Highlander pepper is used not only in traditional medicine. If necessary, the extract of this herb is prescribed by doctors. And you can find it in almost any pharmacy.
Plant composition
Pepper grass (or, as it is also called, water pepper) is an annual plant that is widely used in both traditional and folk medicine. It is harvested during the flowering period.
The composition of the mountaineer pepper includes flavonoids, among which isoramnetin, quercetin, kempferol. They have an antispasmodic, hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effect. The plant also contains vitamins of groups K, C, in a small amount - D, E, A, macro- and microelements - bromine, lead, strontium, selenium, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, chromium, boron, iodine, silver, nickel , vanadium, iron, calcium, zinc, cobalt, aluminum. The researchers found that the plant is a source of acetic, valerianic and formic acids, paracoumaric and chlorogenic phenolic acids, aldehydes, sugars, tannins and astringents.
Due to its composition, grass is used not only as a hemostatic agent. As one of the components, it is used in the treatment of peptic ulcer, hemorrhoids, pancreatitis, migraine, chronic diarrhea.
The appearance of the plant
In many regions of the northern hemisphere, where a temperate climate reigns, a highlander is found. A photo of him, viewed in advance, will allow you to distinguish this plant from others without errors. This grass can reach 80 cm in height, it has a branched stem, often having a reddish tint. The leaves of the plant are elongated, smooth, transparent points are visible on them. Forest mustard flowers are plain and small, only a few millimeters in length. They are framed by a green or reddish corolla. After flowering, a fruit is formed - a small nut-shaped nut that is flat on one side and convex on the other.
Procurement rules
You can collect the ground parts of the plant from late June to September. It is during this period that it blooms. It is necessary to dry both the stems and the flowers. To do this, the collected plants are laid out in a thin layer in the shade and are often turned over. For industrial workpieces, it is best to use special units.
To prepare the raw materials at home, you can use attics, awnings for drying. It is spread in a small layer, the thickness of which should not exceed 5 cm, on paper or fabric. If the grass is dried in the sun, it will turn black. It is very easy to check if the raw materials are ready. To do this, you just need to bend a few branches. If they break, then the plant can be packed in bags.
Plant action
Highlander pepper (water pepper - one of the names of this herb) is used as a hemostatic agent. The tincture of this plant has an astringent and anti-inflammatory effect, it is also a diuretic. In addition, it is known that water pepper is also an anesthetic, sedative, antimicrobial agent. In addition to these properties, it is still able to increase the secretion of the stomach and gonads. Essential oil made from this plant can slightly lower the pressure.
Highlander also stimulates uterine contractions. True, this ability is much weaker than that of ergot. With heavy painful menstruation, it greatly facilitates the condition of the woman, his action occurs quickly enough.
Scope of use
Not everyone knows that the use of water pepper is not limited to the need to reduce uterine bleeding. The spectrum of its action is much wider. The grass is used for various bleeding, including stomach, intestinal, menstrual bleeding. If we talk about the decoction of this plant, then it has a bacteriostatic effect (it stops the growth of microorganisms). It is used for various rashes, scrofula, malaria, and
difficulty urinating. Its painkiller properties are also widely used, for this it is enough to make tea out of it.
Decoction of the plant is recommended to drink even with stomach cancer and with peptic ulcer. Outwardly, pepper grass can be used as a substitute for mustard plasters.
In combination with other plants, pepper mountaineer is also used. A description of the composition of the fees makes it possible to see what concentration of this herb is necessary to improve the patient's condition. So, in the complex it is used to treat diarrhea and enterocolitis. It can also be found in collections intended for patients with hemorrhoids and chronic colitis, which is accompanied by ulcerative erosion of the mucous membranes.
Medical preparations
Water pepper is often prescribed by doctors. As a rule, they recommend using ready-made pharmacy drugs. So, on sale you can find liquid extract in bottles and dried water pepper in packs of 100 grams.
Water pepper extract looks like a brownish-green liquid with a strong odor. It tastes rather bitter with an astringent effect. An extract is prescribed, as a rule, as a hemostatic agent for 30 (sometimes 40) drops, it must be taken three times a day.
On sale there are also candles from hemorrhoids "Anastezol", which include pepper mountaineer. The use of this herb in such a preparation is due to its hemostatic effect.
Using a dried plant
If desired, you can independently prepare an infusion of this herb. It also has a hemostatic effect. It is made from two tablespoons of raw materials and 200 ml of boiled hot water. The resulting mixture must be infused for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. After this, the liquid is cooled for 45 minutes and filtered. The resulting thickener must be pressed. After all these procedures, the volume of infusion must be brought up to 200 ml by adding boiled water to it. Three times a day, 1/3 cup is taken so prepared
water pepper. The tincture, the instructions for which are contained on a box with a dried plant, should not be used with dairy products.
In most cases, the ground part of the plant is used. But for the treatment of impotence and low acidity of the stomach, traditional medicine advises the use of roots.
Contraindications
Like many herbal remedies, the herb of the mountaineer pepper may not be used by everyone. So, it is contraindicated in patients with thrombophlebitis because of its blood-clotting effect. Also, it is not worth the money based on it to drink and for those who have inflammation of the bladder or kidneys. Pregnancy, by the way, also refers to contraindications.
It is worth considering that fresh grass can have a strong irritating effect on the mucous membranes and skin. When dried, these properties are lost, so you can only use a pre-harvested plant.
When applying, it is important to strictly adhere to the dosage, because its non-compliance is fraught with poisoning. Their first symptoms will be a decrease in temperature, diarrhea, general weakness, and deterioration of cardiac activity. As a treatment for overdose, enveloping and laxative agents can be prescribed, with diarrhea - astringent drugs.
Cosmetology
Forest mustard can be used not only as a hemostatic remedy. If your hair falls out, then water pepper can help. Tincture, the instruction to which speaks of its stimulating properties, is able to improve vascular tone. To reduce hair loss, you do not have to drink it. It must be applied as a mask.
To do this, it is necessary to mix in equal amounts the ready-made pharmacy extract of the highlander peppercorns and the oily solution of vitamin E. The resulting mixture must be thoroughly rubbed into the scalp and left for 20 minutes. Do not forget to wrap your hair with polyethylene and wrap a towel. After the specified time, the mask must be washed off using a regular shampoo.
If you do not want to use a pharmacy extract purchased, you can independently prepare alcohol tincture. To do this, 25 g of dry grass is poured with 100 grams of alcohol or vodka. The mixture is infused in a dark place for two weeks. Do not forget to shake it periodically.
ethnoscience
In most cases, doctors appoint a highlander pepper only as a hemostatic agent. It is usually recommended by gynecologists for painful menstruation and the need to reduce uterine bleeding. And traditional medicine offers to use all the possibilities of this herb.
People generally adhere to traditional methods of treatment - taking an infusion or extract of this plant inside. But it can also be used to resorb tumors. For this purpose, compresses are made from grass. The use of water pepper is also possible with ulcers on the skin. For their scarring, the ancient Greeks offered to sprinkle the affected areas with powder of the mountaineer pepper.
The plant also helps with hemorrhoidal itching. To alleviate the condition, it is necessary to do a sitz bath with this grass. Prepare them as follows. 400 g of grass are boiled for 15 minutes in two liters of water. Separately, 400 g of milk is boiled, the same amount of bread cut into small pieces is poured into it. Infusions of grass and milk are mixed, the mixture is poured into a container in which you can sit. This procedure should last 15 minutes. Do not forget to wash with warm water after it. This procedure must be done within a month after a bowel movement.
The opinion of traditional and traditional medicine on the advisability of using an extract or tincture of water pepper inside coincide. Both doctors and healers recognize the excellent hemostatic properties of this plant.