I get inspiration for my blog topics from “real life”, and today’s post is my next installment. My misfortune (more on that soon) is your herbal knowledge gain!
About two weeks ago, I was steaming string beans from my garden. When I went to pull the steamer basket out, my arm accidentally tipped the pot handle, spilling the boiling water on my arm. I wear my watch on my right wrist, and the heated metal of the watch instantly seared the skin right off beneath. I jumped back, yelled (loudly!), ripped the watch off, and ran cool water on my arm for about a minute. Not gonna lie, it HURT!
Short Public Service Announcement: DO NOT pour boiling water on your arm, or any other part of your body, for that matter. But…if you do, read on for a discussion of topical herbs for healing.
Burns 101
A quick Google search about skin burns yielded this really nice summary from VeryWell Health. In short, it describes the distinction between First, Second, and Third degree burns and how to treat them. From these descriptions is appears that my burn is a Second degree burn.
VeryWell Health describes immediate first aid for First and Second degree burns to run cool (but not cold) water over it. Never use ice, which can make things worse. Wrap in a loose bandage, but do not use any “folk remedies” such as butter on it. I was surprised when I read, on several health-related websites, to not immediately put any ointment on the burn because it trapped the heat. Upon reflection – makes sense!
NOTE: For a larger Second degree or Third degree burn, stop reading this blog post and seek medical attention immediately!
Topical Herbs for Healing Burns
After immediate first aid, it’s okay to keep the affected area moist using aloe or a moisturizing salve to soothe the tissue as it heals. For me, my arm throbbed and ached for the rest of the day, but by the following day the pain had subsided considerably. Still, the damage was done.
Enter topical herbs for healing. Fortunately, I had bought a lovely herbal salve at the Pennsylvania Tea Festival last year, from the Folk Farm.
In addition to the soothing and moistening base of olive oil, shea butter, and beeswax, the salve included a number of my favorite wound healing herbs: calendula, chamomile, and comfrey. Throw in yarrow and dandelion flowers to round out a nourishing herb-power-packed product.
Let’s take a deeper dive into these herbs.
Calendula
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is a bright, cheery yellow flower in the Asteraceae (daisy) family. A very safe herb, it’s a favorite in topical herb products for good reason.
Calendula got its name from the Latin “calends” meaning “first day of the month”, in reference to its tendency to bloom perpetually. Indeed, many herbal traditions dating back to ancient times used preparations of calendula flowers (extracts, infused oils) to soothe mild cuts and scrapes, lacerations, and superficial burns. Today, you will find that calendula is often a main ingredient in herbal creams, lotions, and salves (like the one I bought!).
This is because calendula flowers have the ability to promote and enhance tissue regeneration – they actually help your body replace the damaged skin! Add in anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial actions and Voila! – calendula is an ideal herb to help your body heal its “owies” while protecting against infection.
Bonus note: due to its tissue regeneration abilities, calendula is great used internally (e.g., as a tea or tincture) to help with stomach and mouth ulcers.
Comfrey
The root of comfrey (Symphytum officinale) might well be the most common herb associated with wound healing. Indeed, the name “comfrey” is derived from the Latin word “ferva”, which means “with strength”, and the genus name “symphytum” derives from the Greek words for “grown together” and “plant”.
Even moreso than calendula, comfrey works to help our skin repair itself. In fact, it works so well that it is NOT recommended for use on deep cuts or lacerations. This is because there’s a risk that the superficial tissue would regenerate faster than the deep wound, which could close up the wound externally before the deep tissue has the chance to heal, thus inviting potential infection. So keep comfrey on hand for minor cuts and scrapes, but deeper wounds need medical attention.
Comfrey’s strong mending properties are due to the presence of allantoin, a biogenic stimulator.1 Comfrey also contains what are known as pyrrolizidine alkaloids (say that 5 times fast!), which can be toxic to the liver in large doses or with prolonged use. For this reason do not use comfrey internally unless under the care of a trained herbalist.
Chamomile
German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) rounds out my 3-C topical herbs for healing. The Latin name comes from “matrix” = “motherly” and “recutita” = “bounce back”. Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), which is used somewhat interchangeably with the German, gets its name from the Greek for the perhaps less-inspiring “ground apple”1. This is due to the fact that chamomile has an apple-like scent. Indeed, the salve that I’m using has a pleasing fragrance that is clearly the chamomile.
Chamomile is a soothing flower that complements the tissue-regeneration activity of the calendula and comfrey. Its strength is in reducing inflammation, softening dry skin, and just eliciting a sense of calm. Chamomile is very gentle, especially on sensitive skin. For this reason it’s often used in creams and lotions to soothe diaper rash in infants. It’s also great to soothe tired eyes – just steep two chamomile teabags (Celestial Seasonings is a nice, organic option without a string and tag), let cool, and place on eyes for 5-10 minutes. Inhale the sweet scent to enhance the calming, rejuvenating experience.
Like most herbs, chamomile also exhibits mild anti-microbial activity to help deter infection.
Yarrow
I admit I don’t use yarrow much in my practice. I’m honestly not sure why, but I do know that it’s considered an “herbalist’s herb”. That is, you don’t see yarrow in a lot of commercially-made products.
Achillia millefolium gets it’s name from the Greek legend – Achilles – who purportedly used yarrow to staunch his wounds during the Trojan war.1 “Millefolium” literally means “thousand leaves”, in reference to the leaf structure of this beautiful plant.
Traditionally, yarrow has been used for its own tissue healing properties. English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, in his landmark “Complete Herbal” from the 1650’s, writes:
An ointment of them cures wounds, and is most fit for such as have inflammations…the ointment of it is not only good for green wounds, but also for ulcers and fistulas, especially such as abound with moisture.2
I do love the flowery language of the past. For those who don’t speak “the Queen’s English”, this basically means that yarrow is yet another herb that promotes tissue repair and calms inflammation. Modern herbalist Bridgette Mars also suggests that yarrow possesses analgesic and antiseptic properties, and that a poultice of fresh leaves can help stop bleeding or to treat blood blisters.1
Dandelion flowers
I do use dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis) leaf and/or root quite a bit in my practice, but, like yarrow, I don’t use the flowers. Still, again consulting with Bridgette Mars, the flowers can be used to attend to mild wounds.1 Based on some of my favorite, contemporary herbal references, this appears to be more of a folk tradition rather than a modern use.
By the way, while it’s not clear where the Latin name “Taraxacum” originally comes from, the word “dandelion” derives from the French: “dent de lion” = lion’s teeth, in reference to the jagged nature of the leaves.
In summary
I hope you took away some useful information about several topical herbs for healing that can soothe your poor skin when bumps, scrapes, and yes – burns – happen. Special thanks to the Folk Farm for thoughtfully crafting the salve, the basis of which was not only for my personal recovery but also as the outline for this blog post.
For the record, here’s my arm two weeks later, after keeping it covered for a week (protected from infection) and dutifully applying the salve day and night to promote tissue repair and regeneration. There’s much less inflammation and the damaged skin is peeling away, revealing new, healthy skin below.
Now I just can’t wait until I can wear my watch on my right arm again!
- Mars, B., RH(AHG). (2016) The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, 2nd Edition. Basic Health Publications, Inc.
- Culpeper, N. (1653) The Complete Herbal.