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| Herbs to Fight Pain and Inflammation |
| Herbs known to reduce inflammation can also help stop pain. Herbs are also advantageous because they do not have a long list of dangerous side effects such as those that result from the long-term use of anti-inflammatory drugs. |
| Most of the herbs suggested for sports injuries do little to fight the injury itself, but they do reduce the pain, and if you suffer from chronic pain, you know that is a big step. You must have patienceit can take up to a week for you to notice any improvement, but the results can be dramatic. Sometimes the herbs help increase mobility of arthritic joints. In the most serious cases, herbs have at least enabled people with chronic pain in joints or muscles to reduce the amount of anti-inflammatory drugs they were taking. |
| Willow Bark and Meadowsweet |
| The best-known commercial pain reliever is aspirin. But did you know that there are natural aspirins like willow bark (Salix, various species) and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)? The magic ingredient in these herbs is salicin, which converts to salicylic acid in the stomach, a compound you have probably heard about in aspirin commercials on television. |
| Salicylic acid was first synthesized by chemists in the mid-nineteenth century. It was hoped that this new purified form would not irritate the stomach as natural aspirins did but the new drug turned out to be even more irritating, and it was terribly bitter. Then the slightly less irritating acetylsalicylic acid was developed. Reflecting its herbal heritage, this new compound was called ''aspirin," from "spirea," the old name for meadowsweet (not the ornamental spirea bush). |
| Herbalists use willow bark or meadowsweet to fight many of the same symptoms for which you might pop an aspirin. Two cups of tea or one to two dropperfuls of willow bark or meadowsweet tincture usually does the trick. Ironically, it turns out that these natural aspirins are far less irritating to your stomach than the synthetic drug. This is especially true of meadowsweet, which herbalists even recommend to treat the pain of stomach ulcers. |
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