Dr. Brenda Bithoney, a naturopathic doctor specializing in women’s health at Anasa Personalized Medicine, in Providence, Rhode Island, is the first practitioner in the state to offer escharotic therapy for cervical dysplasia or abnormal pap smears. The modality is a non-surgical alternative treatment for the conditions instead of the conventional loop electrosurgical excision method.

Escharotic (from the word eschar meaning tissue that eventually falls off or sheds) therapy treats abnormal cells of the cervix (dysplasia) caused by human papillomavirus. It involves herbal agents, like blood root, applied directly to the cervix to form a scab (an eschar).

An extensive health history is performed prior to recommendation for the therapy as it’s not suitable for all forms of cervical dysplasia. The therapy, 12 sessions conducted either once or twice weekly, also includes vaginal suppositories and a holistic approach to supporting the body from the inside out.

A case study performed in 2014 at the National College of Natural Medicine and the Helfgott Research Institute, in Portland, Oregon, showed the positive effects of escharotic treatments on a woman with severe cervical dysplasia. She was treated with oral HPV supplementation, vaginal suppositories and 10 escharotic treatments. Both her six-month and two-year check-ins after finishing treatment revealed a normal pap smear.