{Alert: Graphic Wound Images}
Ahh, comfrey! The name itself reminds me of the word comfort and that is exactly what comfrey has to offer. Comfrey is an extraordinary wound healer. The phytochemical allantoin enables rapid cell growth, speeding up the wound healing process. The demulcent mucilage present in the plant soothes inflamed tissue, while the astringency stops excessive bleeding.
One word of caution when using comfrey on wounds–because it does cause quick cell proliferation, it should not be used on deep wounds. It can cause the tissue on the outside of the wound to repair itself before the deeper part of the wound has healed. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the deeper parts of the wound and can trap bacteria leading to abscesses.
Comfrey Soak
Comfrey can be used many ways, but for external wounds I like to use it in my salves, as a compress, or as a soak. My daughter recently scraped her toe causing the skin to tear back. If the scrap would have only scuffed the top layer of skin, I probably would have just applied salve to it. But because it was a more substantial wound, I decided to make a comfrey foot soak.
Ingredients:
- dried comfrey leaf
- dead sea salt
I started by making a very strong comfrey infusion. I strained the infusion into a small tub, then added some dead sea salt for the antiseptic properties. I added some water to provide an adequate amount of liquid for soaking and to cool down the infusion so that it was a comfortable temperature.
I had her soak her foot for about 20 minutes, then leave it exposed to the air. I only had her soak it once because it seemed to heal up nicely.