Some people seek out complementary medicines or alternative ways to treat their hepatitis C. At this time, no complementary or alternative medicines have been proven to reduce symptoms or cure hepatitis C. In fact, some herbal therapies (such as kava) can actually damage the liver.

Preliminary studies of the herb milk thistle do show that it may help protect the liver from inflammation.¹⁰ The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine currently is conducting a clinical trial on the use of milk thistle for hepatitis C. Talk to your doctor if you are thinking about trying milk thistle or any other complementary therapy to treat hepatitis C.