Compress
Plantain compress (acute)
This is the only recipe in the apothecary that needs no kitchen. It needs a plant and a pair of teeth.
Plantain grows in driveways, on paths and in the middle of lawns, and it is almost always right there where you get stung. That is no coincidence: it follows people and is trodden down without taking harm.
You chew a leaf until the sap runs, and lay it on the sting. It sounds primitive, and it is. It also works.
Learn to recognise it once, and you have it for the rest of your life.
Ingredients
- 1-2 fresh plantain leaves
Equipment
- Nothing. That is the whole point.
Method
- 1
Pick a fresh plantain leaf, chew it lightly or crush it until the juice seeps out, and place it directly on the sting for 20-30 minutes.
Dosage
Leave the leaf on the sting for 20-30 minutes. Repeat with a fresh leaf if the itch returns.
Works best done immediately, while the sting is still hot and swollen.
Shelf life
Used fresh on the spot. Cannot be kept.
Safety
Be certain of the plant. Plantain is known by the deep parallel ribs running from stem to tip like veins, and by the leaves sitting in a rosette close to the ground. Never forage anything you are unsure of.
Do not pick at roadsides where traffic or spraying happens, or where dogs are walked. If you would rather not chew, you can crush the leaf between two stones or between your fingers.
Do not chew if you have sores in your mouth.
The compress is for mosquito bites, nettle stings and small irritations. Not for deep bites, bites that bleed, or animal bites.
Seek medical help immediately at any sign of an allergic reaction: swelling of face, lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, a rash over the whole body, dizziness or palpitations. That is anaphylaxis, and it is an emergency. If you carry an adrenaline pen, use it and call the emergency number.
Stings in the mouth or throat are always an emergency, whether or not you are allergic.
For tick bites: remove the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible, and watch the area in the weeks after. If a red ring appears and spreads outwards, see a doctor.
How the herbs work
Plantain contains aucubin, which is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, and mucilage that settles coolly over the skin and eases itching.
The leaf also holds tannins, which draw the tissue together slightly. That contraction is what you feel as the swelling going down.
Chewing the leaf is not merely old habit. It crushes the cell walls and releases the sap, and the enzymes in saliva already begin breaking the plant material down, so the compounds are available immediately.
The content here is general knowledge and folk herbal lore, not medical treatment. In illness, pregnancy, breastfeeding or alongside medication: always talk to your doctor first.