couldn't move, we started to see results after the second dosing. He was more alert, and he could hobble to the water.

I made a cream with anti-inflammatory essential oils for the swelling in his leg and haunch. And this I applied a couple of times a day.

It's now four days later (as I write this), and he is almost walking normally (he is still dragging his left front leg a bit), he can see fully, the palsy is gone, and he's now expecting his willow, oat and honey snacks. He even tried to trot over this morning.

NOTE: I considered giving him St. John's wort tincture too, and if the palsy and blindness didn't clear as quickly as it did, I would have because it supports healthy nervous system activity. The issue with high doses of SJW is that it may cause photosensitivity when taken internally. So, that would have been a situation where I'd have had to decide if the risk was worth it.

I am SO thankful that I could do what needed to be done with our herbal medicines we keep on hand at all times to help him feel better quickly. I am so, so grateful.

Truly....God gave us the plants in their perfect form.

I do not think he meant for humans to start messing with perfection. I know modern medicine can be life-saving, and I'm happy about that and that we have options and choices.

But the choice of herbal medicine has been stolen from populations in developed countries by those in power and greed.

Personally, I love that having the knowledge of plant medicine gives us one more GREAT choice when we have emergencies or need support for our health.

Herbs work. They save us a TON of money. And they bring us the best health from a perfect source.

"Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep. Lord, You protect mankind and animals." Psalm 36:6

Hugs, Health, and Herbs,

Heidi

P.S. The Botanical Skincare course is still on sale through Friday, May 1st! You can enjoy this $77 course for just $19 for a few more days! Here's a link with the coupon code already applied for you:

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P.S.S. I almost forgot! I'll be going live again this morning on my YouTube channel at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, 11:00 Mountain, noon Central, and 1:00 Eastern! I hope you can join me for another in our series of social Q&A's! Come and ask me anything! Just click on the image to get to my YouTube channel!