About Ozark Herbalist, LLC

Carl and Carolyn Hefner opened Ozark Herbalist LLC out of a need to provide integrative and alternative health options to clients in our area. We have been part of the community since 1979 and are blessed to live here in Southwest Missouri.

Carl is a pharmacist and owned Hixson Drug for 33 years. He brings to the clinic knowledge of traditional Western medicine from pharmaceutical approach. He is a dependable resource for integrative information of prescriptions and over the counter medications.

My background includes 18 years of Critical Care nursing, including Critical Care Instructor, then as medical consultant and account manager for Abbott Laboratories until early retirement in Jan. 2004. My diagnosis of fibromyalgia in the mid 1980s compelled me to investigate integrative health methods. After years of pain and declining mobility, I finally found relief in alternative medicine utilizing supplements and herbs. My own experience with traditional Western allopathic medicine is the motivation for helping others with similar circumstances. My experience in Western medicine allows a unique understanding of both Western biomedical approach as well as functional alternative medicine.

In the successful achievement of my Ph.D., I have Board Certifications as a Master Herbalist, Clinical Nutritionist, Naturopath and Homeopath. I have made it my mission to provide the highest-quality, most powerfully effective supplement solutions and information for natural well-being and healthy living.

1. Every person is unique

Every person is biochemically different, these variations can be simple or quite complex. Western medicine has struggled to find a 'one size fits all' treatment for conditions. However not all symptoms are from the same cause. While the symptoms can be categorized and compartmentalized, determining the root cause is where the functional medicine shines brightest.

2. Treat the person not the disease

So many physicians and patients refer to the disease and not the person with the symptom. One might say, "He's diabetic." Each person is unique, and because of this, the greatest gift we can give a person is to understand the cause of their imbalance.

3. Homeodynamics

This is “how the body works – 101” and yet many fail at appreciating the intricate balance of energy in the body. Balance the “stressors” in the body, mind and spirit and healing will be allowed to occur.

4. Care is Prevention not Reaction

The idea of prevention in functional medicine is truly based on the vital capacity of the body to prevent the disease in the first place. When the energies of the body are supported, it works amazingly well. When energies are imbalanced, illnesses begin to manifest. The earlier the energy imbalance is corrected, the healthier we will be.

5. Organocentric

Humans are one of the few species that find it difficult to live 10 times longer than their age of puberty. The body is designed to live 120 years, yet most Americans are finding it difficult to live past 60. Functional medicine is profoundly considerate of the idea that the patient is only as good as their organs. Just one organ failure can terminate the patient's life, longevity, or happiness. We are all going to die, but we sure want to feel great till the end.