Spotlight Herb: Comfrey
Welcome back to our weekly blog series where we discuss a new herb, its history and common uses. This week's herb is one of the most studied herbs by the medical community, Comfrey!
Comfrey, also known as knit-bone, is a well-known herb that has been used extensively for wound care and to help encourage ligaments and fractured bones to "knit back together." In fact, it is known that a comfrey compress applied immediately to a sprained ankle significantly reduces the severity of the injury. Keogh's Irish Herbal, published in 1738 described comfrey as an herb that "heals all inward wounds and ruptures." It truly is a miracle herb.
Comfrey is a mucilaginous herb, or an herb with a viscous or gelatinous quality. It also has a slightly astringent quality, and it has been used for generations to aid in healing injuries. Comfrey contains allantoin, a cell proliferant that helps to stimulate cell growth and the repair of damaged tissue. It has anti-inflammatory capabilities, and its tannins and mucilage soothe bruises and grazes.
Comfrey has been studied extensively, especially in Europe. German doctors regularly prescribe comfrey as a common treatment for sprains, bruises, and sports injury. A 2007 study in Germany of comfrey leaf cream found that on minor abrasions it was rated as good or very good in 93% of cases by physicians. Not only that, but complete healing of the abrasion took 3 days less than with placebo. Other studies also indicate comfrey has real value for osteoarthritis and low back pain.
Comfrey is well-established in the medical community for its healing properties, and has so many conditions it is helpful for. Some of these include: fungal skin infections like ringworm or athlete's foot, skin inflammation from hives or rash, insect bites, scarring, acne and boils, and mastitis.
Warnings: Comfrey is totally safe when used topically. However, it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are believed to cause liver damage when taken internally. It should also never be used on a wound that has not been properly cleaned and disinfected. Since it has incredible wound healing properties, it can speed up the healing process. Applying to an unclean wound might trap in germs and debris and lead to an abscess.
At Green Magick Apothecary, we use comfrey in both of our salves, but it is a featured herb in our Skin Salve-ation salve especially. We designed this particular salve because a dear friend began to suffer from an autoimmune hive disorder that she could not treat with traditional anti histamines because she was allergic to every single one. We decided we would attempt an all-natual remedy. We used a very simple formula with only a few ingredients and it has really helped her a lot. Now we have a slightly adjusted formula, so we could add comfrey. If you have kids who are always scraping knees or getting bumps and bruises, this is a great product to help promote healing. It is also great for other types of irritated skin, like sunburn, bug bites, rashes, and allergic hives. Try it out and see for yourself!