Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
^^^Horsetail^^^
^^^Giant Horsetail ^^^
Common names are Peterwort, Dutch Rushes, shave-grass and bottle-brush. In early spring the brown fertile stems with a terminal cone-like catkin containing the spores grow from the deep and creeping rhizomes. The green summer fronds grow later to a height of 40 cm and resemble small, evenly built pine-trees. Horsetail grows in fields, on hedge banks and railway embankments. The ones growing on pure clay soil have the greatest healing qualitites. Depending on the place it grows it has 3 to 16% of silicic acid which makes it so valuable. Of course the Horsetail growing on chemically fertilised ground should not be used. The Horsetail with the finest branches, the Wood Horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum) which grows on edges of woods and copses, has medicinal properties too.
In popular medicine Horsetail was much esteemed in old times, especially for its blood-staunching effect and its success in kidney and bladder trouble.
Abbe Kneipp declares it as "uniquely irreplaceable and invaluable" for bleeding, spitting of blood, bladder-and kidney disorders, gravel and stones, foul wounds, even cancer-like growths and ulcerated legs. It cleanses, clears up and burns away everything bad, so to speak. Often the moist, warm plant is placed into moist cloths and applied to the affected parts.
If you drink a cup of horsetail tea every day all year round, Abbe Kuenzle says that all pain caused by rheumatism, gout and nerves would dissappear and every person would have a healthy old age.
This plant, taken internally as a tea, will stop the strongest haemorrhaging and vomiting of blood in a short time, yes almost immediately.
For painful bladder catarrh and cramp-like pains wrap oneself into a bath robe and allow the hot steam of a horsetail decoction to work into the bladder for 10 minutes. Repeat several times, and it will bring relief. For gravel and stones in the kidney and bladder hot Horsetail sitz baths are taken and at the same time warm horsetail tea is sipped, the urine is held back and finally emptied under pressure. This way most stones will pass.
In accumulation of water in the pericardium, pleura, or in kidney disorders, after scarlet fever and other bad infectious diseases with water retention, horsetail helped. It is an excellent remedy, internally and externally, for the whole kidney and bladder system.
For itching rashes, even if they are festering or scabby, washings and compresses of a decoction of horsetail are helpful. Horsetail washings and baths are beneficial for inflammation of the nailbed, cracked feet, caries, old festering wounds, cancer-like growths, bony projections on the heal, fistulas, barber's itch and other herpes. The scalded herb, wrapped while warm in a cloth can also be applied. For painful haemorrhoids and haemorrhoidal knots the pulp is used.
A tea of Horsetail and St. John's Wort - 2 cups daily and a nonliquid meal in the evening will relieve bedwetting. This tea can also be used as a gargle for tonsilitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the mouth, stomatitis, inflammation or bleeding of the gums, fistulas and adenoids in palate and throat.
Horsetail is one of the best remedies for chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis of the lungs. Through its silica content, the tea, if drunk regularly, helps heal the lungs and removes the general weakness.
Results of the latest research, according to the Austrian biologist Richard Willfort, justify the assumption that tumours are inhibited in their growth and finally eliminated through the use of Horsetail tea for long periods. This is also useful for polyps in the abdomen or anus. For greater benefit in both cases, Horsetail steam poultices and sitz baths are used. These poultices are also useful for stomach pains, liver- and gallbladder attacks, bursitis and for painful congestions which press upon the heart.
Up to now I have been able to advise many unhappy people who, through kidney disorders, suffered from depression, delusions and fits of rage and would have ended in a mental home but for Horsetail sitz baths. For these conditions besides yarrow and stinging nettle tea, a cup of horsetail tea mornings and evenings must be drunk.
Directions (Horsetail)
Infusion:
1/4 litre of boiling water is poured over 1 heaped teaspoon of Horsetail.
Poultice:
A heaped double handful of horsetail is placed in a sieve, which is hug over boiling water. When the herbs are hot and soft, they are wrapped in a piece of linen and applied to the affected part. Keep absolutely warm!!
Sitz Bath:
100 gm of Horsetail are steeped in cold water overnight, the next day brought to the boil and added to the bath water. 20 minutes are required for a bath. Don't dry yourself, still wet, wrap up in a bath robe, remain perspiring in bed for 1 hour. The bath water must reach above the kidney region.
Tincture:
10 gm of fresh horsetail are macerated in 50 gm of pure whisky. Keep in the sun or a warm place for 14 days. Shake daily!
Pulp compress:
Fresh Horsetail is washed well and crushed to pulp on a wooden board.