traditional healer

A traditional healer is a person who practices medicine or provides health care using methods passed down through cultural or indigenous traditions rather than modern Western medical training.

Such healers go by various names depending on culture and specialty—curandero, sangoma, medicine man, shaman—and may employ herbal remedies, spiritual rituals, or bodywork.

In many communities, traditional healers remain the primary source of health care, treating physical ailments alongside psychological and spiritual concerns.