Spotlight Herb: White Willow
Welcome back to our weekly blog series where we discuss a new herb, its history and common uses. We took a couple weeks off to work on some pressing issues with our website, we appreciate your patience! This week’s herb is a common one for treating inflammation and fever, White Willow Bark. Keep reading to learn more about this amazing herb!
White willow, or Salix Alba has been described as far back as the first century by greek physician Dioscorides who states that taking “willow leaves, mashed with a little pepper and drunk with wine” could relieve lower back pain. Its key actions are being anti-inflammatory, analgesic, fever-reducing, antirheumatic, and astringent.
Over the ages, white willow bark has been used traditionally as a remedy for rheumatic and arthritic pain affecting the back and joints such as the hip and knee; though high doses may be required. In combination with other herbs and dietary changes it relieves inflammation and swelling, and improves mobility in painful joints.
Willow also is commonly used to manage high fevers due to its cooling and slightly drying properties, and may also be helpful for easing headaches. Since willow is a cooling herb that reduces sweating, it can be really helpful at easing the hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause as well, a welcome relief to many.
White willow’s active compound, known as salicin, was first isolated from the bark in 1838, and it is the forerunner of Aspirin, a chemical drug that was developed in Germany in 1899. Although salicin from willow is related to Aspirin, it comes with far fewer side effects. For one, willow does not thin the blood, making it a much safer alternative for joint pain than common drugs like Ibuprofen for those with bleeding disorders or those already taking blood thinners. It also does not come with as many digestive side effects as traditional aspirin-based drugs, so may be a better choice for those with gastrointestinal concerns. Willow bark does work slower than anti-inflammatory drugs, taking around 8 hours to relieve pain, so it works best when combined with other herbs for a full effect.
In the last 15 years, white willow bark has been researched more, and the clinical trials so far show that high-strength willow bark extract is a very effective alternative to traditional mainstream anti-inflammatory drugs. It is particularly helpful in treating conditions such as osteoarthritis and low back pain. A 2008 study published in Phytomedicine showed that after 6 weeks of taking willow bark extract, people aged between 50-75 who had hip or knee pain were rated by doctors as doing significantly better than those taking aspirin and reported far fewer side effects.
Precautions: You should avoid willow if you are allergic to aspirin. Do not take it during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. It is not suitable for young children. Rarely, it may cause gastrointestinal upset.
At Green Magick Apothecary, we use willow in both of our Mystikal Muscle Rubs, our Skin-Nirvana Salve, and our Tension Talisman Salve. We love its anti-inflammatory and cooling properties, and its woodsy smell. It can be taken both internally and externally as long as you don’t have any of the above-mentioned risks. My husband, father-in-law, my son, and myself all take medications or have conditions that make taking traditional NSAIDs impossible, so willow bark is a real alternative in our own home as well. We hope that you are finding the information in these blog posts helpful, and that you are already finding relief from our products. If you aren’t, what are you waiting for? Try them today!