Plantain to the rescue. Maybe?

A parade was going through my small town this morning, which meant that several hundred people were going to walk past my neglected front yard and look at my weeds. So I went on a wild weeding spree, including the very evil quackgrass, and was absolutely glove-less. Now I am trying to chop shallots and my hands are telling me about it. I have numerous small slits, including places I couldn't put a band-aid even if I wanted to .(I strongly dislike band-aids on my hands. They get wet and nasty in no time.) I'm wondering if I could make a plantain smoothie( fomentation?), and pour it into some plastic gloves. I noticed something dark in one of the cuts, so I was hoping the plantain would draw it out. Would that work(when I'm done cooking)? Do y'all have a better idea? A better herb to use?

Comments

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    I think you've made an excellent choice with plantain. I make my own plantain ointment, which is my "Go to" for all kinds of nasties. In my last batch, I also added comfrey and calendula. Comfrey for it's deep healing and calendula for it's soothing effect on the skin. The plantain will draw out any dirt or infection and also relieve the pain. I like your idea with the gloves! If you have any colloidal silver on hand, it would be great to put on the cuts first. It will kill any bad bacteria and help it heal faster.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Well, I tried it. Wore it to bed. Woke up with a prune hand. But my hand did feel better today.

    I really dislike getting cuts on hands, because I wash them constantly at my job, and it takes forever for them to heal. I'm hoping this speeds up the process.

    I did grow comfrey this year, and its doing great, but I've yet to use any.

    @Leslie Carl, I would love to have your ointment recipe.

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    You can find my recipe and other info on my blog here: https://naturalhealthbuzz101.com/plantain-better-than-antibiotic-ointment/. It doesn't include adding the comfrey and calendula but it's easy enough just to add as much as you want to the lard/tallow with the plantain.

    So glad your hand is feeling better!

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Leslie Carl Thanks for the reference material. TGN members are giving me so much knowledge and resource materials!

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks @Leslie Carl. Do you think it would work to dry the leaves in a dehydrator? Would that get them too dry?

  • Leslie Carl
    Leslie Carl Posts: 255 ✭✭✭✭

    @blevinandwomba You can use the dehydrator to partially dry the leaves but you may lose some of the essential oils that way. If you dry them completely, you will probably want to melt the lard/tallow and stir the leaves into it instead of squishing them together with your hands. Another way to use dried leaves is to use extra virgin olive oil instead of lard but you will need to increase the amount of beeswax.

    I prefer the method of letting them wilt in the shade for a couple of hours so that I retain as much of the essential oils in the plant as possible.

  • KarenBeesley
    KarenBeesley Posts: 14 ✭✭✭

    i love plantain. i take a jar out into the yard, stuff it with leaves, fill with olive oil. put on lid. let sit for weeks, turning over occas. use.

    i use salve or just the leaves themselves. fresh crushed leaves into hot water, let sit till tepid. either immerse hand for 20 minutes and or place leaves around hand and wrap with cloth or gauze. impermeable gloves created the swelling most likely.

    calendula flowers are so soothing to the skin. comfrey is great also. but the plantain leaves applied to soles of cracked feet or hands, coverred w a sock, for the night is amazing.

    i am so like you, go out there pulling up whatever with bare hands cuz my gloves are somewhere else!!!! darned picky pricklers!!!!

  • wbt.affiliates
    wbt.affiliates Posts: 100 ✭✭✭

    I love plantain too. I harvest some every year, fill a quart jar with it, then add oil.

    In a few weeks, I have a plantain oil that lasts me all winter.

    I use it for fungal infections, burns, any scrapes, anything skin conditions.

    If I melted a little beeswax in it, I could also make an ointment.

    Plantain oil even works on hard-to-treat toenail fungi. Just apply it twice a day for a year. It completely got rid of my toenail fungus. Tea tree oil almost got rid of the fungus, but the plantain oil annihilated it.

    I haven't had another outbreak since, and that was five years ago.

  • amyjacobson6
    amyjacobson6 Posts: 17 ✭✭✭

    Thank you everyone for the great ideas on healing with plantain! Is olive oil the best oil to use as a base? And would that have a short shelf-life?

  • Obiora E
    Obiora E Posts: 517 ✭✭✭✭

    I don't use a lot of Plantain but my go to herb is Yarrow. When I do an infused oil I use organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I also use dried herbs and am still using some that I made last year (it has various native herbs that are good for the skin, I made it initially for eczema).