herbal remedy...witch hazel

I have had excellent results with witch hazel. It is the consistency of water with a mild woody smell. An ancient herbal remedy.

For example, my granddaughter is very allergic and gets rashes on her face, etc. A splash of witch hazel and her allergic rash is gone in 10 minutes. The other day, I was starting to get a cold sore and I patted on some witch hazel. Took the itch away immediately and after a couple more applications, it has faded substantially. It never really did become full-blown. Also good for sunburns and other skin irritations. We are using it lately for a lot of things.

So, after the fact, here's what I found on Wikipedia: (I was surprised to see mention of cold sores!)

"Witch hazel is an astringent produced from the leaves and bark of the North American Witch Hazel shrub (Hamamelis virginiana) which ranges from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, and south to Florida, and Texas. This plant, native to Canada and the United States was widely used for medicinal purposes by American Natives. The witch hazel extract was obtained by steaming the twigs of the shrub.

Uses
Witch hazel is mainly used externally on sores, bruises, and swelling. The main constituents of the extract include tannin, gallic acid, catechins, proanthocyanins, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercetin), essential oil (carvacrol, eugenol, hexenol), choline, saponins, and bitters. Distilled witch hazel sold in drug stores and pharmacies typically contains no tannin.

Witch hazel hydrosol is used in skin care. It is a strong anti-oxidant and astringent, which makes it very useful in fighting acne.[1] It has been recommended for psoriasis, eczema, aftershave applications, cracked or blistered skin, for treating insect bites, poison ivy, and as a treatment for varicose veins and hemorrhoids.

Witch hazel is also known to help with speeding the healing of cold sores with several daily applications.

Witch hazel is also traditionally known as a good first reaction against shaving cuts and abrasions for men & women, and it is also recommended by The Doctors Book of Home Remedies as effective for helping sunburns.

Some people have found it to be an effective treatment for athlete's foot.

It is also known to speed the healing of piercings.


Non-medicinal uses
Witch hazel can be used instead of hair spray or other holding products for normal to oily hair when curling one's hair.

The drug store product witch hazel has also been found to be useful in the restoration or renewal of old furniture finishes. When poured onto a flat wood surface with significant crazing in the old lacquer or varnish and left to sit, the witch hazel will essentially "melt" or soften the surface."

Years ago i had sinus headaches and the doctor did not help Mom told me to try friers balsan in steam put some in water and bring it to a boil put a towel over your head and breath it in thru your nose it works the pain left in a hurry

My son has bad eczema. I will definitely try it.

My elderly mother has skin issues. She uses a Reactine pill every day and aloe vera gel. Sometimes witch hazel. The cortisone cream did nothing.
As I said, the witch hazel has been useful for my 4 year old granddaughter's allergic rashes. It stops the itch anyway.

We are going to get some witch hazel seems good to have around