The power of Herbs

As Allen already told you I love herbs, and not just in my food(though I do love to cook). So with that and Violets support I would like to offer here a chance to just ask questions about any herb(from our nothern hemisphere) that you may have a question on :).
I will try to awnser your questions as best I can, as usuall...
Also I'll try to make a habit out of posting a common herb, with its uses, every two weeks, or every week if your interested.
I definitly don't know everything there is to know about every herb there is, so please feel free to post any extra input you feel appropriate.
The doors open, so just come in and ask!
Love
.Gwen

Thank you Gwen

No problem hun , hey its not like talking about two of my favorite topic's is any kind of horrible
Side which thank Allen (jk).
I'm gonna call it a night, still have to do a full day of talking to panicy physicians tommorow, so I'll need my wits about me.
G'night!

Gwen

Night Gwen take care

Gwen thank you so much
here are some questions:
do you know of good hards to use as a tea or a drink for relaxetion? and against panic attacks?
thank you
shayn

Shayn,
I just picked a few well known herbs that are relaxing to the body, and to an extend also the mind.

Chammomile.
Chammomile is by far my favorite herb, i like the smell of it, and I associate the herb with getting better, after having been ill. My mum always gave me this herb when I had the flu. A bit of chammomile tea with some honey was usually the only thing I could hold down.
There is big list of minor ailments that chamomile is said to help and it can all be traced to its effects of the nervous system and digestive system, as well as its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
Because of its benificial effects on the nerveous system chamomile is an excellent remedy for all manner of womens disorders and is especially valuable for problems arising from stress, like anxiety, and tension. It has a wonderfully soothing, sedative and absolutely harmless effect so it can be used by people from 0 to age 100. It is considered by some a preventive and the sole certain remedy for nightmares.
Inhaling the essential oil of chamomile lowers stress and helps to counteract allergies and insomnia, which are often factors in anxiety and attention deficit disorder (ADD).
I love a cup before bed, or when stressed out, but not just for me, it works wonders on kids that have trouble sleeping to.


Lavender
Lavender is one of those herbs you´d probably recognize everywhere. The relaxing and uplifting scent can either lift you up or help you relax and sleep. Because of its cooling and relaxing effect on the skin lavender is one of the most useful herbs in almost any blend intended for daily skin care, and strong enough for healing burns, scalds and disinfecting cuts and insect bites.
In general lavender is used to relax muscle spasms anywhere in the body, and to relax the body in the presence of pain. As such lavender is an extremely herb to use in a hot bath when you have bunched up muscles.
A bit of lavender sewn into your pillow can help you sleep, I use it as a herbal tea to at times, but due to the rather strong taste I generally mix it with other herbs, for example chammomile.

Valerian
Valerian is without doubt the most widely recognized herbal sedative. It is used by herbalists for insomnia ,nervous anxiety and to help the body relax in the presence of pain. Although valerian is potent, it is neither habit-forming nor addictive. Valerian puts you to sleep but doesn't cause a morning hangover or interact with alcohol.
Research shows that extracts of the root will not only help you fall asleep faster but also improve sleep quality. Despite it's distinctly ripe, and somewhat offensive odor, it continues to be one of the most popular medicinal herbs worldwide. I don´t use it as a tea, because we all know our sense of taste is influenced by our sense of smell...(Juch).You could though. There are however over the counter, completly natural valerian tablets, that you can take with some water. They work like a charm.

We may not like the odor of valerian root but is actually an indicator of the strength of the medicinal properties of the root, the more pungent, the better the quality is, as is the case with more roots. Valerian root generally does not lose effectiveness over time and keeps well.

St.John´s Wort.
St. John's Wort is a herb that is well known, but also a herb that some people are a bit suspicious of and not without good reasson.
Please do not use St. John Wort:
- If you have hear of lung disease.
- If you are taking heart/lung medication.
- If you are using bloodthinners.
- If you are using "The Pill"
- If you are pregnant.
- If you are breastfeeding.
- If you have really fair skin.

St. John's Wort is used in treating a wide range of ailments, including bladder problems and diarrhea. It is also very effective in treating bed wetting in children. It has a sedative and pain reducing effect, it is especially regarded as a herb to use where there are menopausal changes triggering irritability and anxiety. In addition to neuralgic pain, it
will ease rheumatic pain.
It is however best know for its calming and uplifting effect in case of stress, depression and restlesness.


I hope this information is of some use to you all, if any of you require more information on one of the herbs above in terms of active substances in these herbs, please don't hesitate to ask. I have tried to keep the information as accesible as possible.


Gwen

thank you Gwen
why can't you take st john if you have fair skin? i have fair skin. sun and my skin do not go hand in hand.
thank you for all the info'
i will give it a try

Hi Shayn,
You awnsered your own question honey, St. John's Wort can cause fair skin, like your and mine to react violently to UV :) It causes photosensitivity. Which means if you thought you where sensivtive to exsposure to the sun before, beware cause you're likely to be doubly as sensitive as normal when using St. John's Wort.
Mind you not everyones skin reacts in the same manner, even if it does have the same shade. But I can honestly say that I'm not one for risc taking :).
Love
Gwen

thank you Gwen

My colleague (who generally has some new disease symptom every day) actually got sick last week and last friday she came in and the throat infection she already had all week had spread to her sinus and eventually to her eyes. One eye was red swollen and leaking "booger"

The only thing her GP had told her was "Keep irrigating your eyes and come back on monday when it gets worse over the weekend" Which ofcourse did nothing to alleviate her discomfort.

Even when she asked for eyedrops she didn't get anything. So she complained about it to me and she reminded me of a lovely herb, which I told her might help. So for anyone with an eye infection. Do go see you GP, but this might help alleviate some of the discomfort.

Eyebright.(Euphrasia officinalis).

In dutch this wonderfull plant is called Ogentroost (Ogen = Eyes / Troost = comfort, as in To comfort).All the parts of this plant are used, though the roots are generally used seperatly.

Eyebright is a half parasitical plant. It is in part dependend upon other plants for its nutrients. It has sucking roots that take the nutritive salts out of the roots of grassoids in its vicinity. The plant is an annual and it grows to a hight of 20 to 20 cm.

Its a common herb that can grow on most soil types. Its most commonly found in Germany , Itali, the Balkans and Russia, though it certainly also grows in the UK and The Netherlands.

Eyebright will help out with a great number of ailments concerning the eyes. It helps with, obviously, and infection of the eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, dry eye, purulent infections of a sebaceous gland along the eyelid margin, eyelid infections, eyes that water because of a draught, eye injuries and photosensitivity of the eyes. Tired eyes and so
on.


Generally the best way to use this herb is to make a tea with the dried herb, make sure the liquid is clear,leave it to cool, and if you plan on using it as and eyerince ad a wee bit of salt,as that is the natural state of the fluid on your eyes. If you put the loose leaves of the herb in a cotton or fiber filter when making the tea then feel free to use it as a compress
directly on your eye when still warm(not to hot).

Instead of using just Eyebright feel free to add some Chamomille.

Drinking eyebright as a tea on a regular basis will support its effect in outside use. Its also known to stimulate the liver in getting rid of all the gunk in your system.

Well that´s it. Hope this is of some use to you it has been to my colleague.

Love

Gwen

Oooh Gwen I wish i'd found this a few weeks ago, I will get some though as it's still coming and going regularly.

Is there any herbal tea which will help ease constipation?

Thanks Gwen great to see you btw The constipation remedy is for a family member, but the liquorish will help me too as i've had a cough for about 3 months now

Hi guys,
So, do you guys have a favorite herb? One that you'd like to know more about? Do you have an minor ailment that we can tackle, or a general interest in say "headaches, bowel problem', infection, pms,?
Pick an ailment, or a herb and I'll tell you anything you'd like to know :) I just
Ooh I love this smiley :hcat:

Anywho just lemme know!

Hi Gwen it's great to see you back is there a herb for a really stubborn chesty cough please?

I was just looking at the eye infection post above another good tip for sticky and gunky eyes is to alternate milk (yes milk)with cooled boiled water to bathe using seperate balls of cotton wool for each eye and each bathe, I've used this method for over twenty years on children and kittens.

Gwen I forgot to ask I use white sage regularly for cleansing but does it have any medicinal value?

Sorry i'm back again, what about swollen ankles feet and lower legs?

Hi Gwen,
Thanks for all the info you are enlightening us with here on site. This is an area of which I am interested but I am so scattered in other areas that I havent been able to delve into the Herbal side even though I got a couple of books on Herbal Uses.
Huggles x

Whoa, I've missed a lot I see in the time I was away! I'll anwser your question this eve :)
Love and light,
Gwen

hi Gwen so great to see you again, hope this time you are back to stay.. missed you... wellcome back

Thank you shayn :)

Well I had to do without internet for a long time as it toolk them ages to fix my laptop and then wanted to charge me more then half what the latop cost new, whilst I'm insured for that.... Needless to say I did not pay that bill

As for white sage, wonderfull stuff, you can drink is as a tea for a bad cough, its part of the mint family, although this type is a bit sturdier then most.

It also helps against sweating overly much and is said to be great for night sweats.

You could use sage, of any type for a cough, also use it as steambath when the problem has really got stuck in your lungs.


The swollen ankles? Do you allways have them,or just after doing a lot of walking? Are the red as well?


Love,

Gwen

Hi Gwen great to see you, sorry about your computer troubles, thanks for the tip on white sage, the only time my ankles are only not swollen is when the weather is really cold, like now, they're never red though.

Hi Gwen, Its good to see you back, I think you have become the resident on site Herbalist. I have a question for you too, What herbs can be used to limit the effects of Arthritis please.
Big Hugs x

Thank you so much for that Gwen, I do actually drink far too much coffee, I will try the nettle tea and cutting down on the coffee a bit