Healing through NATURE

While there have been incredible advancements in the world of conventional medicine over the past few years, there has also been a significant advancement in natural medicines globally, causing a shift in mindset towards holistic healthcare. Many people are now taking an integrative approach that combines both, or opting to use purely natural methods of healing.

Nature’s Relief founder Devon Lailvaux

Former professional rugby player and founder of Umhlanga-based natural medicines dispensary Nature’s Relief, Devon Lailvaux is passionate about helping people understand the benefits of sustainable, holistic healthcare.
In fact, he has spent a significant part of his life researching and learning as much as possible about plants like cannabis and their healing properties and, importantly, finding the very best and most reliable cultivators, extraction companies and sources.
“Many people are looking to cannabis for a solution to their health issues – whether it’s anxiety and stress, or more serious conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and auto-immune diseases – but a lot are still unsure and doctors, too, are sometimes hesitant.”

The cause of this hesitancy, Devon says, has been the fact that so many products available are sourced from the ‘black market’. Now that the sale of cannabis products has become more regulated and supply chains are being controlled, it’s becoming less of a problem.
“It’s very important to know what you are taking and how it was produced, which we do through Grow Green, our distribution company. An interesting fact is that our body produces the same type of compounds found in the cannabis plant, called cannabinoids, making cannabis a low-risk form of treatment in most cases if the source is high quality.”

Devon’s drive to understand natural medicine was first sparked while he was completing his honours degree and playing professional rugby. “At first, I was looking at cannabis for my pets, and while many people were smoking it, I couldn’t do that because, as sportsmen, we got tested. We have to be very careful about what we put into our bodies. However, I started doing some  research and found that, if used properly, it has great medicinal properties for inflammation, pain and sleep.”

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When Devon moved overseas to play rugby in France, he starting learning even more. “Not only is our climate perfectly suited for growing cannabis, but there are so many other uses for it as well, from paper to textiles and building materials, that it makes great economic sense to drive this industry.”
When Devon returned to South Africa and used cannabis oils as part of his recovery after knee and ankle surgery, he realised how important it was to know where the product was actually coming from.

When cannabis legislation in South Africa changed, he found himself a reliable source and started selling oils. The results were amazing.
“I had people coming back to me, thanking me and telling me how their lives had changed. It was crazy. However, I am not a doctor and we needed a specialist to help prescribe products safely.”
Now he owns Nature’s Relief, a cannabis dispensary with branches in Umhlanga and Gauteng that employ qualified healthcare professionals who specialise in dispensing natural medicines.

“Our doctors offer consultations five days a week. They are trained to recommend the correct doses for specific health issues, and have expertise in pharmacology and research to understand different cases. It’s important to remember that there are many different types of cannabis extracts and it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.”

CBD and medicinal mushrooms like lionsmane, he says, can be used to treat a wide variety of health issues, including inflammation/pain, stress and anxiety, sleep, gut issues and mental clarity/focus (for ADHD patients). “It can be used in conjunction with clinical medication and we never recommend going off of any prescribed medication without discussing it with your doctor.”

There are instances where CBD needs to be used carefully, specifically when the patient is on blood thinning or blood pressure medication, but their qualified healthcare professionals help with this during a consultation.
Measurement and record-keeping are an important part of Devon’s business to improve results. “Follow-up is absolutely a mandatory part of our process. We follow up with a client two weeks later and record their ailment, the product they were sold, the dosage and results. We’ve been doing this for the past two years and now have over 3000 clients and their results on our database,” he says.
Things are changing rapidly for Devon, who is expanding his business into export overseas, but his focus and passion remain to educate and improve people’s health, performance and quality of life.

“We are here to help bridge the gap between conventional medicine and holistic healthcare using a clinical approach.” Nature’s Relief offers free 15-minute consults and 45-minute consults are R450.

Details: Nature’s Relief, Shop 13 Chartwell Centre, 5 Chartwell Drive, Umhlanga Rocks, www.naturesrelief.co.za, @naturesreliefsa
067 852 9402, [email protected]

 

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