The beneficial properties of yarrow have been known since ancient times. It was used by our ancestors not only for the treatment of various ailments, but also in agriculture for pest control.
Yarrow is a herbaceous plant with a height of not more than 80 cm with a characteristic odor. Grass blooms with small flowers collected in baskets. They can be white or pink-red.
Plant features
The useful properties of yarrow have been known since ancient Greece. According to legend, this plant was used by Achilles to treat wounds. And Dioscorides used grass to stop the bleeding, calling it “wound grass.”
The beneficial properties of yarrow are very extensive. This perennial plant from the family Asteraceae is most often used to treat bleeding. In our annals there is information about how the grandson of D. Donskoy was cured of nosebleeds by the juice of this herb.
There are, of course, not a thousand leaves on a plant, but there can be several tens of thousands of flowers on one bush. You can meet a plant in meadows, fields, and gardens: throughout Russia, except for desert and semi-desert zones, Siberia and the Far East. For medical purposes, the entire vegetative part is used.
Grass description
Yarrow blooms from early summer to autumn. After this, the fruits ripen. One plant gives up to 30 thousand seeds. Grass propagates by seeds and layering. Yarrow can be attributed to parasites, since it is able to displace other crops from the occupied area.
Yarrow is a perennial up to 80 cm high with a strong aroma. It has a thick rhizome, with numerous roots and underground shoots. The stem is straight, slightly lowered, glabrous, simple or slightly branched.
The leaves of the plant are gray-green with a dissection. Basal leaves are long-leaved, sessile stems. Inflorescences are small, numerous baskets of ovoid form are collected in scutes on the top of the stem and its branches. The most extreme flowers are single-row, reed type. Medium - tubular, bisexual. The calyx is missing, which can be seen in the photo of the yarrow. The beneficial properties of this plant help get rid of almost all ailments. It is unique and can be used not only for treatment, but also as a means to strengthen immunity.
Pharmacological properties
The beneficial properties of yarrow are determined by its composition. The plant has diverse pharmacological properties, as it contains a variety of active compounds.
Essential oils and flavonoid substances have an antispasmodic effect on the smooth muscles of the intestines, bile ducts and urinary tract. The plant is able to increase bile secretion, expand the ducts, increase diuresis, and also stop the pain caused by intestinal spasm. All medicines prepared from the plant have a bitter taste. Because of this, irritation of the taste buds and increased secretion of gastric juice occur. Also, the plant is able to reduce flatulence.
The grass contains tannins, for example, chamazulen, which help fight inflammation, and also have a bactericidal and wound healing effect. The uniqueness of the plant lies in its anti-allergic property.
Scientists conducted various experiments on animals, studying the features of the effect of infusions and decoctions on the body. As a result of the experiments, it was possible to establish that in 10% of the animals, half an hour after receiving the decoction, heart rate was reduced. There are substances in the grass that can lower blood pressure.
Reception of infusion helps to increase blood coagulability. When using preparations from a plant, the action of fibrin is activated without the formation of blood clots. Although the plant has long been used as a hemostatic drug, scientists have proved that long-term use of the plant is necessary for pronounced hemocoagulation action. However, when taking yarrow in the blood, the platelet count rises and the blood coagulation period is shortened.
Knowing the useful properties and contraindications of yarrow, you can consult a doctor and decide whether to use it. This plant:
- has an antispasmodic effect;
- increases blood coagulability;
- increases heparin tolerance;
- has a hemostatic effect;
- possesses anti-burn property;
- helps in the treatment of pathologies of the cardiovascular system, including with hypertension.
For women, the beneficial properties of yarrow allow it to be used as a menstruation stimulator.
The plant is used as an anesthetic. It helps relieve cough, removes phlegm, and is used as a sedative. Fresh leaves relieve toothache, help cope with migraine attacks.
How is the plant used?
Knowledge of the beneficial properties and contraindications of yarrow help determine how to use it. Each part of the plant is used to treat certain pathologies. First of all, flowers possess healing properties. Active substances are also concentrated in the grass, only to a lesser extent.
The aboveground part is widely used to prepare infusions that are taken orally. These funds help to cope with peptic ulcer of the stomach and intestines. Also, folk remedies help get rid of colitis, chronic and acute dysentery, is taken for urological ailments, manifested by impurities of blood in the urine. Yarrow is used in gynecology, useful properties help to cope with uterine bleeding against fibromyoma. Also, the plant is able to eliminate nosebleeds and hemoptysis with tuberculosis.
Juices and decoctions of herbs are most often applied externally. These remedies help deal with nosebleeds, cuts, abrasions and scratches. If a woman suffers from bleeding during cervical erosion, tampons are moistened with a decoction or juice of the plant. With inflammation of the hemorrhoidal nodes and their bleeding, wipes with yarrow are used.
Useful properties and contraindications of yarrow allow you to know exactly in which cases you can and in which you can not use the plant. So, with eczema, scabies and lichen, make a decoction and add it to the bath. And with anemia and to prevent the formation of stones in the kidneys and gall bladder, freshly squeezed juice is used. It also helps with bleeding, improves metabolism, and fights liver diseases. Juice with honey is used as a tonic.
The use of yarrow in the collections heals gastritis, peptic ulcer, tuberculosis, furunculosis, ulcers and fistulas.
Scientists know everything about the beneficial properties and contraindications of yarrow, so it can be found in a wide variety of collections: laxatives, mouth-watering, stomach and others.
Workpiece Features
For medicinal purposes, use the aerial part of the plant. The grass is harvested during the flowering period, from June to September.
Do not root grass. When cutting off the tops of shoots with a sickle (about 15 cm long), you need to ensure that there are no rough parts on them. There must be leaves on the selected stems.
Separately cut flower stalks: they should be no more than 2 cm long. Billets are dried in the open air, but without direct sunlight. You can use a dryer (temperature +40 ° C).
Harvested raw materials are stored for 2 years. It has a pleasant aroma, and all drugs prepared from the medicine have a bitter taste.
Types of Yarrow
There are many varieties of yarrow. Not all of them have useful properties for men and women: part is used as a decorative culture.
- The yarrow is noble. This variety is usually found in southern Russia, in Siberia, on the Balkan Peninsula. The plant grows in meadows, steppes, on mountain slopes and in coniferous forests. The grass is quite high - up to 80 cm. The stem can be simple or have a branching. The plant blooms in June. The variety loves warmth, but can easily survive 30-degree frosts.
- Large-headed variety. It is considered unpretentious. It can be found on the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. The height of the stem reaches 60 cm. Its inflorescences are white and large, the leaves are large and whole. The variety blooms in August.
- Yarrow. The plant blooms in a variety of colors: yellow, white, pink, red. The variety reaches a height of 80 cm. There are decorative subspecies that are not used for medicinal purposes, but are grown in garden plots as decorations.
- Yarrow "ptarmika", or "pearl". This species grows in European countries. It differs from other varieties by creeping root form. The variety is tall, up to 1 m. Inflorescences have a pearly shade.
- The yarrow is long-flowering. Blooms in June. Plant height up to 60 cm. Leaflets are small and narrow. The inflorescences are cream or white.
- Meadow yarrow. Distributed in the Caucasus and Central Asia. In height, it can grow up to 1.5 m. The leaves are openwork, gray-green. Blooms with yellow shields.
- Ageratifolia. The birthplace of the plant is Greece. The leaf is narrow, covered with a whitish fluff. Plant height no more than 20 cm. Blossoms in white. The variety can be found in Siberia.
- Golden. It is grown as an ornamental plant due to unusual terry inflorescences.
- Umbrella. His homeland is Greece. The height of the grass is about 10 cm. The leaves are whitish, pubescent, white inflorescences.
- Serbian. The homeland of the variety is the Balkans. The plant has gray-gray leaves. Yarrow about 20 cm tall. Blossoms in single inflorescences resembling chamomile.
There are other varieties of plants, many of them are found in the wild, and others only as a decorative culture in gardens and greenhouses.
Contraindications
Knowing the beneficial properties and contraindications of yarrow for men and women, you can determine whether the plant is suitable for you or not. It is considered potent, so you need to be careful: you need to consult a doctor who will determine the dosage and method of application.
You can not use grass with individual intolerance to individual substances that make up its composition. Some components are toxic, therefore, in case of an overdose, poisoning is possible. Prohibited long-term use of the plant, as this helps to increase the skin's light sensitivity. During treatment, drugs are taken in courses. If they are not observed, dizziness and heartburn may appear. The maximum course length is one month. But it is better to get a doctor's consultation first.
It is forbidden to use the plant during pregnancy, since the constituent substances have a stimulating effect on the uterus, which can cause miscarriage and internal bleeding. Also contraindicated are the period of lactation and the presence of blood clots. Children under 6 years of age are not prescribed.
People with increased blood coagulability and low blood pressure should limit the use of this drug or even remove it from the medicine cabinet.
Alternative methods of treatment
Knowing the useful properties and application of yarrow, after consulting a doctor, a person can begin treatment of ailments. There are many recipes, and only a specialist can decide which one to use: he will determine the dosage, duration of the course, and especially the preparation of the drug.
Folk recipes
From yarrow make infusion. For him, take 15 g of grass, which is filled with a glass of water. The composition is heated in a water bath for 15 minutes. Then the tool is allowed to cool and infuse for half an hour. After this, the infusion is filtered. The resulting volume was adjusted to 200 ml with boiled cooled water. The product is stored in a cool place for no more than 2 days. It is taken in a glass twice a day before meals. This remedy is used to stop bleeding.
In pharmacies, you can buy liquid yarrow extract. Such a drug is taken 40 drops three times a day.
Juice is extracted from the plant during the period of active vegetation. It is usually harvested from July to August, during the flowering period. According to reviews, the useful properties of yarrow in gynecology help with uterine bleeding. Also, juice is used to treat anemia, with pulmonary and gastric bleeding, as a means to prevent the appearance of stones in the kidneys and liver. For treatment, juice is taken 1-3 teaspoons up to 3 times a day.
To arouse appetite, the juice is mixed with honey. Gruel is taken in 3 teaspoons per day.
Yarrow decoction helps to cope with gastritis and peptic ulcer. To cook it, you need 1 teaspoon of the product pour 1 cup boiling water and boil for 5 minutes over low heat. Then the tool is allowed to infuse for 20 minutes. A decoction of 100 g is taken up to 3 times a day.
Useful properties and contraindications of yarrow in gynecology allow it to be used not only to stop uterine bleeding, but also to treat bleeding erosion, as well as for diseases of the bladder.
To get rid of cystitis, a collection is being prepared from yarrow, bearberry leaves, buds of birch and calamus in a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1. Everything mixes up. Then you need to take 2 tablespoons of the mixture and pour 0.5 l of boiling water over it, put on fire and cook for 5 minutes. The composition should be infused for half an hour. 100 g is taken up to 3 times a day.
With skin ailments, the following remedy is prepared from yarrow: 2 tablespoons of raw material are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water and allowed to infuse for 1 hour. Take the drug in half a glass up to 4 times a day. If chamomile is added to this infusion, then it is used to treat wounds, ulcers and burns.
Yarrow is often used to treat gastrointestinal pathologies, as well as to improve appetite. To prepare a useful product, you need to brew 1 teaspoon of raw materials with 2 cups boiling water. The composition is infused for 1 hour, then filtered. It is taken 1 tablespoon before meals. Use this infusion for the treatment of gastritis, inflammation of the duodenum, pain in the epigastrium. With gastritis with low acidity, it is necessary to take a freshly prepared infusion in a glass before meals. If you mix juice with honey and take 1 teaspoon, it will help to cope with kidney diseases, improve appetite and normalize metabolism.
For external use, more concentrated preparations are prepared: usually use 3 tablespoons of raw materials and 1.5 cups of boiling water. Knowing the useful properties of yarrow for women in gynecology and other areas of medicine, you can prepare various products for external use, such as a decoction. To make it, you need to pour 2 tablespoons of raw materials with 1 cup boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. The product is allowed to stand for 1 hour, then filtered. Apply only externally, as well as for the treatment of bleeding erosion.
For many centuries, people have known about the beneficial properties and contraindications of yarrow for women and men. This plant is widely used in collections. It can be found in gastric and antihemorrhoid teas, in laxatives and mouth-watering collections. Together with other herbs, yarrow is used to treat gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and intestines.
Other folk recipes
With urological and nephrological ailments accompanied by hematuria, yarrow infusion is used. Most often, the plant is used in conjunction with other means. For example, you can take bearberry and yarrow leaves of 40 g each, add 20 g of chamomile and birch buds. Then 1 spoon of the mixture is poured with boiling water in a volume of 0.2 l and allowed to infuse for 1 hour. After filtering, the medicine is taken during the day in several doses.
According to reviews, the beneficial properties of yarrow help to cope with uterine bleeding. To eliminate it, various preparations based on herbs are used. For example, you can make the following remedy: take in equal parts the leaves of nettle and yarrow. Then 1 spoon of the mixture is poured with 1 glass of boiling water, insist 15 minutes. The drug is taken as tea in half a glass up to 3 times a day. The same infusion is used for hemoptysis, bronchiectasis, and nosebleeds.
As a local remedy for bleeding, use the juice of the plant. They are treated with abrasions, cuts and scratches. They impregnate a napkin with juice and apply it to a sore spot, and turunds with juice are used to stop nosebleeds. With hemorrhoids, the anal area is treated with a napkin dipped in fresh juice.
Good results have enemas using infusion. They are made with hemorrhoids. To prepare the product, take 1 tablespoon of raw material and pour 1 glass of water. The product is heated in a water bath for 15 minutes, and then infused for 1 hour. The finished medicine is stored for no more than 2 days.
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