Tightening Up with White Oak Bark

White oak bark (Quercus alba) is the bark from the white oak tree. The great white oak tree grows up to 100 feet tall, and its wood was used to build ships because of its ability to handle moisture. Its medicinal properties are mostly astringent in their effect, making this herb very useful in tightening tissues that are loose (in energetics, this would mean a “wet” type of condition). White oak bark can be used internally as well as externally for any inflamed tissue, and you can use it as an excellent remedy not only just for swollen glands but also for hemorrhoids, internal bleeding, gout, herpes, wounds, and gingivitis.
White oak bark is rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc, all minerals involved in tissue healing. For swollen glands, use internal application along with external application until swelling subsides.

Cure for Swollen Glands

Swollen glands are a symptom usually associated with a bacterial or viral infection. Our lymph glands are tiny glands dispersed throughout the body where white blood cells are stored and work to fight off infection. When we have swollen glands in the neck, the body is usually fighting off an infection to keep it from reaching the brain, where it could be most damaging to us.
When you have swollen lymph nodes or glands, you should try to help your immune system fight off whatever is causing the infection. Immune system herbs such as echinacea and even elderberry are both immune-boosting herbs that help do so. Otherwise, for the symptoms associated with the pain of swollen tissues, astringent-type herbs such as white oak bark make an excellent remedy for shrinking swollen tissues.

Just a Pinch Between the Cheek and Gums

White oak bark is a strong astringent herb that will help shrink swollen tissues. You can moisten a little white oak bark with water or even liquid chlorophyll and pack it around your gums each night to help relieve your swollen gums. Take white oak bark internally, too, but not before meals because its tightening, drying, restricting type properties might inhibit your digestion.
Myrrh and golden seal packs can be used to pack around the gums and work just as well as the white oak bark. And don’t forget your vitamin C supplementation—rose hips work as a natural vitamin C source.
If gingivitis is caused by over-acidity in the system, eliminate acidic foods such as heavy protein.
Internally, green drinks such as liquid chlorophyll will help neutralize body acids.

Myrrh: Something to Chew On

Myrrh (Commiphora nayrrha), a plant native to northeast Africa, serves as a disinfectant and astringent that can help tone the gum tissue. Myrrh stimulates the body to make mucus and therefore facilitates drainage. It is also used as an infection-fighter because of its ability to increase white blood cell activity. Myrrh is best teamed with golden seal, especially when taken internally to help fight infection and heal the gums. In small does, you can take myrrh internally every few hours until inflammation stops. You can then take myrrh daily for two weeks after your dental treatment to continue your healing process. Myrrh is not suggested during pregnancy for internal use, except in very low doses.
Myrrh is great topically, but you can make a tea from myrrh and golden seal and use it
as a mouthwash to treat your problem locally. Mix both with a little water and peppermint
or spearmint oil to help hide the taste. Rinse your mouth with cold water only,
which will help tighten your tissues. Myrrh resin mixed with white oak bark powder
and a couple drops of clove oil makes an excellent toothpaste that can help disinfect,
tone, and clean the teeth and gums. The clove oil also serves as an analgesic and will help relieve some of the soreness.
Other topical applications of myrrh include acne, boils, bruises, cavities, halitosis (bad breath), mouth sores, pain, sore throat, thrush, tonsillitis, and wounds. Myrrh resin can be burned as an incense to repel bugs.

Gingivitis to Your Party?

Gingivitis (gum disease) literally means “inflammation of the gums,” and it may lead to pyorrhea (periodontal disease). Symptoms of gingivitis include swollen, bright red gums that usually bleed when you brush your teeth. The whole mouth and teeth can feel extremely sore and achy. Gingivitis is usually caused by poor dental hygiene or a lack of vitamin C or calcium. Some say it is also due to an over-acidic body system caused by eating too much protein. Protein foods cause an acid base when digested.
Herbs can be used internally and externally to help tone bleeding or swollen gums. A vitamin C deficiency needs to be corrected internally, but your dentist can get rid of deposits on the teeth that can be causing the problem. Either way, you can take herbs to strengthen and tighten your gum tissue to fight infection before, during, and after dental treatment.

Are You Masticating at the Dinner Table?

Make sure you chew your foods well. We all have enzyme activity in our saliva, which is where the actual digestive process begins. Chewing thoroughly will give your stomach and the rest of your digestion a break and should help your gas problems. Because your body relies on digestive juices and enzymes to break down the foods you eat, don’t drink liquids (especially cold liquids) in large amounts during your meals. This may dilute the digestive juices and hinder your proper digestion. Be sure, however, to drink plenty of water in between meals, as proper digestion requires a lot of water. If you must drink during meals, sip warm herbal tea. The warmth will relax the stomach and aid digestion, whereas an icy cold drink will contract the stomach and inhibit digestion.
Bowel cleansing will help if you have foul-smelling gas. If you have started taking a new herb supplement, such as psyllium hulls, aloe vera, or any cleansing herb, you may experience gas the first few days to a week while your bowel is cleansing. I like to think of this process as sweeping out an old, dirty basement. You stir up a lot of dust, but when you are through, you have a clean basement!

The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin’ in the Wind

So, besides reaching for fennel and other supplements and herbs to get rid of this antisocial problem before it strikes, let’s take a quick look at how and why those things that cause the problem can be handled.
Proper food combining takes a little work, but it will help your digestion. When you eat foods together that are not complementary for each other, this can be considered poor food combining.
Let’s just cover the very basics of food combining:

• In general, do not eat starches and proteins together.
• Do not eat fruit on a full stomach (empty stomach only).
• Do not combine fruits with any other food besides other fruits.
• Do not eat more than one concentrated food (starches and proteins) at any one meal. To demonstrate, eat only fruit in the morning. For dinner or lunch, if you have a steak or some type of meat, have a salad or other green vegetables with it, and leave out the bread and cheeses. Or, have a big salad and add a concentrated food, such as cheese or beans or meat—but choose only one.