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The yarrow plant is one of the most highly valued plants for treating the common cold and influenza.

The plant’s Latin name is Achillea millefolium, which is derived from the famous Greek hero Achilles. It is believed that the plant was used during the Trojan wars, where it was used to treat war wounds. Yarrow also has a curious folk name: “nosebleed.” This folk nickname is a testimony to its traditional use as a first aid herb. Yarrow has been used in the past as an emergency styptic to stop bleeding. These days, yarrow is mostly used to treat colds and flu’s, but it is also used to treat problems with the circulatory, digestive and urinary system. You can usually find yarrow growing in meadows.

Most traditional herbalists describe yarrow as alternately dry, sweet, astringent and sometimes slightly bitter in taste. The constituents of the yarrow plant included salicylic acid, volatile oils (including proazulenes), isovalerianic acid, flavonoids, sterols, tannins, bitters, asparagin, and coumarins. The action of the plant is described astringent, relaxing, a promoter of sweat, a blood vessel relaxant, febrifuge, and restorative for the menstrual system. The essential oil of yarrow is described as anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and antiallergenic.

Several parts of the yarrow plant are used to create herbal remedies. These include the plant’s stems parts, its leaves, its essential oil, and its flowers. The leaves of the plant are believed to contain properties that encourage clotting. The leaves are also used fresh as an herbal remedy to combat nose bleeding. However, if yarrow leaves are used to treat nosebleeds, they must not be inserted into the nostril directly as this can make a nosebleed worse. The leaves of the yarrow plant can be harvested throughout the growing season.

The essential oils of the yarrow plant are also used to make herbal remedies. The oils are extracted from the yarrow plant by steam distillation of the flowers. The essential oils of the plant are generally used as an anti-inflammatory or in chest rubs that can be applied when a person is suffering from a cold or influenza. Extracts from the yarrow plant have been used to make an effective mosquito repellent.

The flowers of the yarrow plant can also be used to make herbal remedies. For instance, the flowers have been shown to be rich in chemicals that can be converted by steam into antiallergenic compounds. These chemicals can be used to treat various allergic problems, including mucus problems and hay fever. Traditional herbalists harvest the flower during the summer and fall.

There are many applications for the yarrow plant. Its flowers can be used to infuse and drink as a hot tea that helps treat common ailments of the upper respiratory system, including excessive phlegm. The aerial parts of the yarrow plant can also be used to reduce fevers when it is prepared in a hot tea. You can also use yarrow in a chest rub to treat chest colds, influenza, or to relieve severe congestion.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: cold, flavonoids, Herbal Remedies, influenza, yarrow plant

We can say that the Echinacea flower is listed among the best known and most efficient herbal remedies of our days. It has been used by Native Americans for curing such physical problems as colds, fevers, snakebites or even stubborn wounds.

Echinacea was adopted by the settlers from the natives and became well known to them as cold and influenza medication. Moreover, it became quite popular with the Eclectics of the 19th century. During the last decades, Echinacea became widely spread and well known as a plant that possesses certain efficient antiviral, antifungal and antiseptic properties.

This plant has been used even in AIDS medicines. Even though the most commonly cultivated flower is purple E purpurea, E angustifolia is thought to possess stronger curing virtues and gets used more often by the herbalists and naturopaths.

The character of Echinacea has alternately been described as cool, dry, and strongly pungent. Its main ingredients consist of volatile oils, glycosides, antibiotic polyacetylenes, amides, and inulin. Herbal practitioners value Echinacea for its antibiotic, immune stimulant, antiallergenic, and lymphatic refreshing virtues.

Besides the aerial parts of the Echinacea plant that can be used in herbal tonics, its roots can be used as well. Echinacea roots are usually used for making anti infection or inflammation tinctures and powders. In traditional herbal medicine, Echinacea is commonly used for treating such severe medical problems as kidney infections or for less grave conditions, such as influenza, respiratory infections, etc. Moreover, Echinacea flowers can be used for producing quite efficient capsule antibiotics.

Herbal medicine has found many virtues of the Echinacea plant. People have learned to make Echinacea concoctions, which can considerably intensify the healing process of patients with infections or flues. Patients with influenza, chills or other infection conditions are recommended to take 5 ml doses of Echinacea tincture once every few hours.

The Echinacea plant works well in combination with other herbal remedies, such as buchu and couch grass. Applied together with these plants it can show great results in curing various chronic conditions, such as kidney infection. Mixed with cleavers Echinacea can be use for curing and treating of mononucleosis. This plant is even capable of aiding out people with food poisoning and snakebite conditions.

The patients with wounds can greatly benefit from applying Echinacea flower essences to their injuries by washing their wounds with these essences several times a day. The plant can be used as well for sore throat gurgling. If powdered, it can be applied on the infected or injured skin. It has been efficiently used by patients with weeping boils, infected eczema, and other skin infections.

Most patients take Echinacea plant medicines in a form of capsules, as it is recommended by herbalists and naturopaths. This cure can be taken by patients with acute infections, colds, influenza, urinary tract infections, and kidney infections up to 3 times a day by capsule.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: cold, echinacea, glycosides, Herbal Remedies, influenza

History

Herbalists and naturopaths so highly regard the Elder plant that it has gained a reputation as a sort of ‘complete medical chest’ because of its countless attributes and therapeutic qualities. This tree has a long history of folklore and superstition attached to it. Shakespeare considered the plant to be a symbol of grief. It is also well known for its not so pleasant scent.

In the 17th century the plant was a popular choice for treating problems of excessive phlegm. The herb was used alternately as a diuretic and as a harsh purgative. In the 18th century, Elderflower water was used as a popular skin whitener that supposedly could remove all the freckles from a person’s face.

Medicinal Uses

The Elder plant, scientific name Sambucus nigra, is comprised of several parts that are used by herbalists to create potent remedies. The flowers and berries of the Elder plant have been described as drying, slightly sweet, cool and sometimes bitter. The flowers are used to treat a range of disorders. The flowers are mainly used to help treat problems of excessive phlegm and to encourage sweating. Many herbalists think of the Elder flower as the ideal herb for treating colds or influenza. Herbal remedies made from the Elder flowers are also used to help control the symptoms of hay fever. They can be ingested as a prophylactic to help strengthen the upper respiratory tract. This should be done before the pollen count rises. The Elder flowers can also be used topically to treat chilblains and as an all around anti-inflammatory. The Elder flowers used for most herbal remedies are traditionally harvested in early summer.

The Elder plant contains berries that are also used to create herbal remedies. The berries are known to be rich in vitamins A and C when they are ripe. Traditionally the berries have been taken to prevent the onset of winter colds. They are usually harvested in early fall. The bark of the Elder plant is also used in some herbal remedies. The bark is usually taken to treat chronic, stubborn constipation as well as some arthritic conditions. Herbalists have described the bar of the Elder plant as warm, and it is believed to be effective as a liver stimulant. However, naturopaths rarely use the bark of the Elder plant or herbalists in remedies prepared these days.

There are many ways to prepare the Elder plant in an herbal remedy. Perhaps the simplest way to ingest the Elder plant is to prepare it in an infusion. As an infusion, the Elder plant can be used in a hot tea to treat fevers, mucous conditions of the upper respiratory tract system, and to control the symptoms of hay fever. Many herbalists combine the Elder plant with other herbs, including boneset, yarrow, and peppermint. The flowers of the Elder plant can also be used to create a cream that can be applied to chapped skin and skin sores. It is used for sore or strained eyes and can be used as an eyewash.

Elder flowers can also be used to create a mouthwash to treat sore throats, tonsillitis, and mouth ulcers.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: elder flower, fever, Herbal Remedies, influenza