Hi Folks! Emily here. I wanted to share with you an amazing remedy that I have had the opportunity to use today. It’s that time of year where bugs are becoming a big problem. Well yesterday morning I woke up with a massive spider bite on the back of my left thigh. It was swollen and red and hurt like crazy with a deep throbbing pain. I slapped some lavender and peppermint on it to deal with the itching and pain and I went on with my busy day, only giving it thought when it began to hurt again. By the end of the day the bite had swollen and reddened nearly my entire thigh. I applied some lobelia tincture topically (which took away the pain immediately) and took some anti-allergy tincture that I keep on hand and went to sleep. In the past that had always taken care of problems like this. Not so this time. When I woke up this morning I had a mild fever and the redness and swelling had not diminished noticeably. So my trusted standbys had helped the symptoms but not effected a cure. I hustled to the shop and grabbed an herb that I really should have had all along.
Comfrey.
I made a tea out of the leaves and after steeping the leaves for 10 minutes, applied the wet leaves (still warm) to the area of the bite. I kept those on for 5 or 6 minutes and then applied them again every 10 or 15 minutes for an hour (normally I would wrap this poultice in gauze and leave on for several hours but I was in a hurry). See here now. I then discarded the leaves and for the rest of the day I have been dipping a washcloth in the tea and applying it to the spot every half hour or so. It is 3:51 pm as I write this and the swelling and redness has gone down so that my entire leg is back to normal, the fever is gone and there is only a little red spot to mark the original site of the bite or sting or whatever got me. Comfrey has proven its worth to me and from now on I will make sure to always have some on hand!.
