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.
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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 hasbeen 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 actuallydraw 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.
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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!
Please remember to know the identification 100% before foraging responsibly. Only take what you need and ask permission from the land owner. Some people may need to seek medical advice before using this plant. Surprisingly, we were unable to find any research studies on the effectiveness of plantain for use treating insect bites, which is one of its primary uses in folk medicine. What we can say from our own anecdotal experiences is that it’s the most effective medicine we’ve used to treat insect and nettle stings.
Like any medicine, it may or may not be effective for everyone and/or every type of insect sting.
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