Basic Knowledge of Herbal Remedies

In today's society and political crunch, every little bit counts and will help. Lets face it: Doctors and Hospitals are expansive, health care has gone through the roof and people suffer silently because they can not afford to get healed. Medicine is expansive and the Chemical Industry is making a killing from our suffering. First-Aid medicine in the home will save you a lot of money by healing the common cold, bruises and sprains and many more minor ailments at home and by preventing ailments in the first place.
A very wise man once told me that Doctors are not in the business of healing, if they heal you their job is done and they have no income from you.

A little help from Earth's Children, THE HERBS, is all we really need to help our-self along on this path. Granted, there are many OTC Herbal Remedies available now, but nothing replaces the Herb itself and the knowledge how to use it and what it does for you.

Handed-down secret family remedies are a-plenty and they work. They worked in ancient times and they still work today. Home first-aid is still the starting point for healing, staying healthy and knowing what it is you are taking for what ailment is priceless.

Only in the last few years people realize the value of fresh air, sunshine and healthy eating. Non-processed food, fresh vegetables and fruits are once again ask for and canned goods are on the back burner or even in some cases only stored as emergency rations.
With this new awakening should also be an new knowledge of herbal remedies and healing at home for all but live threatening and long lingering ailments. The human body needs forty nutrients each day to stay healthy, exercise and regular breathing good fresh air. Every day foods, herbs and spices can prevent and control many common health problems.
Common herbs and spices, along with healthy eating can and will restore your body to it's natural balance and an energy level where the body can heal itself of many minor ailments.

The first step into obtaining, growing and storing Herbs should always be to have a plan. Knowing what you have in your refrigerator or on your windowsill, in your garden or just outside in the wild is always a good plan. Every household should have at least one good book for herbal identification. Knowledge is good health and Herbal identification is a must. Many plant look alike but do not act alike, fact many of the healing plants have a counter part plat that almost looks like the healing herb, but is toxic when taken. I can not stress enough the identification before taking anything home you find growing in the wild.
Home-Grown Herbs is the way to start, you will know what you grow!

As you get to a point to prepare and store your collected herbs, you should have all cooking, storage and labeling material handy. Prepare one herb at the time in order to keep it clean and separate, therefore uncontaminated from the others. Collect only as many as you can safely prepare. Quantity depends on your ability to cook, dry or prepare in on sitting. Sterilize all jars in advance you will be using for ointments or to store dry herbs. Store dry herbs only in dark colored glass jars, sunlight will destroy the properties of most of your dry herbs. Store in a cool dry place. Do not use Teflon, or aluminum, any sort of metal except stainless steel to prepare or store your herbs. However, clean cast iron pots can be used for cooking the herbs that need that sort of preparation.

I can not stress enough how important knowledge and information is. Build yourself a Home Library of several reference books and consult them often.
At the end of this article there are some links to Amazon and to some great material you can buy. Every book you get will teach you something new. One has never enough books to pull information from.

The most common use of herbs are tea's. Infusions can be made either hot or cold.

Hot infusions are made by pouring boiling water over the dry or fresh herb and steep for 15-30 minutes, Stain and drink. Fresh herbs need to be bruised first. You can achieve that by simply rubbing it between your hands like you would crumble up a piece of paper.
Preparing cold infusions is a slightly longer process. You mash fresh herbs or berries and steep them in cold milk or water for several hours.
Tea's are the traditional and most familiar way to prepare your herbal remedies. Adding hot water to your plant material extracts the wanted active component. Depending on the plant you may use the leaves, flowers, bark, roots, seeds or berries.
Certain herbs doing very well with this sort of preparation. Any Mint, chamomile and sage are good examples of herbs whose aerial (above ground) parts readily release the healing oils in the boiling water.

Medicinal teas are basically the most simple thing to prepare and they can be used in several ways. Teas can be used internally by drinking a cup full every so often, they can be poured in to a bath to let the healing oils penetrate the skin or be used as a compress for rashes minor burns and mild sprains. I used chamomile tea to wash a second degree, very large burn, twice a day and the healing process was very fast and good. I do not have a scar left from that burn.
To hot-steep an herb, you soak it in water that has been brought to a rolling boil and taken of the heat source. Use a time and steep longer then a regular cup of tea.

Herbal Waters are much like cold infusions. You steep the plant in hot water and let it cool off. Here you can add honey or fruits to taste.
Herbal waters are a weak solution of tea and can be used as a refreshing drink or as a follow-up or a maintenance drink to a herbal regiment.
Any tea or infusion can be diluted enough to make a Herbal Water out of. Herbal Waters are for consumption within a short time if not kept cool and even then it is advisable to make fresh every day. Old Herbal Waters can be used to wash wish.

Decoctions are the second most used method of preparing herbs. Hard plat parts such as twigs, roots, bark, rhizomes, berries and some seeds need to be simmered in water to release healing the oils. Strain and use after cooling.
Barks, roots seeds and berries require a little more heat and time to release their healing compounds. Usually they need to simmer over very low heat for 20-30 min, depending on the herb. Make sure the water and herbs do NOT come to a boil, they need to barely simmer and then cool off before straining and use.

Alcohol tinctures are mostly used on herbs that are not water soluble. Some herbs will not release the chemicals and oils to just plain water and need a little more convincing. Alcohol will do that trick. Alcohol is able to extract more chemical components from more plants then glycerin, therefore it is recommended to use alcohol to extract those healing properties.
The plant material is placed directly in the bottle and covered with alcohol, it is best to let sit for several days to get the properties out of the plant material.
Herbal medicines extracted in this particular manner are very powerful and you need only a few drops per dose.
It can be used to make a hot tea out of or you can take it on a teaspoon of sugar.
It is not advisable to use tinctures as a skin care product.

Herbal Pills can be made out of dried and powdered herbs. You can by glycerin capsules at the drugstore and fill them with the material. This form of herbal treatment is a good way to have herbs with you on a trip or at work. It is advisable to consult a Herbalist if you want to fill your own capsule's as of to how much of what herb should go into each capsule

There is nothing more relaxing as a nice warm rub-down with Lavender infused oils.
Infused Oils are easy to make and compared to the expansive store bought brand names, you will be able to know exactly what you are putting in to your skin.
They are handy to have for minor injuries and illnesses.
Dried herbs added to oils can be used to rub a sore body down or to get the herbal remedy right into the skin.
Simply buy a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, warm it up in a non-corrosive pan (that means no aluminum or cast iron), add the Herb and keep on a warm setting for about 30 minutes. You do need to make sure the oil will not get hot, just good and warm. Pour the whole thing in a clean bottle or jar, oil and herb, seal it tight and steep the herb in there for 2 weeks, shaking it every day once. Then strain the oil into another clean jar or bottle and you got your very own healing oil, ready to use.

Salves are an extension of the above remedy. If you can make a liniment, and you have access to bees wax, you can make a high quality salve.
Salves are handy to have when traveling to sooth bug bites, minor muscle aches, skin irritations or any other number of ailments. I keep a jar of chamomile salve with my gardening equipment to heal my hands after a day of gardening and washing hands multiple times. Depending on the indented use of the salve, you can make them out of just about any herb or any combination of herbs.
Grate about 3/4 of an ounce of clean, pure beeswax for each half cup of infused oil you planning on turning into a salve. Warm the infused oil in a non-reactive/corrosive pan over very low heat, add the gated beeswax and stir until it is melted in. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool just a little bit, then pour the mixture in a clean jar while still warm. Cool in the open jar and close when it is completely cool down. Keep airtight.

Liniments are for aches and pains and made from the infused oil mixed with vinegar. Peppermint, pine and Wintergreen Oils can be made into liniments mixing 1 cup of white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of the essential oil. Pour the ingredients into a bottle, close it tightly and shake until well mixed.
Rubbing stimulating liniments into the skin is a way to treat sore muscles, stiff joints and other aches and pains.
Mustards or cayenne pepper additives should be used very careful and sparingly. These add-ins are good for arthritic pains or sore muscles. Wintergreen oil will act as a pain reliever as it is absorbed into the skin.
Never apply liniment to broken skin and do not use more then four times a day.

Poultices are very useful to apply externally to the skin. If you depend on Vicks Vapor Rub to heal a child's cold, you are already using a cold Poultice. It is the old time honored way to use healing herbs externally and used to this day.
Each of those preparations require fresh or dried herbs. They are made by adding a small amount of hot water to mashed or dissolved into a paste herbal material and then applied to the skin, covering it with a clean linen or cotton cloth. For delicate skin it can be placed between two pieces of cloth. Then covered and left till it cools of or you can apply a hot water bottle to prolong the cooling and effectively help the healing. The Mustard Plaster is one of the most common known poultices and is used very effectively in most country homes for colds and lung affections.
Compresses involve wetting a cloth in a strong tea solution and the applying it to the affected area. This can be used hot or cold, depending on the intended use.

are basically the same as poultices, except you will only used the water the plant material has steeped in.

We also know this herb as pot marigold. It is an eatable flower and easily grown in a sunny garden spot right in the ground or in a pot. The fresh flowers can be added to salads or cooked food. Dried they can be used in teas, salves, poultices or any other application described above.
They can also be used to gargle as a remedy for sore throat or inflammation of the mouth. In infused oil, they work wonders on skin injuries or irritations.
German Doctors have long used a salve made out of this herb to help speed the healing process of surgical wounds and other slow healing injuries.

My very favorite, a plant I would never be without.
There are two well know varieties of this versatile little flower. The German variety is the one usually used in herbal applications. either as tea or other medical applications.
Both varieties like full sun to grow and are thankful for well drained soil. They are a little difficult to start from seed but the seedlings are readily available in nurseries all over the country. Once you got a plant stated and let some of the flowers go to seed, you will find that they will grow for you in a massive manner. Containment is advisable or else you will find it all over your garden!
Chamomile is one of the stable herbs that I have in my kitchen and medicine chest at all times.

Lemon Balm is a mild sedative, herpes remedy and also a bee magnet.
It has a long tradition as a medical plant and despite the bushy, weedy look is a very versatile medicine.
Research now has shown that a Lemon Balm Salve can heal cold sores and genital herpes lesions.
Lemon Balm is in the Mint family and will grow just like any other Mint plant. It likes a sunny spot and lots of water.

Peppermint is in your garden to stay once you have it established. It is somewhat invasive and bossy toward other plants, so it is advisable to grow it in a corner of your garden or in a pot where it can not take over.
Peppermint is the most common known tea around and often used with other herbs to cover taste and smell.
By itself it is used to battle gastrointestinal spasms, nausea and congestion. You can also use it in cosmetic applications and make salves and hair rinse out of it.
Peppermint can be used in any of the above applications.

Sage is a common culinary herb and known for that, but it has also many health applications and is easily preserved by drying bundles of it.
Sage likes to grow in well drained soil and prefers moderately rich ground and sunshine.
Sage teas are known for their high mineral content, are used in gargles for sore throats, mouth ulcers and gingivitis. Sage teas also help eliminate premenstrual syndromes.