Comfrey

[Sally Furniss]

I have heard that comfrey (also called boneset) is useful for broken bones and joint pain.

I was wondering if some one has a good recipe for the paste that is applied to either the bones or joints.

 

[prepdeb]

Re: Comfrey

AnneZ,

Comfrey is a wonderful, but underused plant. I've kept a little growing in my yard for years now. I only have a couple of plants in our current yard, but plan to increase that. In our previous yard, I had it planted along a fence and it was very pretty. The flowers attract bees too. Mine was the Russian variety, which seems to be the most common and it's a very tough plant. I quickly found out that any pieces of root left behind when transplanting, will result in more plants so it's very easy to propogate once established.

Comfrey is a rich source of nutrients but it's no longer recommended for internal use. I consumed freshly made comfrey tea many years ago following surgery and the doctor was astonished by how quickly I healed. Both the leaves and roots contain allantoin (sp), which promotes healing. A comfrey compress is so good at promoting healing that it can cause the skin to heal over even a dirty wound. Compresses made from the leaves will stain the skin.

The following page contains a great deal of info about comfrey:
http://users.resist.ca/~kirstena/pagecomfrey.html

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Comfrey

Thank you prepdeb thats a great link.

I too have the Russian Comfrey growing every where. I thought it was about time to make use of it.

I see the roots can be dried which is useful. It dies down in the winter time, is it possible to dry the leaves or make a salve for use during winter time?

 

[prepdeb]

Re: Comfrey

Yes. There are many commercial and handmade salves and ointments available that contain comfrey and oodles of recipes for making your own.
I normally keep some leaves in the freezer in case they are needed by someone. We have some friends in another state that often ask me to bring some along when we visit. You can also dry the root and then grind it to a powder to have on hand for making ointments and compresses. Many suppliers sell the root powder. I don't know why you couldn't do the same with the leaves. I think the roots contain more of the allantoin, but the leaves are very healing too.

Here are some links to a few recipes.
http://www.wildroots.com/salves.htm

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-4-55-696,00.html

http://www.tryskelion.com/herbprep.htm

http://www.soapnuts.com/hb.html

http://www.herbalremediesinfo.com/comfreysalve.html

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/herbal/msg0603130813088.html?10

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Comfrey

Thanks again, I'll try some of those recipes out this summer.

 

[Farmer]

Re: Comfrey

....Comfrey is a rich source of nutrients but it's no longer recommended for internal use...

Comfrey has been discouraged for internal use due to the presence of the liver toxins pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

A nice overview along with specifics of the effects of the toxins and range of herbs and plants containing the toxins can be found at:http://tinyurl.com/255v7l