ALAMOSA — For almost half a century, Joe Valdez, pharmacist at the La Jara Pharmacy in La Jara, has been in practice filling thousands of prescriptions for a vast array of medications and consulting with doctors about what other commercially made pharmaceuticals might work best for a condition.

But Valdez was familiar with treatments for different physical symptoms long before he was a university student. From the time he was a little boy, he watched his grandmother and great-grandmother exercise  age-old wisdom and knowledge of how to use plants and herbs growing in the lands surrounding his hometown to treat common ailments. In fact, you almost could say it was part of his genetic makeup.

“My grandmother, Emeteria Chavez, used to go out and pick specific herbs and plants that were growing in the wild,” he said. “She could identify all the different plants and what they were used for. She’d just pinch off what she needed and then bring it back to the house where she knew exactly how much of something to use, how to use it and what to use it for. She learned that from her mother who learned it from her mother. It goes back many generations.”

Ethnopharmacology is a growing field as more and more is learned about the benefits of traditional medicines and their pharmacological properties. But Valdez, who likes to keep things simple, refers to the practice as “Traditional Hispanic Remedies”. He quickly qualifies that the knowledge comes from other cultures, as well.

“My great grandmother, Dolores Lujan, lived in the San Ildefonso Pueblo in northern New Mexico and she had that same knowledge. We call it Hispanic Traditional Remedies but it comes from Native American and Mexican cultures, too.”

When settlers came from northern New Mexico and settled west of Capulin, he explains, “there was no access to doctors. So, they used these traditional remedies when someone in their family was sick.”

Basically, the same situation applied to his grandmother and great-grandmother and those who came before.

“They weren’t curanderas,” he clarifies.  With origins in Latin and Central America, a curandera is a female holistic healer who plays a critical role in caring for members of a community through the use of tradition remedies and other ancient wisdom. “My grandmother and great-grandmother used the remedies just to take care of the family and sometimes maybe a friend of the family. They never took money for what they did,”

With Hispanic Traditional Remedies being such an integral part of his history, it’s no surprise that Valdez’s La Jara Pharmacy has an extremely expansive array of herbs, extracts and oils.

When asked the question on many people’s minds – do the remedies work – Valdez doesn’t hesitate. “I have many customers who come back and buy the same herbs and extracts every month because they work so well. But,” he adds, “my grandmother always said ‘you have to have faith that they’ll work’.“ He pauses for a moment. “I guess you could say that about a lot of things.”

When asked for a list of some of the more common remedies, Valdez immediately mentions Osha extract derived from the Osha plant. “People put it in a tea and it’s good for respiratory illnesses and sore throats”.

Manzanilla (chamomile flowers) is good for settling the stomach and calming nerves. “Some people use it for a baby who has colic but you need to be very cautious about the dosage.” He advises extreme caution and says to always read the back of the bottle.

Lavendar added to tea is good for anxiety and helps reduce phlegm. It can also help with colic but, again, Valdez has the same caution about using it with very young babies.

“Camphor has been used for a long time,” he says, “and now it’s even used in popular topical cremes to relieve muscle pain.”  It can also be dissolved in a liquid and breathed in to reduce congestion. “I have a customer who comes and buys two blocks of it at a time because it works so well.”

Plumajillo – also known as Yarrow – can be used in a tea or as a tincture. Valdez says it has many uses and is good for controlling blood sugar and gastrointestinal issues. “It grows in the wild all around this area,” he says. “My grandmother used it a lot.”

Valdez also carries a number of different extracts, including Muellin which is used for congestion and trouble with sinuses.

“Molinar extract is also very good for chronic sticky cough,” Valdez says, “and Yerba Santa extract is used for cough and congestion. A lot of people come back and buy those extracts again.”

Pine Pitch extract (taken from the resin found on pine trees) also has benefits. The most common use Valdez has seen is to “draw out a boil” or to be used as a salve.

Yucca extract is loaded with benefits, including for arthritis. The root can also be used as a hair shampoo due to its natural cleansing properties.

All of the herbs and extracts Valdez mentioned are available in La Jara Pharmacy’s extensive inventory alongside many more. And if someone wants something he doesn’t have, he’ll order it.

He also does not claim to be the experts that have been in his family for generations, but he does consult with a curandera about the best remedies he should keep on hand.

As more and more people go in search of natural remedies to common illnesses, the La Jara Pharmacy takes on even more importance, not just because of all that has been carefully selected and is contained on the shelves but, also, because of the man behind the counter whose knowledge can only be found in someone who grew up in the environment he did with women who showed him, firsthand, the enormous value in natural remedies. And all of that is only amplified by Valdez himself, a practicing pharmacist in the pharmacy his family has owned since 1977, living in the town where he grew up and his absolute commitment to helping people however he can.

La Jara Pharmacy is located (obviously) in La Jara, 412 Main Street, just a short 15 minute drive from Alamosa. Phone number: (719) 274-5109. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and closed on Sunday.

Valdez emphasizes that the traditional remedies are effective with “self-limiting illnesses” – that is, illnesses that will eventually go away on their own. Situations more serious than that always need to be seen by a doctor.