Plantain - An edible weed that relieves pain from bee and nettle stings.
An edible weed that relieves pain from bee and nettle stings.
Mother Nature is a truly marvellous thing. This little weed that you may even have growing in your garden, is packed full of amazing benefits. Plantain repairs tissues and is soothing, moistening, protecting, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-itch, and analgesic. It is excellent for all sorts of skin irritations, rashes, bites, stings, burns, bumps, cuts, scrapes, bruises and infections.
.
A great way to treat a sting with plantain is to chew a couple leaves and in your mouth to make a poultice (make sure it has been collected from a clean and safe environment, although if you are unsure then you can always just crunch and break the leaves in your hand to free up the moisture inside and press directly onto the sting) Take the mashed up bits and plaster them over the sting. They will actually draw out the venom of the stinger and help to alleviate symptoms quickly. This method can also be used if you have a splinter that won’t come out. Leave the poultice on the splinter using a plaster, and before you know it, this awesome plant will have drawn the splinter out!
Narrow leaf Ribwort Plantain is a common weed that no doubt you see on most days around this time of year. The young leaves can be eaten raw (although have a bitter taste) and even the seeds can be eaten.
.
You can also make your own salves using bees wax and carrier oils, to make sure you have this miracle salve throughout the year.
So next time you get stung by a nettle or a bee, look around for this amazing little weed. It will bring relief to stings in a matter of seconds!
