Benefits of Witch Hazel: Learn the Many Uses for Witch Hazel
Benefits of Witch Hazel
Witch hazel is a shrub that grows naturally in the eastern and southern parts of the United States. It is also known as winterbloom (because it blossoms during the months of September to November and sometimes in the winter months) or snapping hazel (because it can explosively disperse its seeds in a far distance, about 20 feet away).
The American Indians have known about the benefits of witch hazel many years ago. Today, you can find it in an assortment of products for both healing and cleansing purposes.
Witch hazel contains tannins and flavonoids and has astringent, hemostyptic, and antiphlogistic properties. It can shrink tissues, stop bleeding, reduce inflammation and pain, protect open sores from infection, speed up healing, and stop itching.
The leaves and bark are the parts of the plant that are used for medicinal purposes. Witch hazel can be used internally or externally. Products intended for external use should not be ingested.
Uses for Witch Hazel
Internal Uses for Witch Hazel (Tea):
Prepare witch hazel tea by mixing 1/2 teaspoon of leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of bark to 1 pint of boiling water, cover, and steep for 45 minutes.
You can use witch hazel tea to:
- treat diarrhea by drinking 2 cups
- treat sore throats by gargling with it
- treat sores in the mouth by using it as a mouthwash
- treat vaginitis by douching with it.
External Uses for Witch Hazel (Tincture):
Treat hemorrhoids by filling a basin with warm water and adding 1/4 cup of witch hazel. Sit in it for 15 minutes 2 times a day. This should clear up the problem in 3 days. You can also add some witch hazel to some petroleum jelly or aloe and apply it on external hemorrhoids.
Reduce the swelling and pain from varicose veins by soaking a wash cloth in witch hazel, applying it over the affected area, and raising your legs.
You can also apply a wash cloth (soaked in witch hazel) to burns, sunburns, bed sores, sprains, strains, and irritating or swollen skin problems such as eczema and shingles.
Other uses for witch hazel include pouring the tincture on a cotton ball and dabbing it on the following:
- cuts and scratches
- bruises
- black eyes (close your eyes when applying)
- acne and blemishes
- razor burns
- diaper rash
- insect bites and stings
- poison ivy and poison oak.
Disclaimer
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This post is part of the series: Natural Remedies
Natural remedies for common ailments.