Highlander pepper is used not only in folk medicine. If necessary, the extract of this herb is prescribed by doctors. And you can find it in almost any pharmacy.
Composition of the plant
Pepper( or, as it is also called, water pepper) is an annual plant that is widely used in both traditional and folk medicine. It is prepared in the flowering period.
The composition of the mountain pepper includes flavonoids, among which isoramnetin, quercetin, kaempferol. They have antispasmodic, hemostatic and anti-inflammatory effects. Also in the plant contain vitamins of groups K, C, in a small amount - D, E, A, macro- and microelements - bromine, lead, strontium, selenium, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, chromium, boron, iodine, silver, nickel, vanadium, iron, calcium, zinc, cobalt, aluminum. The researchers found that the plant is a source of acetic, valeric and formic acids, paracumaric and chlorogenic phenolic acids, aldehydes, sugars, tannins and binders.
Thanks to its composition, the herb is used not only as a hemostatic. As one of the components it is used in the treatment of peptic ulcer, hemorrhoids, pancreatitis, migraine, chronic diarrhea.
Appearance of the plant
In many regions of the northern hemisphere, where the temperate climate reigns, the mountain pepper is found. A photo of it, viewed in advance, will allow you to select this plant without errors, among others. This grass can reach 80 cm in height, it has a branched stem, often having a reddish hue. The leaves of the plant are elongated, smooth, they show transparent points. The flowers of the forest mustard are insignificant and small, only a few millimeters in length. They are framed by a green or reddish aureole. After flowering, a fruit is formed - a small egg-shaped nut, which is flat on one side, and convex on the other.
Rules for harvesting
Collect land parts of the plant from the end of June to September. It is during this period that it blooms. Dry both stems and flowers. To do this, the collected plants are laid out in a thin layer in the shade and are often turned over. With industrial blanks, it is best to use special aggregates.
For the preparation of raw materials at home, you can use lofts and canopies for drying. It spreads a small layer, the thickness of which should not exceed 5 cm, on paper or cloth. If you dry the grass in the sun, it will turn black. It is very easy to check whether raw materials are ready. To do this, just bend a few branches. If they break, then the plant can be packed in bags.
Action of the plant
Highlander pepper( water pepper - one of the names of this herb) is used as a hemostatic. Tincture of this plant has astringent and anti-inflammatory effect, it is also a diuretic. In addition, it is known that water pepper is also an anesthetic, sedative, antimicrobial agent. In addition to these properties, it is still able to increase the secretion of the stomach and sex glands. Essential oil, made from this plant, can slightly lower the pressure.
Also, the mountain pepper stimulates the contraction of the uterus. True, this ability is much weaker than that of ergot. With abundant painful menstruation, he significantly relieves the condition of a woman, his action occurs quickly enough.
Scope
Not everyone knows that the use of water pepper is not limited to the need to reduce uterine bleeding. The spectrum of its action is much broader. The grass is used for various bleeding, including gastric, intestinal, menstrual. If we talk about the decoction of this plant, it has a bacteriostatic effect( stops the growth of microorganisms).It is used for various rashes, scrofula, malaria, obstructed urination. Also, its analgesic properties are widely used, it is enough to make tea from it.
Broth plants are recommended to drink even with stomach cancer and peptic ulcer. Outwardly pepper grass can be used as a substitute for mustard plasters.
In combination with other plants, a mountain pepper is also used. Description of the composition of fees provides an opportunity to see what concentration of this herb is needed to improve the patient's condition. So, in a complex it is used to treat diarrhea and enterocolitis. Also, it can be found in collections intended for patients with hemorrhoids and chronic colitis, which is accompanied by a ulcerative-erosive lesion of mucous membranes.
Medical preparations
Water peppers are often prescribed by doctors. As a rule, they recommend using already ready-made pharmacy products. So, on sale it is possible to find a liquid extract in small bottles and the dried water pepper in packs on 100 grammes.
The extract of water pepper looks like a brown-green liquid with a strong odor. It tastes bitter enough, with an astringent effect. An extract is prescribed, as a rule, as a hemostatic agent for 30( sometimes 40) drops, it must be taken three times a day.
There are also candles from hemorrhoids "Anastezol", which include a mountain peppercorn. The use of this herb in such a preparation is due to its hemostatic effect.
Using a dried plant
If desired, you can prepare the infusion of this herb yourself. It also has a hemostatic effect. It is made from two tablespoons of raw material and 200 ml of boiled hot water. The mixture should be infused for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. After this, the liquid is cooled for 45 minutes and filtered. The resulting thick must be wrung out. After all these procedures, the amount of infusion should be brought to 200 ml, adding boiled water to it. Three times a day for 1/3 cup is prepared prepared in this way water pepper. Tincture, the instruction to which is contained on the box with the dried plant, should not be used together with dairy products.
In most cases, it is the ground part of the plant that is used. But for the treatment of impotence and reduced acidity of the stomach, folk medicine advises the use of roots.
Contraindications
Like many phytopreparations, the mountain herb pepper can not be used by all. So, it is contraindicated in patients with thrombophlebitis because of its blood-curdling action. Also, it is not worth the money on its basis to drink and those who have inflammation of the bladder or kidneys. Pregnancy, by the way, also refers to contraindications.
It should be noted that fresh grass can exert a strong irritant effect on mucous membranes and skin. When dried, these properties are lost, so you can use only pre-harvested plant.
When applying it is important to strictly adhere to the dosage, because its non-compliance is fraught with poisoning. Their first symptoms are a decrease in temperature, diarrhea, general weakness, worsening of cardiac activity. As treatment for an overdose, enveloping and laxatives can be prescribed, with diarrhea, astringents.
Cosmetology
You can use forest mustard not only as a medicinal blood-restoring agent. If your hair falls out, then water pepper can help. Tincture, the instruction to which speaks about its stimulating properties, can improve the tone of blood vessels. To reduce hair loss, you do not have to drink it. It must be applied as a mask.
For this purpose it is necessary to mix in equal quantities the ready-made pharmacy extract of the mountain pepper and the oil solution of vitamin E. The resulting mixture must be thoroughly rubbed into the scalp and left for 20 minutes. Do not forget to wrap your hair with polyethylene and wrap it with a towel. After the specified time, the mask should be washed off using a normal shampoo.
If you do not want to use a purchased pharmacy extract, you can prepare yourself an alcoholic tincture yourself. To do this, 25 grams of dry grass is poured with 100 grams of alcohol or vodka. The mixture is infused in a dark place for two weeks. Do not forget to shake it periodically.
Traditional medicine
In most cases, doctors burn pepper is prescribed only as a hemostatic. It is usually recommended by gynecologists in painful menstruation and the need to reduce uterine bleeding. And folk medicine suggests using all the possibilities of this herb.
People basically adhere to traditional methods of treatment - taking infusion or extract of this plant inside. But also it can be used for resorption of tumors. For this purpose, compresses are made from grass. The use of water pepper is also possible with ulcers on the skin. For their scarring, the ancient Greeks offered to sprinkle the affected places with the powder of pepper mountain man.
The plant also helps with hemorrhoidal itching. To facilitate the condition, you need to make a sedentary bath with this herb. Prepare them as follows.400 g of grass boils for 15 minutes in two liters of water. Separately boil 400 g of milk, it is covered with the same amount of cut into small pieces of bread. Infusions of grass and milk are mixed, the mixture is poured into a container, in which you can sit down. This procedure should last 15 minutes. Do not forget to wash with warm water afterwards. This procedure must be done within a month after defecation.
The opinion of folk and traditional medicine regarding the advisability of using an extract or tincture of water pepper inside is the same. Both doctors and healers admit the excellent haemostatic properties of this plant.