Feverfew

Attributed effects

Anti-inflammatory, vasodilating, relaxing, aids digestion, promotes menstruation, anthelmintic.

Preparation and amount

One fresh leaf a day to prevent migraine; tincture 5–10 drops every half hour at the start of a 'cold' migraine; up to 2 ml 3 times a day in acute rheumatoid arthritis; baked herb as an abdominal compress for colic; weak tea (15 g to 500 ml) after childbirth and for menstrual pain; fresh leaf can cause mouth ulcers.

Attributed effects

Traditionally used for headaches and migraine; research on preventing migraine gives mixed results.

Preparation and amount

Internal: a small amount of dried leaf in a herbal tea for headaches, with lemon balm, lavender and chamomile (see the recipe).

Attributed effects

Cools the liver and drains 'fire': migraine from vasodilation, red eyes, red face and ears, restlessness and irritation; also when liver fire affects the lung, with cough, breathlessness, burning pain in chest and flanks and impatience. Cools heat in red, swollen, painful joints. Cools the stomach in toothache, bleeding gums, stomach pain, a bitter taste in the mouth and a red tongue with a yellow coating.

Preparation and amount

1–7 g as a short decoction or infusion, or 1–3 ml tincture (fresh plant works better than dried). Well-dried herb contains about as many flowers as leaf and hardly any stem; the leaf is green and the flowers white and yellow, not brown. Many loose flower heads in the bag indicate herb picked too late or dried too strongly.

Combinations

• With gentian for liver heat rising to the head (painful red face, red eyes, headache, including headache from gallbladder heat)
• With echinacea and cayenne pepper when heat reaches the blood and causes a blotchy rash