Rowan Remedies

symphytum-officinale

Latin:Symphytum officinale

Also Known As: Knitbone, Boneset (this should not be confused with the other herb named Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), Knitback. Consound. Blackwort. Bruisewort. Slippery Root… Yalluc (Saxon). Gum Plant. Consolida. Ass Ear

Family:Boraginaceae

Habitat and Description: Comfrey grows easily in most temperate countries of the world, including North America, Europe, western Asia and Australia. The plant prefers to grow in damp, marshy soil, and can easily grow as a garden plant, growing quite happily in shady spots, fittingly enough for a plant ruled by Saturn. The flowers are small and bell shaped, usually white or pink in colour. The plant grows up to 1 metre in height, and has roughly oval leaves, mid green in colour, with a slightly leathery appearance. The whole plant is covered in fine hairs. The young leaves can be difficult to distinguish from those of foxglove, so make sure you have the correct identification before you harvest any of it.

Parts Used: Comfrey root, rhizome and leaf are all used in herbal medicine

Constituents: The plant contains up to 4.7% allantoin (thought to be responsible for its bone healing properties), between 0.02% and 0.07% pyrrolizidine alkaloids (fresh young leaves and roots), 29% mucilage, phenolic acids, steroidal saponins (root), triterpenoids, phenolic acids (rosmarinic acid) asparagine, and tannins. Allantoin is a cell proliferant, which accounts for its action in the healing of damaged tissue. The rosmarinic acid and other phenolic acids are responsible for its anti inflammatory action. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are highly toxic to the liver as isolated substances. flavonoid

Planetary Influence: Saturn

Associated Deities and Heroes: The Goddess in Her aspect of the Crone, i.e Hecate, Cerridwen. Death Goddesses such as Inanna.

Festival: Samhain

Constitution: Cold and dry

Spiritual and Energetic Uses: Comfrey is a wonderful herb for helping people build structure and form in their lives, creating order out of chaos and allowing them the strength to be themselves and organise their lives accordingly. The herb can also be used to help heal emotional traumas, grounding and soothing the person so that they can heal and get on with their lives. Many of the Saturn herbs enforce borders and boundaries, and Comfrey is certainly no stranger to this.

Actions and Indications: External – Comfrey has a well deserved reputation as a wound healer due to the presence of allantoin in the herb, speeding the healing of sprains, strains and broken bones, and also being a useful local treatment for minor cuts and grazes. Care must be taken when using this herb with deeper cuts as it speeds the healing up to the point where it can cause abscesses in deeper wounds as the top heals before the bottom of the wound does. This is particularly important if the wound still has dirt trapped in it. The herb can be used topically for damage to muscle, bone and connective tissue – useful in the treatment of strains, sprains, torn ligaments and muscles, broken bones and related injuries. It is important to remember that in some cases the healing can be increased to the point where it causes some granulation and excessive cell production, so bear this in mind if using comfrey on broken bones. The herb can also be used to slow the progression of psoriasis. Internal – The plant can be used to treat hot, inflamed conditions of the digestive system such as ulceration, IBS and acid indigestion, as the presence of mucilage, or goo, provides a soothing coat over the inflamed area, protecting it and giving it more time to heal. The plant has astringent qualities, so it can be used to treat haemorrhage. Its demulcent properties, especially of the root, have been used to sooth lung troubles and coughs. The root’s demulcent properties make it useful in the treatment of lung problems and painful coughs. The root has the highest content of mucilage of any of the mucilage containing herbs

Folklore: The herb was written about by the Greek physician Dioscorides in 1st century AD. The fresh leaves can be used as a vegetable as they contain vitamin B12, and are the only vegetable sources of this vitamin. The plant itself can be used as a natural fertilizer if left in water for several months. They combine particularly well with nettle for this purpose.

Dose: Comfrey oil applied up to three times a day. 5Mls three times a day of the leaf tincture, less of the root – approximately 3mls three times a day, used over a short period of time, and with caution if you or the person taking the herb already has a history of liver problems.

Contraindications: Comfrey ointment should not be used over the top of deep or dirty wounds as it may cause the formation of abscesses. The herb should not be taken during pregnancy or while breast feeding. It is important to be aware of the pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the plant – bear this in mind when prescribing or taking comfrey. I’m not going to get into the whole argument about the PA content here – its literally been done to death on other sites, and I feel people need to make up their own minds about it, although I do still advocate caution. There’s also been some report that using Comfrey on broken bones speeds up healing to such a degree as to cause tissue granulation – this would need watching carefully if you were to use the oil on a broken bone.

Brought to you by Alex English at http://www.eldrumherbs.co.uk