Conscious Choice: Herbs for Itches

August 2000 | Herbs for Health

Herbs for Itches

by Meg McGowan

Summer legs, my friend Nancy calls them — not the sort of legs to inspire rock anthems, but legs that bear witness to the fact that you made the most of the summer months, legs decorated with mosquito bites, scratches from raspberry canes, perhaps a welt or two from a tick and an occasional bruise or scrape. Days spent outdoors leave their mark, often in ways we’d rather they did not. Herbal remedies can help to prevent and treat minor irritations.

V’Tae, a company that produces high-quality, herbal body-care products without artificial coloring or animal by-products, offers several sensual solutions to summer’s discomforts. Its New Naturals Aromatherapy Mists take the edge off hot summer days, while refreshing and reviving both body and spirit. The Summer Cooler scent includes essential oils of basil, eucalyptus, lemon, lemongrass, and peppermint, a combination that helps to dissuade hungry insects, reduce body temperature, and offer relief from prickly heat as well.

The Peppermint Body Spritzer is both cooling and invigorating. It can be used to ward off overheating and to relieve itching from insect bites or exposure to poisonous plants.

Sunburn Soother and Andromeda Body Lotions bring comfort and healing to skin that has been overexposed to sun, wind, or water. Sunburn Soother contains the antioxidant benefits of green tea extracts, as well as extracts of chamomile, aloe vera, cucumber, and witch hazel, along with essential oils of tea tree, lavender, chamomile and rose geranium. Andromeda Body Lotion utilizes the regenerative benefits of rose hip oil and frankincense and myrrh essential oils combined with the healing properties of comfrey extract, and essential oils of lavender, rosemary, rose geranium, and sandalwood.

Preventing bug bites is, of course, preferable to treating the resulting itches. V’Tae’s Bye Bye Bug blends citronella, lemongrass, and patchouli essential oils in an alcohol base for a convenient spray. The Farmer’s Friend product line from Burt’s Bees features Lemongrass Insect Lotion, which repels biting insects with the combined effectiveness of citronella, lemongrass, and eucalyptus essential oils in a light, nongreasy grapeseed oil base. Farmer’s Friend Porch Incense is a convenient alternative to chemical yard sprays. Citronella and lemongrass essential oils help to create a bug-free zone for al fresco dining and outdoor entertaining.

To create your own insect repellent, you can experiment with a variety of bases. A carrier oil or any neutral body cream or lotion can be used. Alternatively, witch hazel or vodka may be used as a base. Valerie Ann Worwood, in The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy (New World, 1991), recommends adding five drops of essential oils to one tablespoon witch hazel diluted with four tablespoons of water. Stephanie Tourles, in The Herbal Body Book (Storey, 1994), suggests a ratio of two cups witch hazel with one tablespoon apple cider vinegar to one and one-half teaspoons essential oils. Worwood’s synergistic blend for deterring insects incorporates four drops each of red thyme (Thymus vulgaris), lavender (Lavandula officinalis syn. L. angustifolia) and peppermint (Mentha x piperita) and eight drops of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oils. Basil (Ocimum basilicum), cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), citronella (Cymbopogon nardus), lemon eucalyptus(Eucalyptus citriodora), and rose geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) essential oils can also be included. With all blends, avoid contact with sensitive areas around eyes, nose, and mouth.

When bug bites do occur, lavender and tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) essential oils offer both relief from the burning sensation and a guard against infection. Apply a drop or two of neat oil to the affected area. Other essential oils can ease irritated skin as well. A single drop of helichrysum (Helichrysum angustifolium) or chamomile (Matricaria recutita or Chamaemelum nobile) essential oil can also be applied neat. Chamomile provides anti-inflammatory benefits. Aura Cacia’s Bug Bite Remedy blends five drops of lavender with three drops each of Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) and rose (Rosa centifolia or R. damascena) and one drop of geranium essential oil. Three drops of the synergy should be diluted in one teaspoon of carrier oil and applied to the skin as needed. A self-adhering plantain leaf (Plantago lanceolata or P. major) poultice made on the spot from mashed or chewed plantain reduces swelling and itching of both insect bites and stings. Juice from the leaf of jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), another common wildflower, is also effective.

Virgin Hand & Body Salve from Virgin Body Care is a convenient preparation that includes comfrey, calendula, chamomile, and vitamin E to soothe and promote healing. Versatile Wise Woman Comfrey Comfort Salve from Burt’s Bees comes in a small, easy-to-carry tin. It offers the benefits of lavender oil with emollient comfrey leaf and root extracts and vitamin E to treat stings and bites as well as bruises, burns, and scrapes.

Ticks are particularly unpleasant summer visitors. Not only do they bite their host, but they also stay put, and they carry diseases. It is important to remove ticks as quickly as possible, as the longer they remain attached, the greater the chance of infection. How the tick is removed is also a matter of concern. If the tick is traumatized, or its body is damaged in removal, it can release its bodily fluids into its host, increasing the risk of disease. Also, if the head remains embedded in the host, infection is inevitable. An inexpensive tick scooper, available from veterinarians, safely dislodges the tick without squeezing the body. Worwood suggests that a drop of thyme essential oil will also encourage the tick to release its hold. Follow up by applying neat lavender oil or echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia or E. purpurea) tincture topically. Taking therapeutic doses of echinacea internally for a few days afterward can also support the immune system in warding off infection. If symptoms of Lyme disease appear (achy joints, chills, rash, headache, swollen glands, fatigue, and numbness), consult a physician immediately.

Plants can hurt as well as heal. A brush with stinging nettles is as painful as an encounter with an army of red ants. This is because both release formic acid into the skin. In Herbs for Health and Healing (St. Martin’s Press, 1996), Kathi Keville advises applying crushed, fresh yellow dock leaves (Rumex crispus) or a paste made from one teaspoon baking soda and one-half teaspoon yellow dock leaf tincture for relief from an unfortunate experience with either ants or nettles. Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac can cause allergic reactions that are both uncomfortable and unsightly. Keville notes that immunity-enhancing herbs such as chamomile, echinacea, and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) help to minimize the allergic response. Plantain and jewelweed, used as recommended for bug bites and stings, can provide relief from poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac as well. Burt’s Bees’ Farmer’s Friend Poison Ivy Soap utilizes jewelweed along with soothing pine tar and clay. Peppermint Body Spritzer can also be effective. Colloidal oat meal (Avena sativa) — oatmeal ground to a fine texture — acts as a balm for irritated skin. It can be used in a bath or a paste to alleviate itching. Comfrey and aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) provide similar topical relief.

Using natural products that work with nature is part of understanding and believing that we are part of the larger scheme of the natural world, explorers rather than conquerors. As children, we knew, even if we could not articulate it, that summer legs were part of the natural order of things, part of the cycle of seasons and of life. In regaining that understanding that we were not meant to be protected from all of life’s annoyances and irritations, we also recapture a capacity for peace and joy in any given moment that is not dependent on the absence of buzzing and bites, but embraces and transcends their presence.

Resources

Aura Cacia, 800-437-3301

Burt’s Bees, 800-849-7112

Virgin Body Care, Inc., 800-481-3934

V’Tae, 800-643-3011

DISCLAIMER: Choosing a holistic approach to medicine means choosing personal responsibility for your health care. Herbs for Health offers a doorway through which to enter the realm of herbal healing, an invitation to further investigation on the part of the reader. It is in no way intended as a substitute for advice from a health care practitioner.

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