Bee Sting
★★★★★
Unfortunately, we didn't continue treating and two days later he has some itching and swelling today. (Which only confirms to me that the plantain was fighting the reaction to the sting.)
But still. I am thrilled that this amazing remedy is out there for the taking!
~Mama to Many~
Broad Benefits
★★★★★
The Indians named it Little Foot, a God sent plant.
Broad Benefits
★★★★★
I don't see anything on plantain on the site though. I have been experimenting with plantain for wounds. Masticate (chew) the leaf and put it on the wound and put on a bandaid and leave it overnight. It helped two friends. I picked it on a lawn and gave it to them with instructions. The next day they showed me that it worked. The wounds were healing fast.
Plantain is an anti inflamatory so I tried it on my annoying bottom gums and lose tooth on top. I chewed the leaves and placed them on my gums on top and bottom and held there for an hour or half hour or more. Can leave it in over night.
Cut a couple of small plantain leaves from your (un treated with pesticides) lawn. Chew the leaf till it is masticated a bit. The swelling went down on the bottom and the amazing thing is the top tooth is not loose any more. Don't remember if I had to do it for a couple of days. I also don't know if I will have to redo it if the tooth loosens again.It has been at least a week and the tooth is not moving at all. I guess it is okay to report that freshly chewed (chewing is to get the plant juices flowing) plantain works on gums and teeth. The bottom tooth is broken off and I am looking for something to re calcify it.
I grow my own in a garden patch and in planters. I have not seen them in lawns so large. The planters don't allow such big leave as the garden patch. I am hoping to attach a photo of the plant and larger leaves. Don't know if it will upload. The attaching is not user friendly.
Patricia
Insect Bites
★★★★★
I chewed the leaf a little and put it on the bite. The relief from itching was immediate. Fifteen minutes later, I repeated the process. When I got home, there was no swelling or itching. That night I realized I had no sign of the bite at all.
Plantain can also be used this way for bee strings, ant bites, even snake bites. While there may be better remedies at times for these things, not everyone carries first aid stuff with them everywhere they go, so it is good to know how to use plantain. And I have had this "weed" growing near me for years and years before I realized how wonderful a plant it is!
Have a great day!
~Mama to Many~
Mouth Injury
★★★★★
My first thought was plantain. It helps stop bleeding. It helps with pain and it helps to heal. I keep dried plantain in my herb cabinet at all times.
I put about about a half a teaspoon of the dried herb into a piece of coffee filter and folded it over to make a little poultice. We placed that over the wound. He had no more bleeding and it greatly helped his pain. He removed the poultice and ate lunch. I made him another poultice for the afternoon. Overall, he kept a poultice in his mouth for many hours. It was no longer bothering him in the evening. This morning, the mouth looked very good! No sign of infection, no swelling.
Plantain is readily available, gentle and safe. It grows all over the world. It does grow differently depending on location. Leaves near my house grow very large and wide. If you can find someone in your area who can positively identify it for you in your area, you will be prepared to use it for all kinds of different applications!
~Mama to Many~
Multiple Ailments Addressed
★★★★★
Pain
★★★★★
A friend of mine accidentally hit her toe in such a way as to nearly rip off the entire toenail of her big toe. She was in terrible, terrible pain. It is very painful to rip off a toenail!!! I found out that she had done this after about 24 hours. She had not slept well because of the pain.
I told her to try a fresh plantain leaf wrapped around the toe. This is what you do:
Get a fresh plantain leaf and put it in a mug or heat proof dish. Bring some water to boil. Pour boiling water over the leaf. Let it sit a minute or two until limp and bright green. Then run the leaf under cool water until it is cool. Wrap the toe with the leaf. Cover with a bit of plastic wrap and a sock. (You can skip the plastic and let it breathe, you will just need to change the leaf much more often so it does not dry out.)
She did this and it helped her pain so much. She was able to sleep the night she did this.
If you have dried plantain on hand, you could do the same thing. Once in the middle of the winter, my son had a burn the size of a quarter on his arm and it hurt a lot. I scalded some dry leaf, cooled it and put it on the burn (after putting some healing salve on.) Then I covered it with a bandage. This immediately helped his pain. We changed the bandage twice a day and new skin was able to grow very quickly and the plantain did not rip off the new delicate skin as bandages tend to do.
Plantain is so wonderful for pain and inflammation, gentle enough for the whole family, and grows all over the world.
~Mama to Many~
Sores, Cuts, Wounds
★★★★★
Sores, Cuts, Wounds
★★★★★
EC: We emailed Gabriele, asking if ribwort plaintain is safe for horses (Elissa's horse had a barbed wire wound if you recall.)...
(Limestone, Maine)
10/11/2008
Hello, ribwort plaintain is safe for any living creature. You would not believe how fast it heals. It's also called soldiers weed- from what I have read in the civil war soldiers used it to treat their wounds. Also attached are two photos of my dogs' wound. Picture 001 is from 1 week ago, the 2nd one is from 2 days ago. All the pink skin is new, and grew within these past 2 weeks. When I adopted Casper 2 weeks ago it was solidly red, and raw, with 3 small skin crafts, the pink ones on the upper edge. My vet see's Casper once a week, the rest of the time I wash the wound and put the cream on it myself. Anyway, when she saw Casper this week, she said: Oh my God! scared me, and I asked, what's wrong Terry? She answered: "It's a good 'oh my god' -- I can't believe how fast it's healing."
About Elissa's horse -- with theses leaves I am positive he would heal. Let me know please.
Gabriele
EC: Click here to see Gabriele's photos. Warning -- very disturbing, poor dog!
To all who don't recognize ribwort plantain, I believe the plant she is talking about is more commonly called broad-leaf plantain here. Also we used to call it rabbit lettuce when I was a child. This plant also goes well in a mixture of greens, such as dandelion leaves, curly dock and yellow dock, as a pot herb, but would probably retain more healing properties if pureed in a blender and taken raw.
(Syracuse, NY)
05/30/2009
★★★★★
Plantain is also excellent for bee stings, just crush the leaf up by rolling it between your fingers (traditionally it was suggested to crush it by chewing it a little mixing it with saliva to apply as compress) so that it's damp and wet, you'll definitely notice when you've bruised it enough, then rub over the bee sting or mosquito bite. Very effective and works quickly.
When I was visiting Lancaster, Penn a man there told me the Amish harvest plantain by the bushels to make compresses and other applications to be used for tendonitis, arthritis; I had a sprained knee at the time and I did rub the plantain leaf on my left knee as many times a day as I thought to, probably 3, 4 or 5 times ....within a couple weeks I was completely out of my knee brace. People will think you're nuts as I have had many people snicker at me as I'm constantly picking plantain and rubbing it on either a bug bite or tennis elbow area.
(Flemington, New Jersey /usa)
01/06/2012
★★★★★
We have two kinds of plantain locally, one the broader, rounder leafed kind, and the longer narrower leafed, "lancinate", I believe the form is called. Both are used similarly. The leader of our community garden was stung by a bee and I chewed up a broad leaf, to break the cell walls and get at the juice and applied it to his bite. He probably thought I was batty, but it relieved his pain.
Recently I had some gum pain, and did not wish to see a dentist, as I had been told eventually I would need a root canal. Well, after what I have learned about root canals, that is not likely! So I chewed up some lancinate plantain, and kept it in my cheek next to the gums overnight for a few days. It always felt better in the morning, and eventually, no pain at all.
(Kelseyville, Ca)
05/14/2015
I have recently discovered ribwort's benefits. I was amazed to get such quick healing on ulcers on my gums. I have been reading about the many people whom enjoy eating it as any other "greens". My question is why it causes an unusual numbing effect on the throat and tongue that lasts all day. I sauteed fresh young leaves then scrambled with eggs.
(Rhode Island)
06/20/2016
Hello, Ribwort Plaintain, although related to broad leaf plaintain are not the same plant. Ribwort has much narrower leaves than the broad leaf. They both have similar healing properties.
UTI
★★★★★
Then I read plantain (weed) tea, and having had much health improvement lately with herbal teas, decided to try. My only plantain patch is in the front lawn, yes near the quiet road, not my ideal but again I was desperate. I picked the leaves and soaked for 10 minutes in water which I had added several drops of lugols iodine to detox the heavy metals I suspected were likely present. Shook out the leaves added to 750 ml teapot and steeped in boiled water for 20 minutes. Consumed slowly on account of the heat.
By the time I finished the tea I was able to go to the toilet and urinate properly. And I was able to go to work. I believe the salt, turmeric, bs and Apple Cider Vinegar helped, but what worked, to beat the UTI was the plantain tea, and I know that's what I will use should it happen again. I know what brought on my UTI, the previous evening I had succumbed to some lemonðŸ‹gelato in my freezer, after avoiding sugar quite well for a long time. Was it worth it? No. Best to all.
