Category Archives: Herbs

Getting the red and mucus out

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Dylan with pink eyeWhen we humans travel, generally we stay in a hotel or bed & breakfast for the night, not so with our dog. When we go out of town, we send Dylan to the Lucky Dog Inn and Cat Spa. It’s a wonderful place. He gets to run around in a large fenced-in area for at least three hours a day with his pals. By “pals,” I mean other dogs he gets along with. From reports, they tend to be little fluffy dogs. Apparently, Dylan is too timid to hang out with the big dogs. When he gets back home, he tends to be mellow, less needy and not so neurotic, for at least a couple of days. Then he is back to his old crazy self.

Unfortunately, this last time he came home with pink eye (conjunctivitis). Pink eye is a very contagious infection of the mucus membranes around the dog’s eyes (the conjunctiva). It leads to very sore, itchy eyes and a mucus discharge. There are many possible causes: bacteria, viral, or fungal infection, allergies, irritants, stress, injury or simply genetics.

When humans get pink eye, a common treatment is to apply a chamomile teabag. It’s very simple, all you need to do is steep the tea bag in hot water, let it cool, and then lay it directly on the infected closed eye. The person simply lies down and relaxes while the chamomile relieves the eye(s). So, we decided to try this before taking Dylan to the vet. Since, it would be awkward to hold warm tea bags or compresses over Dylan eyes for any length of time; we opted to wipe away the mucus discharge from his eyes with a tissue dipped in a chamomile and calendula infusion, and then flush the eyes with it. We use a tissue so it could be thrown away and help prevent any re-infection. We decided to combine chamomile and calendula because they both are very soothing and have great healing qualities. Chamomile is known for its antiseptic, anti-irritant, anti-microbial anti-inflammation and pain relieving properties. Calendula has many of the same healing properties.

So, every day whenever I noticed mucus discharging from his eye, I wiped it away with an infusion soaked tissue. His eyes seem to have the most discharge when he wakes up in the mornings. Within three days, there was great improvement and within a week, there was very little discharge. I will continue to be vigilant and not allow the infection to take hold again. Nevertheless, I think we found a great remedy, if he ever gets pink eye again. What do you do when your dog gets pink eye? Please share and I will continue to share.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.

 

 

Eating to good health

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Herbal Honey

Herbal Honey

I love eating my medicine and recently I have started to enjoy herbal honey. It is easy to make, delicious, nutritious and medicinal. What more can anyone ask for? I add it to my oatmeal, spread it on my toast,  and I love peanut butter and honey sandwiches. The possibilities are endless.

The first herbal honey I made was with fresh elecampane root. I harvested the root after its second year of growth, since they start to lose their medicinal qualities after 2-3 years. Elecampane is excellent for all respiratory ailments and honey is wonderful for calming coughs. Honestly, elecampane root is not a great tasting herb and honey helps make it palatable. All and all, it’s a winning combination.

My next herbal honey endeavor was with Ashwagandha root (known as Indian Ginseng).  It is a wonderful energy builder, it increases the body’s ability to adapt to and resist stress, along with dealing with tension and anxiety. It helps increase memory, facilitates learning, promotes general well-being and enhances stamina. It is also a great herb in helping the body recover after chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Again, not the best tasting herb, so combining it with honey makes a lot of sense to me.

Making herbal honey is very simple. All you need is a pot, clean jar/lid, chopstick, raw honey and herb.

How to make herbal honey:

1. Fill jar ¼ – ½ with herb (I use fresh sliced Elecampane root and dry powdered Ashwagandha root).

2. Fill clean/dry jar with raw honey

3. Fill pot with about 2 inches of water

4. Put jar of herbal honey in pot with water

5. Simmer water, temperature should never get higher than 110° as it will kill the medicinal qualities of the raw honey.

6. Stir honey with chopstick to disperse herb in honey.

7. When the honey develops a frothy top, it is done.

Some people strain the herbs out before eating but I leave them in and take pleasure in the herbs along with the honey.

Enjoy honey in tea, oatmeal, on toast or however you want! Honey should keep for a couple of years but rarely lasts that long since it is so delicious. If the honey starts to crystallize as raw honey often does, simply reheat as in the above directions.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.