How to Find and Use Plantain
Plantain is one of those common weeds, much like shepherd’s purse, that you probably never look at twice because it grows everywhere: lawns, gardens, in between the cracks on the sidewalks, along the roadside, and in abandoned city lots.
This wild medicinal is incredibly useful, and it’s definitely worth your time to learn how to use it to treat a wide variety of ailments: stings and bites, infected wounds, toothache or abcesses around the teeth, wounds that won’t stop bleeding, as a natural treatment for poison ivy…the list of natural remedies for plantain is almost endless.
This little weed could be an invaluable herbal remedy on your farm or homestead, if you know how to find it and how to use it.
Types of Plantain
There are two types of plantain: broadleaf and narrowleaf. Both grow abundantly throughout the United States.
Broadleaf plantain has broad, oval-shaped leaves that are very wide at the base and grow to a point. In ideal growing conditions, the leaves of this variety of plantain can get very large. I’ve found some broadleaf plantain leaves larger than my hands.
Narrowleaf plantain has long, narrow leaves that can grow up to 20 inches high. Both broadleaf and narrowleaf plantain are considered to be equally effective natural remedies.
If you love foraging, you can find plantain weed growing throughout most of the United States. Because both varieties are high in Vitamins C, B, and K, and contain protein and starch, it’s an excellent emergency food if you’re lost.
Herbal Remedies with Plantain
Plantain is useful for so many injuries and conditions it’s difficult to list them all here. Below, I’ve outlined five of the most common common natural remedies. However, you can find a full list of treatments in Matthew Wood’s book, “The Earthwise Herbal: Volume One.”
1. Use Plantain to Ease Stings and Bites
Plantain is one of the best medicinal plants for stings and bites of any kind. It’s a magnificant drawing agent, which means that when it’s applied as a poultice to the skin, it will pull out the poison or venom. Native Americans called this plant “snake weed,” because it was so effective at pulling out the venom from snake bites.
We use plantain all the time to relieve the pain of bee and wasp stings. Even the boys know how to identify this plant, and as soon as they’re stung by something they go hunt for it in the yard or pasture.
How to Use Plantain for Stings and Bites
To use plantain as natural pain relief for stings and bites, first make a spit poultice. Chew up several leaves until they are completely mashed up. Be prepared: the taste of raw plantain is bitter but not entirely unpalatable.
Next, apply the mashed plantain to the bite or sting and either hold it in place with your hand, or use a band aid or gauze and medical tape to keep it next to the affected area. If you’re like us, you’ll experience pain relief within two minutes after applying the poultice.
If you’re using the leaves to draw venom out from a snake bite or poisonous spider, you’ll want to keep the poultice on for 30 minutes to one hour, changing out the leaves and dressing as needed. In her book “Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs,” Rosemary Gladstar states that the plantain “may turn black and become very hot, which is a sign that toxins are being drawn out.” When this happens, she suggests that you discard the herbs and apply a fresh poultice.
2. Wound Care: Infected Wounds and to Stop Bleeding
Because of its amazing drawing capabilities, plantain is an effective herbal remedy for infected wounds, wounds that won’t stop bleeding, or wounds that won’t heal.
This knowledge could be lifesaving if you ever find yourself lost and injured, or in a place where medical care is too far away for immediate help. If you live on a farm or homestead located far from a doctor or hospital, knowing how to apply plantain to wounds is essential.
How to Use Plantain for Wound Care
To use plantain to remove infection, Rosemary Gladstar recommends applying a plantain poultice to the affected area and wrapping with gauze.
To stop bleeding, you can use plantain on its own. However, it’s often more effective when blended with other hemostatic herbs like yarrow or shepherd’s purse. You can apply the plantain to the wound as a fresh poultice. It’s also an effective hemostatic when dried and then powdered.
3. Digestive Issues
According to The Herbal Academy, plantain can help ease the discomfort from digestive problems like IBS, leaky gut, diarrhea, colitis, and gastrointestinal ulcers.
How to Use Plantain for Digestive Issues
One of the best ways to use plantain to ease digestive problems is to drink it as a tea. Gather the fresh or dried leaves and infuse them in hot water for 20 minutes. In his book “The Earthwise Herbal: Volume One,” master herbalist Matthew Wood recommends drinking one cup three times daily.
4. Removing Splinters and Thorns
Plantain also works well for removing a splinter or thorn, especially those microscopic ones you can feel but can’t see. The boys get those microscopic thorns all the time because they wander barefoot in the pasture. We have a ton of blackberry bushes growing on our property, and it’s inevitable that they will step on one and get a tiny thorn stuck in their foot.
How to Use Plantain to Remove Thorns and Splinters
This one is easy: slap a spit poultice on the area where it hurts. Leave the poultice on for 30 to 45 minutes, and the herb will help draw it out of your skin.
5. Toothache and Infections
According to Matthew Wood, plantain is an incredibly effective natural treatment for infections in the mouth, including abscesses around the teeth, inflamed roots, or old infections after a root canal surgery that won’t heal.
How to Use Plantain for Tooth Infections
In Wood’s book, “There Earthwise Herbal: Volume One,” there is no detailed information on how to use plantain to treat tooth infections. However, there are several ways you could use the plant to treat infection here.
First, try chewing the leaves into a spit poultice and leaving it on the affected area in the mouth for as long as possible. Do this several times daily to remove pus and promote healing. You could also make an infusion of fresh or dried leaves and swish it in your mouth several times daily.
Last, if you have plantain tincture on hand you could apply the solution to the affected area several times daily.
Last Word
Plantain is one of Mother Nature’s best healing herbs, and it’s certainly a natural medicine that we use all the time on our homestead. Even young children can be taught how to identify plantain, and this is one plant that’s safe enough for them to use on their own to treat bites and stings.
Have you ever used plantain to treat a bite, sting, or wound?
