Comfrey: A Healing Plant With a Misguided Reputation

Comfrey: A Healing Plant With a Misguided Reputation
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Conan Milner
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Comfrey is an herb with a long reputation for healing wounds and mending broken bones.

For centuries, comfrey was considered a safe medicine, and in some cases even a food. But today, regulators around the world strongly warn against taking it internally.

Comfrey has long, dark green leaves with a rough, stubble-like texture, and hanging clusters of small, bell-shaped flowers.

The botanical name for comfrey, Symphytum, means “to unite” or “grow together.”

Since at least 50 AD, doctors who have seen comfrey in action describe what sounds like a wound healing miracle. Whether its skin, cartilage, tendons, or even bone, comfrey appears to weld tissue together, and often erases any trace of a scar.

Throughout history, comfrey has been used to heal wounds in battle, and was used extensively in World War I to treat maggot-infested wounds. Early American herbalist Samuel Thomson claimed to have used comfrey to heal his foot from a farm equipment accident when he was only 9.

One of comfrey’s many folk names, boneknit, says it all, and modern studies have demonstrated that comfrey is a medicine with genuine merit. Randomized controlled trials have shown that topical use is effective at treating injury, arthritis, and inflammation.

Researchers have identified a compound called allantoin which explains at least some of how comfrey heals. Allantoin makes cells grow, giving rise to new collagen, connective tissue, and bone.

You can see how comfrey makes our cells grow by watching the plant grow. Comfrey is very prolific. You can chop it down to the root and a few weeks later it will completely regenerate. As a result, you can harvest from the same plant several times a year.

Conan Milner
Conan Milner
Author
Conan Milner is a health reporter for the Epoch Times. He graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and is a member of the American Herbalist Guild.
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