Which group historically used diet, rest, plants, and herbs, and also performed surgery?

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The main idea is that early healing combined lifestyle guidance with herbal remedies and medical procedures, treating health as a balance that included daily habits and natural medicines, with surgery as a supported tool when needed. Ancient healers fit this description because they not only prescribed diets, rest, and plants to restore balance and health, but also performed surgical practices such as trepanation, wound care, and other operative interventions using the techniques available at the time. Across civilizations—from ancient India’s surgical texts to Greek and Egyptian medical traditions—healers acted as all-in-one practitioners, blending regimen, herbal medicine, and surgery. Modern surgeons specialize in operative care and did not historically encompass the full spectrum of diet and lifestyle guidance; apothecaries focused on preparing medicines, and barbers carried out only basic, limited procedures. That combination of lifestyle management, herbal therapy, and surgical capability is what characterizes ancient healers.