Larkspur - a plant with a "talking" name, which accurately characterizes its properties. There is another name for this green doctor - comfrey. Useful properties and contraindications to its use, we will consider in more detail. What does comfrey look like? Herbaceous perennial can reach one meter in height, has large elongated leaves, covered with fluff. For medicinal preparations, the root of the plant is more often used, but the leaf can also be used for medicinal purposes.
When and how to harvest comfrey
Comfrey root is best dug in the spring, until the leaves begin to bloom. You can also harvest it in the fall, after the plant fades.
If you need the leaves of the gastrospect, then you need to collect them during flowering.
When preparing the root, it is important to dry it reliably - the medicinal comfrey prefers to grow in moist places, loves moisture very much and accumulates it in its roots.
The root extracted from the ground is thoroughly washed, cut into small pieces, and dried for a long time. To keep the concentration of nutrients in the roots of the plant to the maximum, the temperature for drying the raw materials should not be higher than + 60 ° C.
To store comfrey roots and leaves, you will need paper bags or boxes, the raw materials have a healing power of about 1 year. It is the roots of the plant that contain the active substances - allantoin, alkaloids, tannins, essential oil, glucoalkoloids, sugar, organic acids, resins, etc.
Tinctures, decoctions, attacks from comfrey roots are used to treat various kinds of fractures, with bruises of bones and soft tissues, dislocations, sprains, and spinal injuries. Zhivokost - lives bones (literally), contributes to their accelerated fusion, the scope of its therapeutic effect extends to muscles, joints, tissue repair. The plant gained well-deserved popularity in traditional and official medicine, and even during the war it was the first aid for victims in the field.
Comfrey, photo:
Medications, which include livestock, have an anti-inflammatory effect, antimicrobial, astringent, hemostatic effect. Comfrey loves a humid environment, places near natural or artificially created reservoirs, various ravines, indentations in the ground (trenches), which is why it got this name. In the natural environment of growth, it should be sought in this particular area.
Where is the livestock used?
As already mentioned above, the use of comfrey is relevant for bone fractures, various injuries of the skin and muscles, with gastric and intestinal inflammation. It also helps with kidney diseases, respiratory diseases, with various abscesses, ulcers, irritations on the body, rheumatic manifestations, inflammation of the venous vessels. All kinds of ointments, alcoholic infusions, medicinal decoctions, powders are prepared from it.
In some countries, a fresh leaf of the livestock is used as a soup seasoning, as well as a “green” supplement to all kinds of salads. Fresh broth (steam) of rhizome and leaves relieves intestinal exacerbation, improves appetite, promotes digestion, helps with indigestion, colitis. A decoction of the plant alleviates the condition with exacerbations of a stomach ulcer and pancreas. From time immemorial, young weak children were bathed in a bath with a decoction of the roots of the stomach bone so that the bones were strong, and they also gave them tea from the roots and leaves. For compresses or therapeutic washings, three tablespoons of dry roots are poured with a liter of water, put on fire (but do not bring to a boil), after which they are insisted for 3-4 hours. Freshly dug up comfrey root, crushed to a mushy consistency, is the best natural compress for bruising. Broth is recommended to rinse the oral cavity for various dental problems.
Freshly squeezed plant juice helps in the treatment of wounds, even in cosmetology the livestock has found its application, many regenerating masks, applications, oils also contain its extract.
Recommendations for the preparation of comfrey infusions
To prepare a medicinal infusion, take 1 tablespoon of finely chopped roots, pour 250 ml of boiling water, cover the container with a lid and leave for 8-9 hours. Then strain the contents, and re-fill the roots with the same amount of boiling water, soak for half an hour, strain through cheesecloth, mix both infusions. The resulting drug is recommended to be taken in 2-3 tablespoons every 3 hours - it helps with diseases of the respiratory tract, cough, cold sore throat, bronchitis, promotes sputum discharge, and relieves inflammation.
How to cook comfrey tincture from fresh root? Alcoholic tincture of comfrey is done like this: take 100 g of raw materials, pour a bottle of vodka (0.5 l, 40 degrees fortress). The roots need to be insisted for about 2 weeks, after this time the mixture needs to be filtered. To take this medicine internally should be 15-20 or 30 drops, dissolved in 100 ml of water (frequency - 3-5 times / day). The same composition can be used for rubbing, compresses, lotions for dislocations, bruises, for accelerated healing of bone fractures, for washing wounds (previously diluted with water), rinsing the oral cavity. This tool helps with gastric diseases, ulcerative manifestations, renal inflammation, with mastitis (applications).
Comfrey root - use as a decoction: 1 tbsp. a spoon is placed in 250 ml of boiling water, simmered for about 10 minutes, cooled, filtered. The resulting composition has been successfully used to treat the ailments described above, plus it is used for douching with "female" diseases, exacerbations of hemorrhoids (after consulting a doctor first), and inflammatory symptoms of the bladder. This broth is also good for your appearance - skin irritations disappear, peeling, various kinds of redness are removed. Hair, and especially the scalp, responds well to rinsing with comfrey broth, hair loss significantly decreases, irritated skin calms down, itching disappears.
Steamed comfrey tincture is an excellent tool that helps with the misfortunes described earlier, even with the complex treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, its administration often improves overall well-being and speeds up regeneration processes. To cook it you will need a regular thermos, 15-20 g of finely chopped roots, 250-300 ml of milk or pure water. The root is placed in a thermos, filled with boiling liquid, left overnight. Take steam should be 50 ml every 2-3 hours.
Contraindications to the use of comfrey
As always, the medal has a flip side - despite the wide range of useful constituents, comfrey grass is still poisonous. The plant contains toxic alkaloids of plant origin, glucoalkoloids. Scientific studies have shown that prolonged use of preparations based on the gastroenteric can provoke the growth of neoplasms in the human body and even cause changes in the gene structure.
Any use of pharmacy and self-prepared drugs containing comfrey medicinal should be agreed with the doctor. If you suffer from low blood pressure, comfrey should not be taken. For pregnant or lactating women, the livestock is strictly contraindicated! With individual intolerance, of course, you should not torment the body and take comfrey-containing medicines (both folk and pharmacy). If you are prone to blood clots, treatment with this herb should also be excluded (especially taking decoctions and infusions inside).
Observe the correct dosage, start treatment with the smallest doses - do not experiment with your own health. Remember - poison in a cup, and a healing elixir in a spoon, then comfrey, whose beneficial properties and contraindications are now also familiar to you, will give you its natural strength.