Tag: herbal treatments

Test Purity Of Water With Lovage Herb

Lovage Essential Oil

Levisticum officinale is the Botanical name of Lovage. Lovage is a sweet smelling and calming herb.  It has several common Folk names, some of which are:   Old English Lovage, Smellage, Smallage, and Maggi Herb.

All parts of Lovage contain medicinal properties.  The  volatile oil  of Lovage contains some well known substances which are used in cosmetics, such as:  angelic acid, phthalides, glucoside, gum and resins.

Lovage oil also contains Ligulin which is a colourant, and it is this Ligulin colourant which is the magic ingredient in our water-purity test.  I discovered this water test in Aubrey Hampton’s wonderful book “What’s In Your Cosmetics?”  This book was published in 1995 by Organica Press, Florida, USA.

Aubrey says that he uses Lovage Oil to test the purity of water.  He recommends dropping just one drop of lovage oil into the water to be tested.  The Ligulin component will cause the water to turn a bright crimson red if the water is pure.  If the water is impure at all, then the red will turn to blue.

I have not tried this formula out, but I should think that you would use only a small amount of water – say a quarter of a cup full.  Otherwise the Ligulin in the Lovage Oil may be too diluted to have an effect at all.

Of course, it will be necessary to purchase a pure essential oil of Lovage.  Any synthetic equivalent will not do.  But having purchased your Pure Essential Oil of Lovage, you could entertain your children with this  water-testing experiment.

Show them how it works yourself by dropping one drop into various types of water:  Try sea water to see what happens.  Try the  water from a near-by stream.  Try tap water, try rain water,  and try bottled water. Use the same volume of water for each experiment so that you can judge the colour differences.

Note:   Do not give the Lovage Oil to your children to play with, as Essential Oils can be very potent and should be kept away from children and guarded carefully.

Lovage  is used in Folk Medicine as a diuretic, a stomachic and an expectorant.  It is a common flavour enhancer in foods and drinks.  Because of its soothing and non-irritating effect, it is useful as a de-sensitizing agent for certain skin conditions.  It is supposed to be good for acne.

Its ability to soothe the skin make Lovage a valued cosmetic component.

Homeopathy And Acupressure To Help Radiation

Homeopathic Treatment Can Help Eliminate Radiation

I strongly recommend homeopathic treatment to help negate the effects of radiation.  Following the nuclear crisis at Fukushima, many people will be suffering adverse effects from nuclear fall-out, even if they live across the ocean from Japan.  Many Americans are experiencing symptoms of radiation sickness, and, here in New Zealand, I have also suffered from the radiation coming from Fukushima, and probably other affected nuclear facilities as well.

This is how I was helped:  My Spiritual friends and helpers  told me that I should take homeopathic Bryonia for the symptoms which hit me about ten days after the Japanese earthquake of 11 March 2011.   These symptoms, which grew worse by the day, were chronic splitting headache, bone pain, sore neck glands, pain in the nape of the neck, pain in the bones, sore eyes and blurred vision, sore ears, irritated sinuses and lungs,  a cough, running nose, and general weakness as though I was getting the flu.

After about ten days or so, the radiation in the air dispersed quite a bit, but many of the symptoms were taking their time to go, and some had gotten worse.  The cough was particularly persistent.  Then I remembered the advice from my friends in Spirit:  Bryonia.   So – After some delay in getting to the health shop,  I bought liquid Bryonia, 30C which I took 4 drops at a time.

I also had several messages which came specifically from my friend Bernhard Petersen, a psychic healer who is now residing in the Spirit world:    ‘DON’T FORGET TO DO THE MASSAGE ON THE LEGS – CIRCULATION NEEDS ATTENTION – PAY ATTENTION TO THE TRIPLE WARMER MERIDIAN’.

Bernhard also told me to ‘GO TO THE HOT POOLS AT WAIWERA – THIS WILL HELP GREATLY.’

I did all three things –

1) Acupressure on the leg points which he has already described to me in detail:  He spent many hours teaching me these things when he lived on Waiheke Island, New Zealand.

2)  Taking a hot swim in the mineral water at Waiwera, north of Orewa, Auckland; and

3)  Taking homeopathic Bryonia three or four times for the first day, and only one dose the following day.

This did the trick.  The cough disappeared overnight,  and all the symptoms of headache, sore bones, dizziness, nausea,  and everything else, just disappeared after just one day of treatment.

I must say, though, that the level of radiation chemicals which I perceived was beginning to lessen at this point, but there was no doubt about the homeopathic treatment working very quickly and effectively to get rid of those distressing symptoms I was experiencing.

When I had another bout of radiation sickness a week or two later, I again took homeopathic Bryonia for a couple of days. This cleared up the symptoms again.  I am now keeping Bryonia on hand, in case these mysterious and distressing symptoms appear again.

Acupressure To Help Radiation: Bernhard used to tell me that I should massage the legs each night, just three presses on certain acupuncture points – that this would cure depression, increase circulation, and joie de vivre, and render me more capable of helping other people.  It really does do all of these things.  Now that my health is being challenged again by the Fukushima nuclear fall-out, I think it is imperative that I maintain the acupressure massage on the leg points, on a daily basis.

I am keeping up the hot swims at Waiwera, which is a mineral thermal resort.  I feel that the minerals in the water – silica, magnesium, sulphur, and many others, are boosting my immune system so that I can combat the radiation chemicals, which seem to in the air constantly now, though at fluctuating levels.

Note:  Bryonia worked for me personally in counteracting the effects of radiation, however, Bryonia may not be the best remedy for everyone. It will pay you to see a professional homeopath to find the homeopathic remedy which is best suited for you.

It is a great thing that Homeopathic remedies are available over the counter for us all to use.  But you often get a better result by going to a practitioner, especially if you have some ongoing condition which may take some skill to put right. .  Homeopathic remedies work best on sensitive people who generally avoid using prescription medicines, or pesticides or herbicides.

Varicose Veins Treatments

Techniques which improve the circulation are  the most important of Varicose Veins Treatments.

You can look at merrilyn’s posts  entitled ‘Causes of Varicose Veins’ and ‘Yoga for Varicose Veins’ for more information on how to improve the condition of varicose veins.

Here are some more ideas for varicose veins treatments which have not been covered fully in the other posts.

Hydrotherapy: The Foot Bath:  The simple foot bath can be done at home at any time to help relieve aching varicose veins.  The foot bath on its own will  improve the circulation, and help to reduce swelling and pain, but we can enhance the therapeutic action by adding certain herbs and spices.

Try and do this hydrotherapy treatment once a day, or twice if your condition is very bad.

Get two large bowls or buckets, big enough for your feet to sit in comfortably, and more.  Half fill one of the containers with cold water. Half fill the other with hot water which is at a comfortable bathing temperature.

Add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and half a teaspoon of ginger to the  bowl of hot water. Cayenne pepper is very good for improving varicose veins, as it helps to shrink them and reduce pain. Both ginger and cayenne pepper boost the circulation.

Begin with the feet in the cold water. Leave for half a minute, then transfer the feet into the warm-to-hot water. Leave in the hot water for a minute. Put the feet back into the cold water bucket for another minute, then return to the spiced-up hot water. You may need to add a touch of boiling water to the hot water bucket after a few minutes. Be careful to add just enough boiling water to heat up the water to a comfortable heat again. Do not have the water too hot, as this will harm your legs and possibly burn you.

Finish the hydrotherapy off with the feet soaking in the warm-to-hot water.

You can experiment using other herbs and spices in this footbath treatment. Herbs and spices which increase circulation are the ones to use here. I would use cayenne pepper in combination with either cinnamon, or ginger, turmeric, or cloves.

Note on Varicose Veins Water Temperature:   VERY HOT water should never be applied to the varicose veins.  Hot baths are best avoided.  If you are taking a bath, then the bath water should be only warm to medium hot.  Showers are considered best for people who have prominent or painful varicose veins, as showers do not prolong heat to the legs.

Massage to Soothe Veins: After the foot bath treatment, massage the legs gently with almond oil which has a few drops of rosemary oil added to it. This will soothe the veins, but also help circulation.

Cold Herbal Compress for Painful/Swollen Varicose Veins:  Make up an infusion using  healing herbs. You can use either comfrey, or borage, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, witch hazel flowers, or use a combination if you like. Take up to half a cup of the fresh herbs. Put into a pot and add two cups of boiling water. Put on the lid. Leave on the stove to gently simmer for just one minute. Take off the heat, and leave to cool.

Soak a piece of white linen or cotton in the cold liquid. Wring out the cloth and apply it to the sore or swollen varicose vein. Put on a piece of plastic, and wrap lightly with a bandage. Leave the leg up for 20 minutes while you let the compress do its work. Take off. Repeat throughout the day as necessary. You can keep the mixture to dampen the cloth again before each application. Make up a fresh herbal mixture each day for use as compresses.

Drink Silica-rich Teas to help strengthen the veins and heal them from the inside.  Silica-rich teas are those made with  oat-straw, comfrey, borage, nettles, horsetail, chamomile and rosemary.  Drinking plenty of herbal teas such as these will not only provide you with silica and other nutrients, but also cleanse the kidneys, improve your hair growth, and help the intestinal functions.

Homeopathic Hamamelis is considered to be one of the best remedies for healing the veins. Witch Hazel is made from the same plant.  You can use Witch Hazel externally on the legs, and take the Homeopathic equivalentof Hamamelis internally.  Just three or four drops of Hamamelis 30x, three times a day until relief is felt.

Vitamin C and Vitamin E are also great supplements for helping to relieve varicose veins.

Vitamin C Dosage: Between 1000mg to 3000mg of Vitamin C, preferable a non-acidic type, could be taken until better. Calcium Ascorbate or Ester C are good ones to go for.

Vitamin E Dosage :Take the standard dose as stated on the bottle for Vitamin E – best not to give large doses of Vitamin E.

Castor Oil:  To clear the liver, gall bladder and bowels, use castor oil once a week as a remedial measure for the veins.  Congestion in the digestive system, over time, will lead to the veins becoming distended.  So to prevent varicose veins from forming, take 2 tbsps of castor oil in the morning, once a week.

For serious conditions, you could follow the Gerson programme, which uses castor oil every second day.  Gerson used this method to cure cancers, mainly, but he insists it will cure any disease if his recommendations are followed to the letter.