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Herbs: Yarrow flowers - cut

Common Names: Yarrow, milfoil, millefolium, soldier’s woundwort, nose bleed, carpenter’s weed, bloodwort, staunchweed
Latin Name: Achillea millefolium

Excerpts from The How to Herb Book

Yarrow is an important herb to have in storage in your home. The comment was made that it would be one of the only things that work against the coming plagues, which would be flu type diseases. Yarrow is unsurpassed for flu and fevers.

• Used abundantly at the beginning of a cold it will usually break it up within 24 hours.
• Especially good for fevers-produces perspiration. Opens pores and has relaxing action on skin.
• For fever must be drunk warm or take capsules with warm water or peppermint tea. Yarrow tea is bitter to the taste, but effective.
• Good for all childhood diseases. A yarrow ointment or tea is used for sores, including chicken pox and smallpox, also old wounds.
• Helping to glandular system. Regulates and tones liver.
• Relieves kidney and bladder problems, infections and mucus discharge from bladder.
• Equalizes circulation.
• Used in fomentations for external hemorrhoids or inject one ounce of tea in a retention enema for internal hemorrhoids.
• Corrects diarrhea in infants.
• Healing and soothing to all mucous membranes.
• Benefits respiratory problems, including bleeding from lungs.
• Combined with sage, it is good for profuse or irregular menstruation.

Has been used in the following:

Excerpts from Practical Herbalism

Yarrow was formerly much esteemed as a vulnerary, and its old names of Soldier’s Wound Wort and Knight’s Milfoil testify to this. Gerard tells us it is the same plant with which Achilles stanched the bleeding wounds of his soldiers, hence the name of the genus, Achillea. By the Ancients themselves, it was called Herba Militaris, the military herb. Its ability to quickly stop nosebleeds gave it another of its popular names. The species name, millefolium, is derived from the many feathery segments of its foliage.

King tells us that,
“Its used in chronic diseases of the urinary apparatus, is especially recommended by Prof. J. M. Scudder. It exerts a tonic influence upon the venous system, as well as upon mucous membranes. It has been efficacious in sore throat, hemoptysis, hematuria and other forms of hemorrhage where the bleeding is mall in amount; incontinence of urine, diabetes, hemorrhoids with bloody and mucoid discharges, and dysentery. Also in amenorrhea, flatulency and spasmodic diseases, and in the form of injection in leucorrhea with relaxed vaginal walls. It will be found to be one of our best agents for the relief of menorrhagia.”

Priest & Priest tell us that it is a mild, slow, and stimulating diaphoretic that is best used for the first stage of acute fevers, and for atonic and relaxed tissues where there is free discharge or passive hemorrhage of bright red blood. They recommend cold preparations to stimulate the appetite and tone the digestive organs, and give the following specific indications: Acute stage of colds; influenza and respiratory catarrhs; chronic diarrhea and dysentery; epistaxis; intestinal hemorrhage, bleeding hemorrhoids, uterine hemorrhage; profuse or protracted menstruation; and leucorrhea.

Ellingwood considered it specific for hot, dry burning skin, at the beginning of acute asthenic fevers, with suppressed secretion; deficient renal action, with renal or urethral irritation; acute or chronic Brights disease in its incipient stage; leucorrhea with relaxed vaginal walls; menorrhagia and amenorrhea; hemorrhoids with bloody discharge atonic gastric and intestinal dyspepsia; and passive hemorrhages. He also considered it useful for these pathologies: hematuria, uterine hemorrhage, intestinal irritation, leucorrhea, fevers, uremia, edema, tonsillitis, and epididymitis.

More recently, Dr. Christopher explained why he favored the herb.
“Yarrow, when administered hot and copiously, will raise the heat of the body, equalize the circulation, and produce perspiration. It opens the pores freely by relaxing the skin, and it purifies the blood of toxins. Yarrow regulates the liver and the secretions of the entire alimentary canal; it tones the mucus membranes of the stomach and bowels, and is healing to the glandular system. Yarrow will never weaken a patient, because of its tonic action.”

Indicated Usages – Internal:

Indicated Usages - External:

Excerpts from Nutritional Herbology

It has been extensively used since Achilles’ time to stanch bleeding in battle wounds and has earned the folk names, soldier’s woundwart, knight milfoil, staunchweed, and herbe militaris. It has also been used in civilian life to treat internal and external bleeding of all kinds: wounds sores, rashes, and bleeding piles.

The use of this herb in Western and Chinese folk medicine has been with respect to four activities: 1) astringency of the tannins, 2) irritant action of the volatile oils, 3) the antispasmodic effects of the flavonoids and 4) the hypotensive effects of the alkaloids. Yarrow is used as a tonic, carminative, febrifuge, antispasmodic, astringent, and hemostat.

The volatile oils are responsible for the carminative, febrifuge, expectorant, diuretic and antibiotic properties of yarrow. The method of action being stimulus of mucous membrane and bactericidal.

Contains aromatic compounds that shrink inflamed tissues and promote sweating. It also contains bitter compounds that relieve smooth muscle spasms, reduce blood pressure and stop bleeding. Yarrow has been used to treat hemorrhoids, fevers, nausea, and inflammatory skin conditions.

Excerpts from The ABC Herbal

It has been used to help fevers and colds. The plant contains a volatile oil, similar in composition to chamomile oil, which has been medically documented to be a very effective, anti-inflammatory agent. By itself, yarrow tastes bitter, but the addition of peppermint masks this disagreeable flavor.

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