Of burns and bereavement

When a blogger fails to post for a long time, regular readers may wonder what is happening in real life to cause such silence. I rarely post about family events but on 9th February my mother died, following a long, debilitating struggle with ischaemic dementia which left her unable to move, speak or see. Death is a journey we all face alone and those who watch and share and wait can only wonder and hopefully grow through their own lessons offered during this time.

In my last paid employment, I spent eight years travelling around England training various organisations, including community nurses and army welfare officers, how to cope with loss and bereavement. I learned a great deal from the stories people shared and was able to make suggestions about things to look out for following bereavement.

The first was the lowering of immune health by grief which often causes the first twelve months to be fraught with viral infections and other more serious conditions, especially if a carer has neglected their own health to look after the person during the final period of their life.

The second was a propensity towards accidents and other events caused by a lowering of attention span or inability to be “sensible” or even to process information.

You could say that my gall bladder issues have stemmed from providing support to my parents over the years and neglecting my own health. On Thursday, March 26^th 2015, I managed to burn/scald myself by tipping an overfull pan of boiling bolognaise sauce over my left thigh whilst trying to keep our back door from flying open in the wind. Whilst I was more concerned about losing half the contents of the saucepan, the accident provided a wonderful opportunity to learn about treating burns at home with herbs and other household products.

The general UK advice about treating burns can be found here .  It  says

• Stop the burning process as soon as possible. This may mean removing the person from the area, dousing flames with water or smothering flames with a blanket. Do not put yourself at risk of getting burnt as well.
• Remove any clothing or jewellery near the burnt area of skin. However, don't try to remove anything that is stuck to the burnt skin because this could cause more damage.
• Cool the burn with cool or lukewarm water for 10 to 30 minutes, ideally within 20 minutes of the injury occurring. Never use ice, iced water or any creams or greasy substances such as butter.
• Keep yourself or the person warm. Use a blanket or layers of clothing, but avoid putting them on the injured area. Keeping warm will prevent hypothermia, where a person's body temperature drops below 35ºC (95ºF). This is a risk if you are cooling a large burnt area, particularly in young children and elderly people.
• Cover the burn with cling film. Put the cling film in a layer over the burn, rather than wrapping it around a limb. A clean clear plastic bag can be used for burns on your hand.
• Treat the pain from a burn with paracetamol or ibuprofen. Always check the manufacturer's instructions when using over-the-counter (OTC) medication. Children under 16 years of age should not be given aspirin.

What it doesn’t tell you is anything to aid the cooling or healing process. Nor does it identify first (reddened skin) or second (blisters) degree burns but only tells you when to head for hospital for

• large or deep burns – any burn bigger than the affected person's hand
• full thickness burns of all sizes – these burns cause white or charred skin
• partial thickness burns on the face, hands, arms, feet, legs or genitals – these are burns that cause blisters
• all chemical and electrical burns

Also get medical help straight away if the person with the burn:

• has other injuries that need treating
• is going into shock – signs include cold clammy skin, sweating, rapid shallow breathing and weakness or dizziness
• is pregnant
• is over 60 years of age
• is under five years of age
• has a medical condition such as heart, lung or liver disease, or diabetes
• has a weakened immune system (the body's defence system), for example because of HIV or AIDS, or because they're having chemotherapy for cancer

Although my burn measured the distance from my knee to a hand’s width up my thigh with two blisters measuring 1” by ½”, I decided I preferred to stay at home rather than spend up to four hours in a crowded A&E department.  It’s been a while since I looked at first aid treatments for burns so I was unaware of the advice to cover with clingfilm. I did know the aim was to keep the skin intact if possible to reduce the chance of incurring infection.

After dropping the saucepan I removed my socks and trousers and rushed upstairs to kneel in the bath with my thigh under a running cold tap for as long as I could. I moved, reluctantly, when my toes told me they were developing frost bite. Then I sliced off two large aloe vera leaves from the triffid which sprawls over our upstairs window and lay on the sofa daubing the juice from the centre of the leaf onto the entire area of the burn.

It is amazing how aloe vera removes heat from burns. It is also really important NOT to treat a burn with any oil or salve until ALL the heat has gone. This is because oil traps heat underneath the application.

If you don’t have any aloe vera plants or juice then look to other cooling herbs – elderflower, rose, chamomile, bergamot (preferably wild monada fistulosa). These can be applied as a tea, herbal water or diluted infused herbal vinegar.

After a couple of hours, I used a St John’s wort salve that I had to hand since St John’s wort is specific for healing burns. I covered the burn area with clean cotton fabric (I use a piece of old sheet for most of my first aid treatments!) fastened at each end with micropore tape. I wanted the burn to be open to the air so it didn’t become soggy.

I didn’t take any painkillers because the soreness disappeared after the first night of sleep and the burn itself was only painful thereafter if pressed.

I continued treating with St John’s wort for three days. I was concerned that the blisters were still filled with liquid, so on the fourth day decided to try a honey poultice. I mixed calendula (for skin healing), St John’s wort and yarrow( to reduce any inflammation) oils with a teaspoon of honey (a gift from Cornish herbalist, Nick Jones, last August) and spread it over the wound. When using an oily poultice like this you do need to add a plastic backing unless you want stains all over your clothes!

Two days after applying the honey poultice, all the blisters had dried up and the burned skin area was diminishing. I then made up a salve from calendula, St John’s wort and yarrow and this has been applied twice daily ever since.

It takes at least three weeks for a burn to heal. I’m really pleased with how my burn is progressing.  It itches occasionally which tells me new skin is growing.  I try very hard not to scratch!

Two things I might have done differently would be to have applied a cooling vinegar or flower water after the aloe vera and not applied the salve until before bedtime (around 12 hours after the accident).  Knowing now how effective the honey was, I would have applied the poultice sooner and maybe made two applications (one per day) for two or more days.  If the wound had been worse I could also have applied a marshmallow root poultice to keep the area moisturised.

This summer I am also going to make a burns honey from apothecary’s rose, bergamot and evening primrose flowers. I made a jar several years ago when Kiva Rose Hardin first posted her recipe but no-one suffered with any burns so I ate the honey instead! Kiva Rose recommends the honey for burns where there is a chance of infection. Given how successful ordinary honey is at drawing moisture from a burn blister, I can see how an infused herbal honey would be even better.

Everyone hopes accidents will not happen but if they do, they provide a useful opportunity to learn new skills.

Summer abundance

I have never grown as many plants from seed as I have this year. Tomatoes, salad leaves, peas, runner and French beans, basil, two types of spinach, radishes, courgettes, butternut squash, ashwaghanda, holy basil, sweet clover and pokeroot from home produced and bought in seeds.

I’ve also never given away quite so many plants as well – runner beans,
St Johns wort, Michaelmas daisies and other assorted herbs. It was when I was potting up the third batch of St Johns wort plants from the garden and handed over a particularly succulent marshmallow plant that the thought crossed my mind, “If I give away so much, will I have enough for myself?” The compulsion to give was too strong. The plants must go.

There is a Native American tradition which Stephen Buhner describes in his “Secret Life of Plants”. When the tribal medicine man arrives at a home where healing has been requested, tradition demands that the spouse of the person should give away all possessions as gifts to other members of the community. The act is performed before the healing commences in anticipatory gratitude.

Other beliefs teach there is no need to hang on to possessions, because whatever we need will be provided by the universe. I know I don’t have the confidence yet to practice this philosophy, but this year is showing how abundance can be the flipside of gifts freely given.

In response to my plants, I have been given new varieties of tomatoes and lots of chilli plants. The basil seeds which grew so easily and magnificently were a gift during a workshop on seed planting and propagation during a Mercian Herb Group meeting in March. Sharing the runner bean plants has brought me closer to many people I value as friends.

I really should not have worried about having enough St John’s wort. The main bed of plants flowered on June 12th, almost two weeks before their normal day of 21st June. There are already three jars of oil infusing on the sunny windowsill in the kitchen and my first batch of tincture is already a glorious shade of crimson. The recent torrential rain combined with ten days absence in Northumberland and Newcastle has played havoc with my ability to pick the flowers every day, but I know there will be enough for my needs and to give away.

Spending the weekend with my parents enabled me to visit the Sanctuary and see which herbs were ready for harvest there. I missed the last of the apothecary’s rose petals (and Chris wouldn’t let me gather from the three briar rose bushes heavy with blossom at Beamish Museum!), but the William Shakespeare were still blooming even though the petals were heavily waterlogged. I gathered as many as I could and dried them by the kitchen rayburn. They are now infusing in cider vinegar waiting to show their colours at Herbfest on 23rd July.

The walk down to the Sanctuary was also a kaleidoscope of colours provided by ladies bedstraw, red & white clover, knapweed and plantain accompanied by a variety of butterflies, damsel flies and grasshoppers. I watch so many wildlife programmes bemoaning the loss of native habitats. I am so fortunate to have a meadow blooming at my feet!

I’ve already dried two harvests of catmint and ox–eye daises, but more was waiting for me along with a palette of colour provided by weld, wood betony and hyssop. Helped by the three people who attended the Saturday workshop, we picked purple sage, SJW, betony, goats rue, motherwort and enjoyed a wonderful tea of lemon balm and calendula flower.

Janey brought her carding pads and set to work on the wool we boiled for lanolin over Easter. The conclusion was that the wool was really only fit for felting rather than spinning, but it still leaves a wealth of possibilities for future crafts.

I had less than two hours on Sunday to complete my gathering and weeding after preparing Sunday dinner and before we had to pack everything up to come home. I intended to remove the last few docks from the new herb bed, but found myself harvesting and weeding skullcap instead. I also gathered a tiny basket of heartsease which I set to dry for a “hope” tea in the future.

Bees were everywhere – white and yellow/orange-bottomed bumblebees and honey bees. I watched them feeding from red clover and motherwort, climbing around the plant to suck the nectar from each individual floret. Their activity was so different from their sister bees collecting pollen from wide open evening primrose flowers or even St John’s wort flowers, where they appeared to brush their tummy over the pollen or wrap pollen strings around their whole bodies – something I’d not seen before.

The stand of motherwort was so beautiful. I kept looking at it wondering what I could make with it. I’d already gathered enough for vinegar. I have tincture and oil left from last year and it was far too hot and my time severely limited, for me to gather any more. So I left the strawberry and cream pink motherwort and the deep blue of the hyssop to the bees.

It is hard to accept you can’t do everything, especially when colours and scents call seductively to gather and process. There will be further opportunities. The calendula and bergamot are still a long way from flowering, so they and the tansy will greet me when I return in August.

Times of change: Menopause

On Saturday I shall be facilitating a workshop at the Sanctuary looking at herbs which can support women (and their families) during menopause. As this is something I am/have been experiencing for the last four years or so, it is a subject I feel intimately involved with. I thought I would share a few things which have helped me to retain a reasonable quality of life during this time.

In today’s busy world, there is considerable pressure to be continually happy and successful in our lives. Our culture idolises younger people and cosmetic companies continually spread the message all women should strive to preserve their youthful appearance “because you’re worth it”. The underlying sign appears to be that if you show any signs of aging, you somehow become invisible and worthless.

These continual messages have caused many women to fear the time when their ovaries cease to function; when they pass from “fertile mother” into that of “wise woman”. They fear the change in body shape, the supposed loss of sexual attractiveness and believe stories that all women suffer terribly from a range of symptoms during the years while their body readjusts to hormonal changes.

They worry about emotional imbalance. Some women talk about feeling “as if they are going mad” because emotions may not be contained as they were before. Periods of unhappiness or grief are considered signs of an inability to cope or function properly and expressing anger is not considered “proper” in a polite society.

Many people associate sadness and unhappiness with lack of self-worth and failure, yet all emotions are part of the human condition. Our capacity for all shades of emotion and sentiment may well increase as we grow older and are exposed to loss, death and bereavement in all its many forms. This is not something to be feared, but acknowledged as a part of life from which to learn and grow.

The usual decade during which the majority of women experience menopause is the fifth. Some women will suffer an early onset of menopausal symptoms in their forties and some women may have to undergo a surgical hysterectomy at any age.
The grief caused by this sudden onset of menopause can catch many women unawares. With the current trends to start families later because of career or partnership commitments can mean a woman loses her choice of whether or not to have a family before she has had time to consider which path she wishes to travel.

There is then the decision whether or not to go down the hormone replacement therapy route (HRT). It has to be a personal decision but anyone asked to engage with this therapy should consider all the facts before embarking on it.

If you do decide to receive HRT, current best practice is that the drug should not be prescribed for more than five years. Many women try to come off it, but because the subsequent menopausal symptoms are so bad, they often go back on the tablets. I have friends who were on the drugs for over ten years because their GP did not reviewed the prescription.

Germaine Greer and Susun Weed have written what I consider to be excellent if controversial books about menopause and they both cite research which shows that HRT does not deliver many of the original claims when it comes to issues like loss of bone density. You really have to get as much information as you feel is helpful and then make your own decision.

One of the most powerful allies in our journey through life is to be aware and knowledgeable about our own bodies and how they work. To be able to find meaning behind a seemingly meaningless situation or symptom is half the battle towards coping with and either accepting or challenging whatever troubles or concerns us.

There are many good books and online resources which look at the menopause from both a sociological and herbal perspective. It is also helpful to discover some basic anatomy so you understand how your body and particularly the reproductive and endocrine (hormonal) system works.

References and websites are included in the resources section at the end of this post. Rosalee de la Foret has written an excellent article about menopause in this month’s Plant Healer Magazine which gives a brief overview of some issues women face from a Chinese Herbal Medicine perspective with some corresponding herbs which can help.

The changes in hormonal activity which women experience can be helped by looking at vitamin and mineral intake in the first instance. It was Henriette Kress who drew my attention to the need for extra B vitamins during menopause. She talked about women who experienced hot feet during pregnancy and how hot feet were a symptom of lack of B vitamins.

Hot feet were something I had suffered with during each pregnancy, but no-one had ever explained why it happened or what I could do to make it better. Of course, since no-one else mentioned it, I thought I must just be really strange and didn’t tell anyone else either. I just went to bed with a cold hot water bottle and waited for my hot feet to disappear!

The same symptom appeared again as I entered menopause. This time I didn’t wait but increased my B vitamins with a supplement. The hot feet disappeared, as did the dreadful heat I suffered for twelve months every time I went to bed. Now, if I stop the tablets, the night heat returns, so I try not to go without them for more than one or two days if I’m away from home.

Paul Bergner talks about mineral deficiency amongst modern cultures. He recommends making up a simple recipe for magnesium deficiency by putting 1 tablespoon of milk of magnesia into 3.5 tablespoons of 5% apple cider or white vinegar and stirring until the milk of magnesia dissolves. If it won’t dissolve, add a touch more vinegar. This produces an ionic solution of magnesium acetate. The mag is 100% ionic and thus nearly completely absorbable as opposed to about 35%
with a pill.

Add one tablespoon of this mixture to one litre of water and drink throughout the day. Don’t exceed this dosage or it can cause loose stools, but he says it is very effective and results should be seen within several days.

Your body can change dramatically during the menopause. Things which have been certainties for the past fifty years are suddenly no longer there and new challenges appear. I can give you two personal examples.

All my life I’ve had greasy hair. It is fine and has always been something I’d rather ignore than take time over. The issues I faced during my teenage years with not being able to wash it more than twice a week has probably scarred my soul!
Once my body began to change I noticed large white patches and a terrible itching on my scalp. At first I thought I’d somehow burned my scalp since the patches had arisen from nowhere, but it soon became apparent I was suffering from terrible dandruff. Proprietary shampoo helped a little but didn’t solve the problem completely. I also noticed I could leave my hair for a couple of days and there was no grease in sight.

Luckily, around the same time, James Wong presented his second series of Grow your own drugs. One of the episodes dealt with dandruff and itchy scalp by rubbing with a mixture of infused thyme and rosemary oil. Over the next few weeks, Chris and I spent a memorable holiday in Spain during the first Icelandic volcanic eruption. One of the good thing about the golf resort we were staying on was that there were large numbers of herbs growing everywhere.

Risking life and limb from stray golf shots, I gathered thyme and rosemary and brought them back with me on the thirty hour coach journey through Spain, France and England. (Never to be repeated!) Once dried, I made double infused oils from both the herbs and mixed a quantity together to apply to my hair. I applied it liberally first thing in the morning, left it for an hour or two and then washed my hair in the usual way.

The herbal oil completely removed the dandruff and stopped the itching on my scalp. I continue to apply it every two or three weeks and haven’t had a recurrence of the problem in eighteen months. One thing which did happen was that I “lost” the thyme oil amongst all the jars of oil in my larder. Instead I mixed first golden rod and then elderflower with the rosemary and still achieved a positive result. Last week I found the thyme oil again, so will be returning to the original combination.

I know my hair will never be spectacular, but I have been able to grow it over the past four years. A couple of months ago, I caught Chris looking at me and his comment was, “Whatever you are doing with your hair, it seems to be working.” I took this as a compliment.

Another problem which many women face during the menopause is vaginal dryness. After seeing a recipe for a wedding night salve made from marshmallow leaves and seeds and a few drops of clove essential oil, I made up my own recipe for a sunflower oil based salve made from double infused marshmallow leaves, calendula and a touch of St John’s wort thickened with beeswax. Originally I included lovage, but it’s just as good without. It works wonderfully, but you do have to be careful about tell-tale handprints left forever on the sheets or pillowcases!

If you have access to a saucepan and fridge, you might want to think about creating your own water-based lubricant. This recipe comes from a long line of female herbalists and midwives who appreciate its properties and was shared by Rebecca Hartmann.

Simmer 1 tablespoon of flax seeds in 1 cup of water until it’s reduced by half (maybe 20 minutes). Strain immediately. (If you let it cool, it’ll be too thick to strain.) Store it in the fridge when you don’t need it as it will only keep for a couple of days unrefrigerated.

You could experiment with scents and flavours; just add herbs or spices to the simmering pot! Mint, cinnamon or fennel can be nice. Start with a small amount, too much of a strong herb or spice could cause burning in sensitive areas. Avoid essential oils for the same reason. Although it might be tempting, stay away from sugar, as it can lead to infections.

The basic lubricant should be condom-safe (it’s completely water-based), but if you do plan to use it with condoms, be sure not to add any ingredients that might damage the latex — i.e., nothing oily or caustic.

There is so much to say about the menopause – everyone could write their own book on the subject because everyone’s journey is different. One of the most important things to do is to learn about your body and take time to listen to what it is trying to tell you. Hopefully this will enable the journey to be travelled more easily.


Calming and uplifting herbs from Kiva Rose
Chevalier, A Herbal Medicine for the Menopause
Gladstar, R Herbal Healing for Women
Griggs, B The Green Witch: A Modern Woman’s Herbal
Edwards, G F Traversing the Wild Terrain of Menopause
Henriette’s Herbal Homepage
Herbs for sorrow
Hoffman, D The Holistic Herbal
McGarry, G Brighid’s Healing:Ireland’s Celtic Medicine Traditions
Rogers, C The Women’s Guide to Herbal Medicine
Shaw, N Herbal Medicine : A Step-by-Step-Guide 1998 Element Books
Shaw, N Herbalism: An Illustrated Guide 1998 Element Books
Shaw, N & Hedley, C Herbal Remedies 1996 Parragon Books Services Ltd
Weed , S Healing Wise : The Wise Woman’s Herbal
Weed, S New Menapause Years
Wood, M The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using plants as medicines

Cooling herbs for summer – Elderflower

This article is posted as part of the Herbwifery Forum blog party hosted by Alchemille (http://alchemille.blogspot.com/)

As the brightness of hawthorn flowers slowly fades in the hedgerows, our eyes are caught by a new dazzling white array amongst cool green leaves. The elder is in flower.

Every one who loves elder trees knows the joy elderflowers can bring – not only from their aroma, but also the myriad uses in summer drinks. Elderflower cordial has always been a commercial favourite – now freely available in every supermarket, but less people know the flavour of the elderflower as a simple tea to bring cooling in the heat of summer or to soothe the fevered brow during colds, flu, fevers or the hot flushes of menopause.

Elderflower has always worked well in combination with peppermint and yarrow for the classic “cold tea” which was the first herbal combination I ever learned about.

There are so many wonderful things elderflower can make. Here are some of them.

Elderflower tea
Pick 2-4 elderflowers and place in a teapot or cafatiere. Pour over just boiled water, replace the lid and let steep for 10 minutes, strain and enjoy. The tea is naturally sweet and refreshing.

Elderflower cordial
(This is basically Sophie Grigson’s recipe without the citric acid http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516164)
20 elderflower heads (I forgot to keep counting and used half of the basketful I’d gathered)
4 lemons
2 oranges
1.8 kg granulated sugar
1.2l water
Place the sugar in the water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. While the water is heating, place the elderflowers in a large bowl and cut the zest off the oranges and lemons and add to elderflowers. Cut the ends off the citrus fruit and discard, then slice and add to contents of bowl. Pour the boiling sugar syrup over the elderflowers and citrus fruits. Cover the bowl and place in a cool place for 24 hours. I put a plate on the top of the bowl to keep the citrus fruit submerged in the syrup. After 24 hours strain (eat the orange slices – they are amazing!). Strain twice more using either muslin or kitchen paper. Makes 4 pints of cordial. Pour into sterilized glass jars or plastic jars and freeze. Keep in the fridge and dilute to taste. It tastes good with fizzy water. Serve in glass jugs with slices of lemon and a sprig of mint.

You may want to use elderflower’s cooling properties on your skin. Gail Faith Edwards has a wonderfully simple recipe for making elderflower water, which can be used as a cleanser.

Elderflower water
Place elderflowers in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan and cover with fresh spring or distilled water. Cover and slowly heat to just below a simmer. Turn the heat as low as it will go and continue heating for about ten minutes tightly covered. Turn off the heat and allow all to sit, covered, overnight. The next morning, strain the infusion off. You will need to strain at least twice through muslin or kitchen towel to remove all the floating debris. Add a quarter of the volume in alcohol as a preservative. Bottle and keep in a cool dark place. I looked at my elderflower water 24 hours after bottling and there is a yellow sediment at the bottom which is probably pollen.

Elderflower’s cooling properties can also be captured in a double infused oil. I use the general method for double infusing in sunflower oil. The oil is beautifully fragrant and will stay that way for two years or more in a cool, dark place. I was giving an introduction to herbs talk a few weeks ago and found out a sample of elderflower oil I’d made back in 2006 and it was still as aromatic now as it was when it was made. It can be used as a massage oil or to help reduce the heat in swollen, hot joints.

Do be careful when drying fresh elderflowers. If there is any dampness, it will develop mould. I’ve lost two entire harvests from carelessness – not checking the drying herbs for several weeks – and then having to throw everything away! I now dry the flowers flat on top of newspaper in a dark, warm place covered with a second piece of newspaper. Things are hectic at the moment, so I haven’t had the energy to harvest elderflowers for drying yet, but I’m hoping to do so before too long.

There are many other culinary delights involving elderflower. I’ve not yet tried elderflower fritters, but muscadet jam which is made by adding elderflowers to gooseberry jam is wonderful! I also made a very simple gooseberry fool adding two elderflower heads and some sweet cicely during the cooking of the gooseberries, which made the flavour very subtle. Let me know if you would like me to post recipes for the fritters, jam and gooseberry fool.

Fifteen years ago when I was working in patient involvement in the NHS, I attended a talk by a young dietician working with diabetic patients. The locality where the hospital was based had a very high number of people from south asia, who had a genetic predisposition to diabetes. She told us how these communities had very strange ways of looking at their food, calling them hot or cold. She obviously didn’t understand what they meant and neither, at that time, did I. Now I know better.