Making natural painkiller from meadowsweet filipendula ulmaria
It is midsummer, the sun is blazing and the hedgerows are blooming with flowers. Every year we take the opportunity to refill the medicine cabinet with various herbal remedies, a staple of which is meadowsweet oil. The plant contains aspirin and chemically related painkilling compounds. Willow bark is generally quoted as the plant that aspirin was developed from, it was actually meadowsweet. Willow does contain aspirin, but meadowsweet also contains gastric protecting factors, and was used by traditional medical practitioners to treat gastric pain. We find it indispensable as an external pain killer. The dried flowers and roots and can also be use as tea to relieve headaches or chewed to relieve toothache.
The flowers come in a loose fluffly group at the top of the plant. They are off white in colour and have a strong very sweet smell. PLEASE Don't get confused with any member of the carrot family that has the flowers in a neater umbrella shape, they also have a weak smell. The leaves on meadowsweet are firm and serrated similar to other members of the rose family such as blackberry, where as carrot family members have softer leaves. If you need help with ID post a picture on the stupidly simple facebook page.
To help you ID correctly I have drawn a picture of the leaves.
Meadowsweet is found on damp road sides and ditches and near water courses, generally in full sun to partial shade. The main leaves are about 10 cms long, and are firm to touch and are similar to rose. The underside is much paler and slightly downy. The stems are quite red. The leaves have serrated edges and have a bunch of three leaves on the end of each branch. the whole plant is between four feet and six feet tall.
Please note I am based in europe, if you are in americas or other parts of the world, there maybe similar plants in your locality, so please check with more local sources knowledge.
Making meadowsweet oil
We pick a good carrier bag full as we need enough to last us another 11 months of joint pains and ligament damage we have both accrued from living an active life. As soon as we get home I place the flowers in a sieve and leave for an hour. This is enough time for resident insects to make their escape. The flowers are picked through for brown flowers that have gone over and any remaining six legged occupants. It is really important the flowers are completely dry, I generally only pick meadowsweet flowers on a dry day and then leave in a sunny window to wilt. Times where I have no choice but to pick when there has been rain I hang the flowers upside down from the kitchen ceiling until dry. This year the flowers were loosely packed into a jar and left in the sun for an hour for any remaining moisture to escape.
The jar is simply topped up with a carrier oil and 5ml of essential oil of styrax benzoin added per 500ml. The carrier oil should have good preservation properties that shouldn't go rancid to quickly, so not virgin olive oil or hemp seed. I use a good quality rapeseed oil. The benzoin essential oil helps preserve the oil as well as helps the active principles penetrate the skin.
The jar is left in a cool dark cupboard for up to two weeks and then drained through a fine sieve. It is then sealed into small jars for use over the next 11 months until the meadowsweet flowers again.
The oil can mixed with beeswax or olive wax to make a salve, or applied straight to the skin.
PRECAUTIONS
Meadowsweet contains aspirin and aspirin like compounds, it should be avoided by asthmatics that are sensitive to aspirin and should not be used by children under 12.
To help you ID correctly I have drawn a picture of the leaves.
Meadowsweet is found on damp road sides and ditches and near water courses, generally in full sun to partial shade. The main leaves are about 10 cms long, and are firm to touch and are similar to rose. The underside is much paler and slightly downy. The stems are quite red. The leaves have serrated edges and have a bunch of three leaves on the end of each branch. the whole plant is between four feet and six feet tall.
Please note I am based in europe, if you are in americas or other parts of the world, there maybe similar plants in your locality, so please check with more local sources knowledge.
Making meadowsweet oil
We pick a good carrier bag full as we need enough to last us another 11 months of joint pains and ligament damage we have both accrued from living an active life. As soon as we get home I place the flowers in a sieve and leave for an hour. This is enough time for resident insects to make their escape. The flowers are picked through for brown flowers that have gone over and any remaining six legged occupants. It is really important the flowers are completely dry, I generally only pick meadowsweet flowers on a dry day and then leave in a sunny window to wilt. Times where I have no choice but to pick when there has been rain I hang the flowers upside down from the kitchen ceiling until dry. This year the flowers were loosely packed into a jar and left in the sun for an hour for any remaining moisture to escape.
The jar is simply topped up with a carrier oil and 5ml of essential oil of styrax benzoin added per 500ml. The carrier oil should have good preservation properties that shouldn't go rancid to quickly, so not virgin olive oil or hemp seed. I use a good quality rapeseed oil. The benzoin essential oil helps preserve the oil as well as helps the active principles penetrate the skin.
The oil can mixed with beeswax or olive wax to make a salve, or applied straight to the skin.
PRECAUTIONS
Meadowsweet contains aspirin and aspirin like compounds, it should be avoided by asthmatics that are sensitive to aspirin and should not be used by children under 12.
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