Health Benefits and Uses of Pokeberry: A Comprehensive Guide

Remember to wash all your bed linens after your Poke Green Roots treatment, because once you get back in the same bed you will get them again. Wash anything, clothes you came in contact with before you do the treatment. I got them from someone who laid a coat on my bed. Also spray your doorknobs and spigots, whatever you touch, with some kind of disinfect, even wipe over your telephone, glasses, keyboard and mouse, because they're there and you'll get them again. Wear plastic gloves while you're cleaning areas and picking up clothing you've worn. I only had to do it once. Susan

I would never use the poke green treatment on a child or a pet. It worked for me, an adult. Susan

What exactly is the Poke Green Treatment, and how do I go about treating myself with it for scabies? This website is awesome!

Hello Vera from NY, Poke greens have always been called poke sallet around here in the south. At the time we were catching scabies in my youth we didn't know about boiling poke root in water and then bathing with the water would kill them, so I have no personal knowledge of this. However, when a niece got the problem a couple of years ago and asked her father what to do to get rid of them, he asked me what to do because they had no money to go to the doctor. When I informed him that pokeweed root boiled in water, and then bathing in the water was said to kill them, he proceeded to dig one up and present it to her to boil in water to bathe in. I don't know how much they put in the water but knowing my brother, I am sure that he got a big old pokeweed root to give her to boil. He laughed as he told me about the results later. She said she felt like she was on fire when she put it on but it sure did work to kill the scabies. If you want to research on this plant, put in pokeweed for the common name, or you'll have trouble finding it. Pokeweed grows back from the same roots in the spring and some of those roots get pretty darned big and difficult to dig out, so my advice is to look for one that looks like it just came up from seeds this year, which it will soon be poking up from the earth. If you get a big root I would hesitate to boil the whole thing to bathe in since it would be very strong.

The letter from Susan from Charleston telling how she used it sounds logical, but I think I would prefer to use something besides Crisco for soothing after the bathing, maybe olive or coconut oil instead. Lots of luck. We have been having a lot of head lice going around down here the last few years and if they make an appearance in this family again, we are likely to boil some poke root and mix in some borax for shampoo to see if they don't succumb quickly as the scabies did. Lots of luck and be sure to cool that water down before bathing with it.

Hi Joyce,

I have just in the past day relized I have scabies. I'm interested in your polk soak recipe to use. Sad thing is, I'm in Nevada...no polk out here. Is there someplace I can buy the root? Please reply, I'm desperate.

We have sheep and sometimes you need the from-the- bottle remedies. Apparently, I cannot provide the actual chemical name here, but if you look up scabies at Wikipedia, you'll see some photos, and you'll probably see the name of the remedy that clears this up fast. I'd suggest you go to a feed store [for farm animals] or a sheep farmer, and buy some. It is usually administered sub-cu to sheep, but on a dog, or a human, 1/2 cc, twice a day, mixed with a little mineral oil, or a little, um, ..liquid horse liniment [comes in an yellow/orange plastic bottle*] and rubbed on the affected area,will clear up the problem -pronto. Ask the farmer or the feed dealer for the injectible product [it begins with the letter, 'I'] that is, it is usually administered by injection, under the skin, in a regular worming program, for ruminants. *come to think of it, this 'liquid horse liniment' might make the 'I' meds. even more effective, since the active ingredient is potassium iodide. Stings like the dickens, though, on any sort of open-type sore. I only saw this problem once, some years back, when we were seeing other problems, associated with widespread use of defoliants, locally, to manage clearcut areas. [very attractive sounding, isn't it? -you can't imagine..] Had this remedy not worked, -and FAST- I can tell you it's one you'll want to high-tail it to a doctor, to get fixed. Hope this helps! -By the way, we are, and have been for many years, COMPLETELY Earth Clinic 'types', and I'm so grateful for this wonderful site. Best wishes to all -

Hello Shan from Reno,

Sorry I can't help you with a source for buying poke sallet (pokeweed) root but you might inquire at a natural resource place in your locality. Before giving up on it growing wild there, type pokeweed or poke sallet in a search window and see if you can pull up a picture of it & go hiking. It is a very easy plant to identify if you know what it looks like. It is growing all over here. Shame you aren't a neighbor because I'd even let you borrow my shovel to dig one up from my yard.