Acne and wild burdock root

[peapod]

Hi Everyone. It has been a wild summer thus far. I just wanted to share with you ( those of you who are interested). We have wild burdock that grows around our area here in MN.

Now give me a minute to tell the other part of the story. My nephew who is 15 this July suffers from acne. Some think acne is diet related and others may believe that is is genetic. I believe its both. Any way my wonderful nephew suffers from some pretty bad acne. I believe his is stress, medication and diet related.

Here comes the burdock root.

I dug about 3 roots a few weeks ago to try something on him. I took the roots and ground them in a food processor with as clean of water as I could find. Filtered RO water was the best I could do. I put the chopped roots in the processor macerated them with a bit of water to make a paste type gooey substance.

I then brought the burdock root to my nephew with his parents in tow wondering what concoction I had come up with NOW! They think I am nuts... I hope in a good kind of way. I had asked my adorable nephew if he would try to put some of the burdock on his face ( just a small amount in a small area) to see what would happen. I got a phone call today from my nephew saying that is acne is much better and could I make him some more. He has been cleaning his skin with the goo that I made him.

If you have burdock and a teenage acne laced child in your life maybe you can give it a whirl too.

Just wanted to share this little story. It helped one kiddo maybe it can help more kiddos or adults.

Thanks for letting me share

Peapod

[mnjrutherford]

I have 2 little boys and I was pondering the possibility of future acne recently. What made you try the burdock? I'd like to hear more and thanks so much for this!

[peapod]

First of all thanks for reading this post.. I was very tired when I wrote it and I had wondered if it made any sense at all. At least it did to you..
And the other thing is my kiddo is not feeling well today and I may have to scoot off of here if she needs me but I will finish writing later today.

Burdock root and what aquatinted me with its possible help with acne. First of all I remember my dad telling me long ago there were herbs for acne. That was all I remembered. Then, my nephew who was recently suffering from really bad acne. Was covering his face with his hands to hide his red swollen face. I didnt like that at all so I did a small amount of research and came up with the burdock root. I dried it for a week. Apparently that is not long enough by some herbalists' standards it worked for me though.

Burdock is usually to be harvested in the fall. It has been an unseasonably cold summer here in Mn therefore I took it upon myself to use it now. Patience is not my strong suit. From reading herbal books and such in our modern day Burdock is not mentioned very often as a skin helper. I have a great book that is called the Herb book. It was written about 100 years ago. It was an absolute find for me at a garage sale. In this book it talks about burdock as a "remedy for certain skin diseases" that was all it said. I made a paste for my Aunts psorisis(sp) last year and it helped her wonderfully. Now in the past few months my nephew has had some pretty bad acne come on his face almost over night. I got to thinking again and tried another remedy with the seeds and root for my nephew. It worked. If you ask me how many seeds I used. It was about a hand full in my palm. Then I dug the root as I mentioned and dried that for a week as well. The roots are a bugger to dig so I got out the post hole digger and went at it. Dried it like I said for about a week then mixed everything together and ran it over to my nephew late last week. My aunt now wants me to make her another batch of it for her psorisis. Guess what... I dug this morning and will dry the root and then make it for her as well.

Hope I was not to wordy and this helped.

Peapod

[grungy]

Peapod, I found this absolutely facsinating (sp?). Keep us going with updates and other treatments.

[sphinxeyes]

I'm 30 and I STILL suffer from acne breakouts. I've had problem skin ever since I was 12 so I've been through the very tedious process of trying numerous medications, creams, lotions, soap, etc. Nothing has been a miracle cure and I don't think I'll ever be rid of it. I don't know where I could find burdock root growing around my area. Do you think getting a dried mix of it from the health food store and then mixing it would water would work? I wonder if it only works as a topical preparation or if you could take capsules of it internally.

[mnjrutherford]

Next question, how do I get my own burdock going? Seeds? Cuttings? This is excellent data, thanks so much for the input!

[peapod]

Sphinxeyes, First off I wish I coud answer your question about how to start it. It may just be growing like a weed in your area. The leaves are somewhat like rhubarb and they are a bugger to get rid of. The origin is from Europe many many many moons ago. Since the settlers were first on what we now call the East Coast my guess would be that you would find some wild in your area. Let me tell you this if you find it you will need some tools to dig up the root. The seeds and leaves are actually called the "fruit" of the plant. I think that you can purchase burdock root in capsul form at a health food store. I am sure that you could find it online too. I would imagine that it takes quite a bit of time taking it in capsul form to heal acne. The most information I could find about it is that it is a very strong blood purifier. If you do find it one thing that you may want to try is soaking the leaves in cool water and using them as a compress on the areas affected. I did that with my Aunt today with her psorisis... And there was a difference after an hour of using it as a compress. A slight difference some of the redness had gone down.

MNjr rutherford,
To get some going would be fairly easy as a guess. Most folks see it and think its a weed. I did until I decided to find out what it was. And to my amazement I used it. When and if it goes to seed I can send you some seeds. It can take 2 years before the roots are ready to be used for medicinal purposes. If I have the time (and energy) I'll harvest a few more roots and send them on the the both of you. It takes some doing to get the roots out of the ground but it will be worth the effort if it helps either one of you. I am no expert on the subject and I was lucky enough to try it and see how it worked on family. Hardy Har har har... they are the test rats...


Keep in touch so I can send you some seed or root or leaves or what ever you may want. Harvesting will be in about a month or so if the weather holds.

Peapod

[mnjrutherford]

Cool Beans Peapod! Thanks. I'll be here. I'll be having some seed for trade as well.

[cornishwoman]

When I was growing up there was a fizzy drink I loved,only got it as a treat,remember the bottles were thick glass ,with a marble{as in marbles } cork held in place by a stopper that was wired,very volatile stuff ,any how it was called Dandelion and Burdock,wondering if it was made from the plants. I drunk a lot of it and never had pimples. Interesting about the burdock,I have only ever used the leaf for relieving the pain and burning of a stinging nettle rash.I looked on our property a few years ago for both plants,Nettles to make beer and Burdock just in case I fell in the nettles,not a sign of either.

[stevil]

Feb 13, 2010 11:49:33 GMT -5 cornishwoman said:

When I was growing up there was a fizzy drink I loved,only got it as a treat,remember the bottles were thick glass ,with a marble{as in marbles } cork held in place by a stopper that was wired,very volatile stuff ,any how it was called Dandelion and Burdock,wondering if it was made from the plants. I drunk a lot of it and never had pimples. Interesting about the burdock,I have only ever used the leaf for relieving the pain and burning of a stinging nettle rash.I looked on our property a few years ago for both plants,Nettles to make beer and Burdock just in case I fell in the nettles,not a sign of either.

It was indeed and was particularly common in the North of England where it was sold in fish and chip shops. Then, sadly, Coca Cola arrived....

This picture was taken in a pub in Hampshire in the UK (you won't remember this kind of bottle!):

[blueadzuki]

Actually Fentiman's still makes a bottled Dandelion and burdock drink (along with a lot of other old English soft drinks, like Ginger Beer, Seville Orange,Shandy,Victorian style Lemonade and a kind of fermented cola) Actually the bottle in the above picture probably is a Fentiman's bottle the label layot is similar) Fentimans are imported into the country as I have bumped into all of the flavors in one place or another.

[cornishwoman]

Your right Stevil, we did get it from the local chippy,been racking my brains just where we got it from.Odd taste ,some thing between cherry and cough syrup,all artificial I expect.My grannie would have known that bottle.

[cornishwoman]

Hi blueadzuki ,shandy,now that's a hot weather drink,kind of a little old lady drink also.My mum being ever so polite would order half a shandy or a wee sherry,Harvey's Bristol cream of course,she thought they were the only people who made sherry,and would firmly refuse to try any other make.

[blueadzuki]

What really scares me whne I look at these kind of bottles it the knoweledge that, on some out of the way British apple farm, some rabid Terry Prachett fan is trying to to make actual factual scumble, every bit as strong as Nanny Ogg's is. I know for a fact there are already over a DOZEN Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster recipes courtesry of a lot of Douglas Adams fans with too much time on thier hands.
But return to the serious side, we actually have or had a bottle of the Fentiman's shady lying around the house. I remember getting it by accident in a fourpack (there was a time when I drank the cola fairly freqently, someone had swapped a bottle around and I hadnt noticed before I got home. we proably threw it out since then as no one in my house felt inclined to drink it (My sister doesn't like lemonade and I don't like beer).
oh here's the link
www.fentimans.com/range.php
(must make a point of trying the rose lemonade, sounds interesting)

[stevil]

Thanks for the Fentiman's link. I've seen it in the UK in recent years - seems to be having a bit of a renaissance. I've made burdock beer a few times, a few years ago now when I had more time on my hands in the spring. In Roger Philips' Wild Food which was published in the 80s, he included a recipe for this and Dandelion and Burdock beer. I remember it being a great refreshing drink for warm early summer days. I have been growing burdock as a Japanese vegetable since about that time and I'd save a few roots for the beer. It has since gone wild in my garden and is a great wildlife plant, in particular as it attracts Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) very rare in this area which exclusively eat burdock seed in winter here - I've had birders lined up in the garden to take pictures...