agk’s Library of Herbal First Aide
Boils can develop from several situations. A poorly treated wound could turn into a boil or one may form from the inside, to allow pus to come to the surface. In the latter case we know that there are unclean processes in the body generating bacterial infection, tissue breakdown, and pus-formation. If the pus were to circulate through the bloodstream it would cause generalized infection, exhaustion and even death. Instead the body tries to open up a vent to discharge the pus.
In the old days internal abscesses would form in the lungs, on the liver or the intestines – appendicitis was considered to be an ‘abscess.’ Many times these were fatal. Modern antibiotics routinely heads off internal infections before they get this bad, but there was a time when traditional doctors had to rely on more primitive means. During one of my classes I noticed a student so tired that walking thirty feet, from the picnic table to the garden, was a great effort. I asked what was going on and she said she had a boil on her ankle. It had been bothering her off and on for more than two years, ever since she had a broken ankle. At the time of the break the doctors put a few pins in. One of them worked out and where it came out a boil formed that wouldn’t go away. The doctors said there was no connection with the broken bone or the pin (are these people for real?) and gave her antibiotics. These proved to be useless and now she just had to accept the debility.
This was an excellent educational opportunity and the direction of the class immediately shifted. We started to collect the ingredients for a healing poultice. Pliny, the ancient Roman authority on agriculture and natural history, recommended burdock leaf, cinquefoil leaf, and plantain leaf as a salve for boils. These plants are pretty easy to find in most places between Rome and Minnetrista. I had often used plantain for boils, infected wounds and abscesses. Clearly, this was a case where infected material had to be pulled out of a wound where it was deeply entrenched. Plantain is a drawing agent, so this seemed like a sure place to begin a formula. I knew the reputation of burdock in treating boils, so this seemed agreeable. It is something of an antiseptic for putridity and this wound clearly was long-infected with putrid material. I hadn’t heard of cinquefoil being used in modern times as a boil remedy, so I rounded out the formula with elder leaf, which is used for boils. Three leaves seemed like a good balance. We chopped them up, attached some with a cloth bandage over the boil and went back to study. I sent our friend home with some more of the herbs to store in the refrigerator, chop and apply daily. In two weeks she was permanently healed. She was much more energetic, both on and off her feet.
We should always be prepared to work out a remedy for injuries and acute problems as they arise. It is a great blessing to know how to stop bleeding or treat a bad burn when one is out in the country by oneself. In order to be effective, we cannot just apply remedies to names, but must understand the process going on in the injury and which remedy acts on that kind of process. For instance, plantain is best known as a drawing agent which will pull pus and infection outwards from boils while calendula will help drain them away internally. Do we want the pus to come out or cleanse through the interior? In this case, it seemed appropriate to draw out, open up, and cleanse, while also adding remedies that were antiseptic (burdock) and improved blood circulation (elder). Many other variables could enter the picture. For instance, in this case I also considered goldenrod, which is good for old, pus-producing (purulent) wounds and tired feet. It is a cousin of burdock so it seemed redundant to add with that medicine. Plantain by itself did not seem appropriate because it is not stimulating and an old wound need stimulation to bring in blood. For that, elder would be appropriate. All these factors sifted through my mind quickly. It would be difficult to say whether that was a bit of divine guidance or just a picture forming in my brain due to rational thoughts about what was needed for this particular injury. That is often how herbalism works.
One area where we commonly see abscesses and which can be treated with far greater success holistically than surgically, is another the roots of teeth. Abscessed teeth are very common and cause a great deal of suffering and expense, yet they can easily be prevented or cured with plantain.
This is one of my favorite remedies, although I have not used it on boils and abscesses. However, it comes highly recommended in the folk medical tradition, with several good case histories, so I have included it. Hopefully it will be justified more fully in the future. It would be indicated for a hot boil, especially if the skin or tongue is dry, showing a lack of fluids.
The leaves are an old specific for external use on boils and burns. Elder, like sweet leaf, draws heat out of an area.
Not only is echinacea a specific for application on a boil, but it is also useful as a remedy for chronic constitutional production of boils.
This is another old stock item for the treatment of boils. The ancient Roman author Pliny mentions the use of plantain, burdock, and elder leaves as a specific topical agent for boils. This is a formula I have seen work in my own practice.
Other plants which can substitute for burdock or echinacea because of an antiseptic property, but which are not ordinarily used in boils, abscesses or infected wounds include their two relatives, boneset and gravel root. A case history is given under poisonous bites, in which I had to recommend boneset and gravel root for a terribly infected spider bite when nothing else was available.
An Amish farmer told me about how one of his young sons got his legs caught in the reins and dragged across the field by a frightened runaway horse. There were deep cuts and in some places the flesh was missing. The wounds were full of dirt and manure. They were afraid they were going to have to take him to the hospital but decided to try herbs. They had no health insurance and over ten children, but I’m sure they would have if they hadn’t already been developing confidence with herbs. They put poultices of plantain leaf and burdock leaf on the wounds, which cleaned out, remained uninfected, filled in missing tissue, and healed beautifully.
I had not heard of the use of burdock leaf in this way, but I shared what my late friend William LeSassier said. One takes the material right at the top of the root and bottom of the stalk and packs it into a wound with missing flesh. The tissue will regenerate. It is hard to tell which is more regenerative, plantain, burdock, yarrow, or comfrey – though the latter is problematical.
This is the great remedy when there is pus in the bloodstream. Mary Beith, in her book about Highland Scots folk remedies, tells the story of an old traditional doctor in the eighteenth century who was called in when the patient had been given up on by the university physicians. The old practitioner examined the man and determined that there was an abscess on the lungs. It needed to be broken, but how could he accomplish the deed? The old country doctor emptied the chamber pot, dried the contents over the fire until they were loose granules and wrapped them up neat in an envelop. He told the patient not to take the medicine but not to tell the city doctors what was in the package. When he was finished the two highly educated physicians rushed into the room and wanted to find out what the old doctor was trying to give so they opened up the envelop and tasted the granules. The patient laughed so hard the abscess burst and from that time on he started to get better.
------------------------------------------- from Matthew Wood: THE EARTHWISE HERBAL © 2008–2009 North Atlantic Books (two vols) -------------------------------------------