Plantain is a common weed with uncommon healing! This plantain is not the same as the cooking banana you have seen in the grocery store. Ribwort plantain can be found growing wild in yards, along the road, and in the woods. This hearty weed is a wonderful natural remedy for a number of skin problems. It is also useful internally for urinary tract infections and diarrhea.
If you are unable to locate fresh plantain to harvest for your use, you can keep dry plantain leaves on hand.
To make plantain tea:
This tea can be taken internally to treat a urinary tract infection or diarrhea. Consume the entire quart over the course of a day.
This tea can be chilled and used as a soak for a burn or to relieve poison ivy.
Pour boiling water over 1-3 tablespoons of dry plantain leaves enough to saturate them. When they are soft, drain out the excess water. Use these leaves on a burn that has had a healing salve or honey applied to it, then cover with plastic wrap and a bandage. This will help new skin cells to appear quickly and relieve pain. Change the bandage and apply a fresh poultice every 12 hours.
The moist leaves can be applied to a painful tooth, ingrown toenail or swollen lymph node to bring pain relief and healing.
Fill a small jar with dried plantain leaves. Pour olive oil over the leaves. Leaves should be completely submerged in oil. Allow the oil and leaves to sit for 2 weeks. Strain out the leaves. Now you have a healing oil that can be used for many applications. Try it for the following:
A fresh plantain leave can be crushed or chewed and applied to a bite or sting.
If you pour boiling water over the leaf until it wilts and then cool the leaf, you can use the leaf on a clean painful wound or burn. First use honey or a healing salve on the clean wound. Then cover with the limp plantain leaf. Add a layer of plastic wrap and then a bandage. Change the leaf and bandage every 12 hours.
Have you use plantain as a natural remedy? Please send us some feedback!
