| 5 star (8) | 100% |
Iowa (New York) on 06/03/2025: 
I would recommend that anyone who lives in an area where Comfrey (Boking 14) can grow, go ahead and plant it. In my northern NY garden, it has made an attractive plant with pretty purple blooms. Other than chopping it down each fall and spreading the leaves in my flower beds, it has required no tending. Deer don’t especially like it. I planted it about 8 years ago and needed it recently when I broke a metacarpal bone in my palm. I chose not to have the surgery and plate that the hand specialist recommended; mostly because I had a full calendar. Instead, I used Mama to Many’s recipe to make a Comfrey oil infusion. When the cast was removed and I was put back in a splint, I began to massage the Comfrey oil into my hand a few times per day. It was immediately so soothing and the change in the appearance of my hand happened almost over night. I now rub in the Comfrey oil before practicing making a fist, which is a painful exercise without first applying the Comfrey. Recently, on my 6 wk visit to the specialist, I was released as a patient and was encouraged to go ahead and use my hands, rather than a spade while gardening. My hand is improving rapidly. I felt too shy to tell the Dr it was the Comfrey that had sped the healing, but I wish I had. I hope Mama To Many sees this and knows what a help she has been to me. Maryelle (Sacramento) on 04/01/2020:
Mama To Many (Tn) on 11/08/2018:
I was rushing around a few days ago and caught my pinky toe on the doorframe. After yelling, I collapsed into a chair to regain my breath and evaluate the damage. The toe was cocked out of its normal place and I was sure it was broken. Likely there was soft tissue damage as well. I taped my toe to its neighbor. I kept ice on my toe for the better part of 4 hours. I also kept it elevated. It is typically recommended to keep ice on an injury for 20 minutes out of every 2-4 hours for 48 hours. Because the ice helped the pain so much, I kept it on much more than that. I did keep a towel between the ice pack and my toe so it wouldn’t get too cold.
In spite of the ice and elevation, I did develop a good bit of swelling and bruising in my foot. The bruising may have been worse due to taking some aspirin for pain, but I did choose aspirin because Tylenol doesn’t help with inflammation and I can’t take ibuprofen. I also took some turmeric to reduce inflammation.
At first I only needed a cane to get around, but by later in the day, with increased swelling, I was needing to use crutches. I think the swelling in the foot makes walking as painful as the break itself. And bumping or moving my toe wrong stirred up pain afresh. I continued to use ice intermittently and elevation as much as possible.
By the evening of the second day I had significant bruising. I started to use a tincture I had made on my toe and the surrounding bruising. It was an alcohol tincture of arnica and comfrey. This greatly reduced the bruise overnight. I continue to apply the tincture to my toe and surrounding area several times a day.
Cabbage is used as a wrap for swelling, especially for mastitis. I decided to try it for my toe. Typically, cabbage is used fresh from the refrigerator and bruised with a rolling pin before applying to the area in need. I did this once, but then decided it would conform more to my foot and be more comfortable warm. I took a leaf of cabbage and broke it into a few pieces and placed it in a mug. I poured boiling water over it and left it alone for 15 minutes or longer. Then I strained out the hot water and dried the leaves. When the leaves were a comfortable temperature, I applied them to my foot and covered that with plastic, then used cohesive tape to secure everything. I did this two nights in a row and each morning noticed a significant reduction in swelling. Today is day 5 and I can walk without crutches. I am still keeping my foot up a lot and still applying the tincture. I have the toe taped to its neighbor. Actually I have two bandaids holding the toes together as that turned out to be the most comfortable option.
I have also been using comfrey internally. Comfrey promotes cell regeneration and healing to the bones and joints. Its nickname is “knitbone.” My favorite way to eat comfrey is in a saute. I wash and cut up the leaves and saute them in some coconut oil. I usually use 2-5 leaves of comfrey. When the comfrey is almost finished sautéing, I toss a tablespoon of pine nuts and a small handful of raisins to the sautee. I sprinkle this with some sea salt. I think it is delicious.
A broken toe can take 4-6 weeks to heal. I don’t know how long it will be before a shoe is comfortable to wear again. I ordered some flip flop socks because wearing flip flops is easy on the toe but leaves my feet awfully cold here in November.
In hindsight I wish I had used the comfrey/arnica tincture earlier, but I didn't think about it at first.
I have also used Epsom salt soaks this week, but I am not sure but that the warm soaks are creating more swelling than they are relieving. Perhaps I started them too early (first night) and perhaps it would be better to soak in cool water.
I hope you don't need any of these remedies ever, but if you do, I hope they help you!
~Mama to Many~
Julie (Melbourne, Australia) on 08/26/2014:
He called my husband and I and I told him about comfrey ointment. He was pretty stressed out and desperate as he and his wife had just sold their property and were packing up to leave in a few weeks. He decided to give it a try. He applied the cream three times a day for a week.
When he returned to the hospital he told the doctor he was healed. Of course she didn't believe him until she pressed, twisted and pushed on his foot without him uttering a sound.
She had another look at the x-ray and it definitely showed the broken bone.
Just over a week ago, a young friend had a fall off his motor bike and broke his collar bone. Of course I had to mentioned about the comfrey ointment and relayed the above testimony.
He was pretty excited and the next day, his fiance bought a jar from the chemist and he started to apply it to the area. I saw him two days ago and he said he was able to sleep and could move his arm up, down and around, without pain, whereas before the ends of the bones were touching and causing him great discomfort. He is yet to have his doctor's appointment, but judging by the progress so far, he won't be taking six weeks to heal.
Carol (OKC, U. S. A.) on 04/15/2007:
Ann (Union County, NJ) on 03/03/2007:
Donna (Ukaih, California) on 03/12/2002:
Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 03/01/2004:
Dosages for DMSO mixed with comfrey on a per day basis is estimated to be about 10 drops per day based on mixture I mentioned. Please understand that use of DMSO will result in you getting garlic odor. You can reduce this if you halved your dosages or drinking diluted hydrogen peroxide will also help reduce the smell. The reason why it smells garlic is because your body is hungry for oxygen. What it does is it takes out the oxygen component from the DMSO to get DMS. Now if the water you drink is high in hydrogen peroxide (water with not over 0.5% food grade H2O2), then the oxygen will come from H2O2 component more readily, reducing the garlic smell somewhat. Of course you can try MSM which is an DMSO with one more oxygen, this will get rid of the problem and will also help with healing of fractures. Of course, MSM is not as good of solvent for allantoin as DMSO.
