Comfrey Comfy

Comfrey officinalis refers to the family of Buranchikovs, is a perennial medicinal plant. It grows to a length of one meter. Well tolerates wintering, resistant to colds and mowing, unpretentious in growing. He is above winged from the low leaves, rough from the harsh, hairs on the tubercles. The leaves are also stiff, rather large, oval lanceolate, tapering into the petiole.

Comfrey officinalis blooms with dark red or purple drooping flowers that are collected in inflorescences. The flowering time is long throughout the summer. The fruit is in the form of a nut, four for each flower.

Comfrey officinalis prefers moist soil, grows along the shores of reservoirs, river old men, damp meadows, less often in forest and mountainous terrain. In its natural form it grows in the foothills of the Caucasus, the Alpine belt. In gardens and parks it is grown as an ornamental plant.

For medicinal purposes, plant roots are collected, which are excavated in autumn or early spring. Use and dry only the roots, and the rhizomes are thrown out. The roots are laid out on trays lined with paper, a thin layer. Also, peeled roots can be threaded and dried in a suspended state. Dry in a room with good air access. In the finished dried form they are longitudinally wrinkled roots, up to 15 cm long. On the fracture they are whitish.

Comfrey officinalis contains gallic acid, mucus, sugars, tannins, starch, essential oils, poisonous enantotoxin, resins, etc. The aboveground part of the comfrey contains cynoglossin, consolidin and the products of their decay.

Comfrey medicinal, use in medicine

Comfrey alkaloids are toxic and cause paralysis of the nervous system in large doses. The whole plant is poisonous. When eating grass in large quantities, it causes colic. Thanks to the mucus and tannins contained, the roots of the plant have astringent, enveloping and softening effect. If we talk about such a plant as the root of comfrey, its use in medicine (official) is now a rare phenomenon. Traditional medicine uses it for diseases of the respiratory system, diarrhea, as a hemostatic. Grass in a large dosage can cause a decrease in pressure, increased contractile activity of the intestine, musculature of the uterus, increased respiration. Contained in the comfrey alantonin has antitumor activity.

Fresh crushed or dried root is steamed or taken as an ointment on pork fat and applied to the area of bone fractures, bruises and sprains. Use it for thrombophlebitis.

Adding a decoction from the comfrey to the bath is treated with skin diseases. With tuberculosis of the lungs and bones take the broth inside with honey, milk, raw eggs or various fats.

Sometimes the broth is taken with stomach diseases , dyspepsia, anorexia, rubbed with vodka tincture, wounds and trophic ulcers, pustular rashes on the skin and burns. Substances present in the grass have antimicrobial, wound healing and softening effect. Dry skin, ointment with comfrey gives a healthy appearance.

Ways to prepare ointments and decoction from the comfrey medicinal

Method 1. Take a fresh root, triturate into small gruel, add sulfur, rosin, pork fat. The resulting mixture is boiled for several minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool down and then add raw egg white. You can also fry the ground root on lard, cool and add camphor oil. These ointments are used for fractures, joint deformities for rheumatism, skin diseases.

Method 2. Forty gram of finely chopped or dry root is added with a liter of hot milk. The mixture is evaporated for 5 hours at a very low temperature under the lid. You can also mix the root of the comfrey with one or two parts of honey. This paste is used one teaspoon several times a day.