Gout of Your Mind with Acid Build-Up

Gout is a build-up of uric acid in the blood stream and the joints that causes damage to the joints and the kidneys. Many times there is a specific inflammation and swelling in the big toe. Stones may form in the kidneys. Deposits also may build in the skin and ears.
Native to India and Iran, the yellowish-orange flowers of the herb known as safflowers (carthamus tinctorius) have been used historically as a remedy for digestive problems, kidney problems, and problems of the pancreas. Safflowers have the ability to neutralize and eliminate uric acid from the body, which makes them a useful herbal remedy for gout.
Safflowers are taken (usually in pill form) internally to aid digestion of oils and will help to eliminate not only uric acid, but also cholesterol from the blood. This herb is rich in potassium and sodium, both minerals needed for proper water balance in the body.

A Poultice for a Swell Time

External applications such as an herbal poultice or compress can sometimes work immediately to shrink swollen glands, bring boils to a head, and pull toxins from the skin.
Here’s what you’ll need:
If your glands stay swollen after you fight off any infection, you might want to seek
out a massage therapist who specializes in lymphatic drainage, which will force your
glands to drain and usually will reduce glandular swelling. Be sure to drink plenty of water to help you flush!
2 parts white oak bark powder
1 part lobelia tincture or fluid
1 part mullein
1 part grapefruit extract
Bentonite clay (as needed to create stiff mixture)

Mix all ingredients together; add water if using all dried herbs. The clay should cause the mixture to coagulate. Pack the mixture around swollen glands to help pull out the infection, reduce swelling, and soothe tissues. Let dry, and remove by splashing the area with cold water. If desired, add a heat source, such as a hot water bottle, to help the mixture seep into the glands. Remove heat source and let poultice dry before removing it.

Fighting the Infection with Herbs and Other Nutrients

As I’ve said, swollen glands are usually associated with some type of infection, and herbs should be added to your program to help your body fight the infection internally. Echinacea and golden seal work together to help fight infection; add some black walnut, althea, parthenium, plantain, and bugleweed, and you have a combination to kill infection and shrink those glands. If your white oak bark is not working for you as well as you think it should, you can add some bayberry, another strong astringent herb to your program. You should be as tight as a whistle within a few days on this combination! Other things you can add are vitamin C, beta carotene, B6, vitamin D, magnesium, lecithin, and CoQ10. These nutrients will feed your lymphatic system and help boost your circulation, which can increase your ability to fight infection and help your body rid itself of waste products in the lymph tissues.

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.