Comfrey has long been used as a healing herb — the Greeks used the herb to stop bleeding, knit bones, and treat breathing problems as far back as 400 BC. In more recent years, there has been some concern about the safety of comfrey.
Greek and Roman physicians believed that comfrey roots had the ability to stick things together, whether food in a cooking pot or bones in the body. Poultices made with comfrey were applied to external wounds; comfrey tea was used for stomach problems, digestive issues, bleeding, and more. The herb was also used in soups, stews, and salads, and was grown for livestock.
Trouble came when a 1978 study found that rats who were fed dried comfrey developed liver tumors after six months. The Henry Doubleday Research Association, however, suggests that the amount of liver damaging alkaloids in comfrey is not high enough to pose a serious threat to humans unless you drink more than a dozen cups of comfrey tea daily. A 1983 study from Australia found that while comfrey does contain vitamin B12, you would have to eat four pounds every day to get your recommended daily requirement of the vitamin. But while comfrey may not be a good idea for internal medicine, it is still useful externally.
- The mucilage in comfrey can be very beneficial for your skin — for smoothing and soothing.
- The allantoin in comfrey encourages cell multiplication and tissue growth — a comfrey plaster can help wounds and burns heal faster. Allantoin is a healing compound that is also found in the womb and in breast milk.
- Comfrey may also be a good antibacterial agent — when applied to infections on both livestock and humans, comfrey has helped speed the healing process.
How to use comfrey for healing:
- Mash fresh leaves and apply them to the skin.
- Steep dried leaves in hot water and apply to the skin.
- The dried root can be ground and steeped in hot water.
- Add comfrey to lotion or cream for skin soothing.
- Add comfrey to your bathwater for a soothing soak.
Don’t boil your comfrey — this can destroy the allantoin. When harvesting the plant, use the part that has the most allantoin. In the winter months, the root has the most allantoin. After March, the new, young leaves contain the most allantoin.