Discovering the Benefits of Plantain: A Must-Have Herb for Your Skincare Garden

Let's talk about Plantain. No, I'm not talking about the banana-like fruit. I'm referring to the medicinal plant that you may have heard of, but might not know much about. It's actually quite common and can often be found growing in yards and fields. However, despite its abundance, it's often overlooked in favor of more showy flowering plants. But don't let its commonness fool you - Plantain is a really special plant.

Plantain is a spring herb that is showing up in my garden right now, most likely because of its bitter and diuretic action of draining, drying, detoxifying. When I think of Plantain I think of the word: relief. Plantain brings relief. One of its main uses is as a topical agent, and it's widely used for that purpose. In fact, I think Plantain is one of the must-have plants for your skincare garden, especially in an herbal first aid kit or in your home apothecary. But it's also great for internal applications too and can benefit a certain organ systems. You can eat plantain like you’d eat dandelion greens. Throw them in a salad, a smoothie, a soup, or sauce, and it will provide you with diuretic, demulcent, vulnerary (think leaky gut), and inflammation modulating, but for the sake of this blog article, I will be only focusing on its external uses here.

But, before I continue I would like to point out two unique characteristics of Plantain’s intelligence. The first one is that it has both astringent and demulcent properties that effect moisture levels in a paradoxical way. Astringency is usually associated with drying, while demulcent action is linked to moistening. However, Plantain has both of these qualities, making it unique. It can both tone and dry organ tissues, while simultaneously moisturizing, softening, soothing, and cooling them.

Secondly, Plantain is a special plant that has the power to extract various materials from the body, such as splinters, dirt, stingers, pus, infection, toxins, and dampness. It's called the "herbal drawing agent" for this reason and works in a way similar to activated charcoal. If something is stuck in your body, remember to use Plantain as your go-to remedy.

Alright, let's get back to the external benefits of Plantain, as promised. Here are the simplified properties of Plantain that are easy to understand. Its main actions are:

1. Moistening expectorant to coat, sooth, moisturize, cool inflamed and irritated, and protect the skin. To achieve this action it is best when plantain is used in fresh preparations.

2. Antiseptic to form a protective barrier on the skin that locks in moisture and helps to prevent bacterial growth and infections.

3. Inflammation-modulating to reduce the production of inflammatory mediators and thus decrease the redness, swelling and pain associated with inflammation.

4. Astringent to tighten and tone the skin. To achieve this action it is best when plantain is used in dried preparations.

5. Lastly, vulnerary to promote wound healing, by reducing inflammation, itching, and redness associated with minor skin injuries and promoting faster wound healing. Plantain helps to eliminate pus, infections, and stagnant fluids that have become rotten. It can be used to treat old infections that have not fully healed.

It's a pretty straightforward herbal medicine with just a few specific applications, but it really shines in those areas. So if you're looking for a versatile and effective natural remedy, consider adding Plantain to your herbal toolkit!