An Introduction to

Herbal First Aid

at Home and in the Wild

Notes. Drawings. Recipes...

RecipesIntroductionThis booklet is a wee introduction into how we might begin to use plants in first aid, decreasing our reliance on pharmaceuticals, harmful chemicals and the associated waste products of the dominant medical industry. It provides information about which plants can be useful in dealing with four different first aid situations both at home from a herbal first aid kit, and in the wild. It is most definitely a beginning! There are lots of gaps in the knowledge here, partly because I don’t know everything, and partly because plants and ecosystems differ all over the world. This booklet was made in Scotland, and includes references to the most common herbs from the Scottish wild lands and local histories. If you take this home with you, I hope you enjoy finding out more about the plants that grow in your locality if they are different to mine.

While knowing how to use herbs to heal yourself and other willing people can be very empowering, if youor people around you are seriously hurt, please do seek serious medical advice!

Herbal 1st Aid Kit

An astringent

e.g. Witch hazel

water, St John’s W

ort tincture

An anodyne /

pain-relievere.g. D

ried nettles, M

eadowsw

eetor C

owslip

An anti-em

etic/anti-nausea e.g M

eadowsw

eet, C

hamom

ile

An anti-itch/em

olliente.g. C

hickweed cream

, Seaw

eed

You w

ill also need bandages, gauze, plasters, and some good sterile w

ipes (or tea tree solution) for your hands if you are cleaning w

ounds

An antibacterial/

antiseptice.g. G

arlic, Lavender

oil, Tea tree oil

A vulnerary/w

ound healer e.g. C

omfrey ointm

ent, H

oney, herbs containing tannins

An anti-inflam

matory

e.g. Meadow

sweet,

Birch bark,

Willow

bark

Cuts and Grazes 3. When the cut/graze is cleansed and the bleeding has stopped, you can apply a healing ointment.

At home, try Myrrh tincture or powder, Slippery elm powder, Aloe, Goldenseal, Marigold, Comfrey root ointment, St John’s Wort tincture, Carrageen seaweed, or Honey

You won’t be able to make an ointment, but try some fresh Yarrow, Comfrey leaf, Self Heal, Woundwort, Cowslip, Seaweed (on an unpolluted seashore..), Marigold Flowers, St John’s Wort flowers.

1st Response You need to clean the wound, to remove any foreign bodies/debris so it doesn’t get infected

Rinse it with an antiseptic lotion

At Home:

e.g. Distilled Witch Hazel Water, solution of 1tsp Tincture of St. John’s Wort and 1tsp Tincture Calendula in a cup of water

In The Wild: Hunt for some Wild Garlic or Marigolds to disinfect, or Yarrow to stop the bleeding

If this is a very serious gaping wound, get yourself to A & E!

2. Then you’ll want to dress the wound with a clean and dry dressing.

If you’re in a forest see if you can find some sphagnum moss, or failing that other mosses, or old man’s beard lichen.

If there’s no moss, you could try a comfrey leaf, other leaf or a bit of your (cleanest) clothes.

Links and Resources in case you haven’t had enough yet..

Some good general books Herbal First Aid - Andrew Chevallier

Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal

Medicine

Out of the Earth - Simon Mills

Holistic Herbal - David Hoffman

Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of

British Plants - Gabriella Hatfield

An excellent book for making

remedies

The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook

- James Green

WebsitesThere are tons of websites about herbal medicine! and plenty too about how to make a first aid kit.

I recommend www.pfaf.org for reliable information about individual herbs www.botanical.com for some good old fashioned folk history and useful info.

1st

Res

pons

e B

ruis

es r

ange

from

min

or t

o th

e ve

ry

seri

ous

but

are

all t

he r

esul

t of

cap

illar

y ha

emor

rhag

e.

- A

t ho

me,

the

bes

t re

med

y po

ssib

le fo

r br

uise

s is

Arn

ica

Tin

ctur

e (n

ote

neve

r ta

ke a

rnic

a in

tern

ally

or

appl

y to

bro

ken

skin

). N

ext

best

is L

iqui

d E

xtra

ct o

f E

chin

acea

to

stim

ulat

e lo

cal c

apill

ary

circ

ulat

ion

If

you

don’

t ha

ve t

hese

, mak

e an

ice

cold

co

mpr

ess

wit

h:

Arn

ica

Flo

wer

s, C

hick

wee

d, C

owsl

ip,

Mar

igol

d, F

enug

reek

See

ds, O

ak L

eaf,

St

John

’s W

ort,

Yar

row

, Com

frey

Roo

t or

ot

her

vuln

erar

ies.

Eat

leaf

y gr

eens

to

stim

ulat

e vi

tam

in K

pr

oduc

tion

! (is

ant

i-cl

otti

ng)

If y

ou h

urt

your

self

tus

slin

g ab

out

outs

ide,

the

re’s

ple

nty

of h

erbs

abo

ut fo

r

yo

u to

app

ly t

o so

re, b

ruis

ed b

odie

s!

If p

ossi

ble,

dip

the

se in

a c

old

stre

am s

o th

at

y

our

com

pres

s is

coo

l:

-C

owsl

ip

-M

arig

old

flow

ers

-O

ak L

eaf

-St

Joh

n’s

Wor

t -

Her

b R

ober

t -

Com

frey

Lea

f or

pul

ped

root

if p

ossi

ble

-H

orse

tail

-Y

arro

w

-Po

tato

-

Chi

ckw

eed

and

Cuc

umbe

r ar

e na

tura

l ref

rige

rant

s to

co

mpl

emen

t an

y of

the

se h

erbs

Bruise

s

Burns

and S

calds

By

defin

itio

n a

burn

is c

ause

d by

dry

he

at a

nd a

sca

ld b

y m

oist

hea

t. A

ll bu

rns

are

seri

ous!

1st

Res

pons

e:

Try

and

exc

lude

air

from

the

wou

nd

as q

uick

ly a

s po

ssib

le. D

o N

ot t

ry t

o pe

el a

nyth

ing

away

from

the

wou

nd if

it

is s

tuck

to

it. e

.g. c

loth

. Ins

tead

cut

ar

ound

it.

The

n yo

u ca

n ge

ntly

app

ly p

ain

relie

ving

and

ant

isep

tic

herb

s to

the

w

ound

. Dep

endi

ng o

n th

e se

veri

ty o

f th

e w

ound

you

mig

ht w

ant

to t

ake

som

e an

alge

sic

herb

s in

tern

ally

as

wel

l.

Not

e: F

or c

orro

sive

alk

alis

(e.g

. Lye

), ba

the

in a

n ac

idic

sol

utio

n su

ch a

s 3t

sp

cide

r vi

nega

r or

lem

on ju

ice

in 1

cup

w

ater

. The

n ap

ply

Hon

ey a

nd a

ba

ndag

e.

T

o ap

ply

to t

he w

ound

, col

d if

pos

sibl

e:

- St

John

’s W

ort

oil,

Alo

e V

era,

Slip

pery

Elm

pow

der

mix

ed w

ith

a lit

tle

wat

er t

o fo

rm a

pas

te, C

ucum

ber,

Chi

ckw

eed

loti

on.

-Alt

erna

tive

ly, s

teep

a c

loth

in (c

oole

d) t

eas

of t

he fo

llow

ing:

Cha

mom

ile,

Eld

erflo

wer

, Fen

ugre

ek, M

arig

old,

Myr

rh p

owde

r, P

lant

ain.

-

Hon

ey h

as a

long

tra

diti

on r

eput

atio

n fo

r bu

rns.

To

take

as

a pa

in-r

elie

ver,

to c

alm

the

ner

vous

sys

tem

: - S

tron

g ne

ttle

tea

, Mea

dow

swee

t te

a, S

ilver

Bir

ch, W

illow

Bar

k, S

t Jo

hn’s

W

ort,

Skul

lcap

, Pas

sion

flow

er, V

aler

ian

If

the

burn

is s

erio

us, t

ry a

nd g

et t

o m

edic

al t

reat

men

t.W

hile

you

’re

in t

he w

ild, t

he b

est

you

coul

d fin

d w

ould

be

Alo

e V

era

(unl

ikel

y in

Sco

tlan

d!) L

ook

for

Com

frey

to

spee

d up

cel

l gro

wth

, Mar

shm

allo

w t

o so

othe

, Mar

igol

ds

to h

eal,

Chi

ckw

eed

for

cool

ing.

If

you

have

acc

ess

to

faci

litie

s fo

r bo

iling

wat

er, p

repa

re a

str

ong

Net

tle

tea

or M

eado

wsw

eet

tea

and

drin

k it

for

pain

rel

ief.

Stings

and B

ites

Rea

ctio

ns t

o bi

tes

and

stin

gs a

re

vari

ed, b

ut a

re e

ithe

r du

e to

the

ven

om

rele

ased

or

an a

llerg

ic r

espo

nse.

1st

Res

pons

e:

If

som

eone

has

a h

ighl

y al

lerg

ic

resp

onse

to

a st

ing,

che

ck if

the

y ha

ve

an E

pi-P

en y

ou n

eed

to in

ject

the

m

wit

h, t

hen

get

them

to

hosp

ital

im

med

iate

ly.

Was

ps, B

eezz

z an

d A

nts

Bee

sti

ngs

can

be n

eutr

alis

ed w

ith

a bi

carb

onat

e of

sod

a so

luti

on, a

nd

was

ps’ a

nd a

nts’

wit

h a

cide

r vi

nega

r so

luti

on. (

3tsp

s in

a c

up o

f w

ater

)

If

the

pain

is s

ever

e, y

ou c

an a

pply

so

me

of t

he a

nalg

esic

her

bs fr

om

burn

s in

fo..

2.

All

Stin

gs a

nd B

ites

!!

!Fo

r ex

tern

al u

se o

nly:

- T

inct

ure

of A

rnic

a - A

cid

Tin

ctur

e of

Lob

elia

- Lav

ende

r O

il- W

itch

haz

el w

ater

Tin

ctur

es t

o be

app

lied

exte

rnal

ly o

r ta

ken

inte

rnal

ly:

Ech

inac

ea, M

arig

old,

Myr

rh, S

t Jo

hn’s

Wor

t

Cha

nces

are

you

’ll g

et b

itte

n w

hile

out

door

s. T

here

are

plen

ty o

f fr

esh

herb

s w

hich

can

be

appl

ied

to b

ites

and

stin

gs. P

erha

ps t

he e

asie

st t

o fin

d w

ill b

e P

lant

ain,

w

hich

has

a lo

ng h

isto

ry o

f us

e fo

r bi

tes/

stin

gs, a

nd

e

ven

cont

ains

a r

emed

y fo

r a

Rat

tles

nake

bit

e. I

t al

so g

row

s E

very

whe

re s

o sh

ould

be

clos

e at

han

d. O

ther

goo

d he

rbs

incl

ude

Com

frey

to

hea

l, G

arlic

, Lee

ks a

nd O

nion

s, St

Joh

n’s

Wor

t. D

ock

leav

es a

re s

peci

fic fo

r ne

ttle

sti

ngs,

and

St J

ohn’

s W

ort

is s

peci

fical

ly

indi

cate

d fo

r ho

rse

fly b

ite.

Her

bal i

nsec

t re

pelle

nts:

Bog

Myr

tle,

Cit

rone

lla, G

arlic

, Ced

arw

ood

oil

(These

ones

are co

mmon

Scotla

nd, bu

t look

out fo

r them

and o

thers

in your

localit

y too!

)

Wild h

erb ide

ntific

ation

chart

marig

old

comfre

y

cowslip

planta

in - 2

kinds

yarrow

Meado

wswe

etwil

d garl

ic