April's Tasks

April was filled with much work and planning here at Three Moons and though the chickweed was out and the plantain and comfrey and such, we really did not work with any of it as we were  trying to organize our huge garden area, and the remodeling continues.  We had read that when planting potatoes it is good to put a compfrey leaf in with  to deter potato bugs and such. Since the comfrey was up we did this. Other than that I have not done too much Herbie at all in April.

Theoretical task: Understanding pain

Peripheral nerves are nerves that start in the spinal cord and innervate the skin, muscles, bones, joints and internal organs. The peripheral nerves are the starting point for receiving the sensation of pain and sending it up toward the brain.

As a nurse I have used pain scales with patients to assess how severe their pain is.

Pain scales are additional pain assessment tools to help you describe the intensity of someone's pain and to help diagnose or measure the level of pain. These include numeric, verbal or visual scales.
With numerical scales, you use numbers from 0-10 (0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain ever) to rate the intensity of your pain.
Verbal scales are pain assessment tools that contain commonly used words such as "mild", "moderate" and "severe" to help you describe the severity of your pain.
Visual scales are pain assessment tools that use aids like pictures of facial expressions, colors or gaming objects, such as poker chips, to help explain the severity of your pain. One type, the Wong Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale, shows six different facial expressions from happy (no hurt) to agony (hurts the worst) to help show your healthcare professional how much pain you feel. Body diagrams may also be used to help pinpoint where your pain occurs.

My family is generally pretty healthy, but taking the flowers of Mullein and infusing in olive oil is a handy thing to have on hand when an occassional ear ache comes up.  I can say that I have used Mullein oil for both kids and adults for ear aches with great success. Just a few drops in the affected ear is enough to ease the pain. I then place a cotton ball int he ear canal to keep excess oil from running out. It can be repeated as needed. Of course if an earache ever persists beyond a few day or worsens then you need to use you best judgement on if you need to seek medical treatment.

For adults who have general aches and pain or nerve pain as with fibromyalgia I have had good sucess with St. John's wort oil both infused in oil and tinctured. Rub the oil on the affected area and it can be repeated every few hours if necessary. The tincture is also nice to use when it is not conveinent to apply the oil or to use in conjunction with it. I usually dose between 10-20 drops every hour or so until  relief is had.
*St John's wort is one herb that you need to check out for interactions with other medications before you use it to be on  the safe side. 

Which scale you use depends on the age and/ or the cognitive level of the person you are working with.

Pain can be either classified as Acute or chronic.
 Acute pain is associated with an injury or sudden onset. This usually warrants being checked out by a physician.
Chronic pain is any pain that persists greater than 6 months. Many people suffer with chronic pain and over time it can be debilatating and lead to depression and limit their lifestyle.

There are many herbs that can help with different types of pain, the following list are just a few that may be helpful in releiving these different types of pain.

Acute/ bone pain - skullcap,

Torn Muscles - willow bark

Nerve Pain - St. John's wort

Arthritic pain - Willow bark, ginger, ginseng, angelica, wild yam, and black cohosh skullcap, valerian, turmeric, poppy,  St. John's wort, motherwort, lavender, cayenne,  and rose  

Ear Aches - mullein, garlic