May came and the birch tree dressed up with earrings and flowers and emerald foliage. Now is the time to harvest birch leaves. The leaves are harvested when they are still young, sticky, fragrant. They are dried in the shade, under sheds, in attics or in well-ventilated rooms. Birch leaves are spread in a thin layer and periodically carefully turned over. Sometimes summer leaves, which have lost their stickiness and are fully blossomed, are also collected, but they are less valuable. The leaves of the summer collection are used in the form of water infusions and decoctions as a choleretic, as well as an external remedy for various skin diseases, rheumatic lesions of the joints, for washing the head and as brooms for baths.
Birch leaves have the ability to kill microorganisms that fall on their surface, including pathogens. Other plants also produce substances of similar action. If you apply a drop of, for example, Staphylococcus aureus to a leaf of cherry or linden, in a few hours all the microbes in the drop, or most of them, will die. The time required to kill bacteria is used to judge the potency of the plant's bactericidal substances. It turns out that microbes are killed most quickly, within 3 hours, on poplar and birch leaves.
In the early morning - before 8 hours and in the evening - after 19-20 hours the amount of phytoncides emitted by plants is several times less than during the day. They're especially plentiful at 1pm. A birch forest has more light and more phytoncides than, for example, a mixed forest. In hot weather, the concentration of birch phytoncides increases 1.5-2.0 times, and with increasing air humidity, on the contrary, decreases. Therefore, for walks in nature, choose those days and the time when the air is more useful volatile substances to breathe in enough healing phytoncides and aeroions, released at this time birch leaves. Birch phytoncides kill bacteria in the air in as little as 10-15 minutes. Birch sap also has excellent phytoncidal properties.
Birch actively enriches the air with negative ions.
Birch leaves are recommended for kidney diseases - nephrosis, nephritis, uric acid diathesis. They have been found to be not only harmless, but on the contrary, they have been found to improve renal function and reduce albuminuria where it has been observed.
An infusion of young birch leaves is a good year-round anti-scurvy remedy.
For general calming of the nervous system in neurasthenia, headache and dizziness, sleep disorders, migraine, hysterical seizures is useful to drink an infusion of young spring birch leaves. In this case, to enhance the healing properties of birch leaves in the infusion is useful to add small amounts of St. John's wort herb, mint, thavolga elm, cypress, strawberry leaves, raspberries, licorice root.
Acute respiratory diseases are highly prevalent among children. Although the course of colds is most often relatively satisfactory, each illness nevertheless lowers the child's defenses. Not only that, when attending school early after an illness, many children develop various complications, up to neuropsychiatric diseases. Usually, neither children nor their parents do not attach importance to the runny nose, and it is with it that all troubles begin. Noticed in your child (or yourself) wet nose - smear its surface with tincture of birch buds several times a day, capturing the border of the mucous nostril with the skin. Wash your nose in an infusion of birch leaves, in which dissolve salt - 1 cup of warm birch leaf infusion, add a tip of a knife of table salt. Pour the solution into a bowl and teach the child to draw in the weak salt infusion of birch leaves through the nostrils and pour it out through the mouth. At night, cover your head with a kerchief or cap so that the hair growth line is hidden under the cloth. A persistent chronic runny nose clears up in 1 to 2 days after the child or adult sleeps with their head covered.
Infusion of spring birch leaves is an excellent diuretic for edema associated with cardiovascular insufficiency, in the treatment of coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis. Diuresis in such patients increases from 400 ml of urine per day to 2.5 liters. At the same time, the general condition of patients improves, dyspnea decreases, the disappearance of edema is noted.
Infusion of birch leaves is used in the treatment of circulatory insufficiency, prescribing it 2 cups a day.
Infusion of birch leaves is recommended as an antiseptic, soothing, stimulating, strengthening the body remedy. Infusion - an excellent vitamin drink, useful in hypo- and avitaminosis, in the treatment of long non-healing wounds and trophic ulcers, useful as a regulator of the gastrointestinal tract with low acidity of gastric juice. It is used in inflammatory diseases of the bladder, with gallstone disease, jaundice, renal colic.
For a daily dose as a vitamin drink 100 g fresh, crushed birch leaves poured 0.5 liters of boiling water and insist in a tightly closed container in a warm place for 1 hour, then strain. The ready-to-drink beverage should have a rich yellow-green color and a bitter taste. The infusion should be drunk throughout the day. You can add lemon juice to enhance the flavor.
Infusion of fresh birch leaves can also be prepared as follows.
Fresh leaves are crushed, washed with cold boiled water, again pour boiled water, cooled to 40-50 ° C, insist in a tightly closed container in a warm place for 3.5 hours, drain, squeeze the leaves, stand for 6 hours, the sediment is removed. An infusion of fresh leaves contains an order of magnitude more vitamin C than an infusion of dried birch leaves. The bitter taste of the infusion disappears after filtering it through crushed birch charcoal, but at the same time almost 2 times lowered content of vitamin C.
With medicinal purposes infusion of birch leaves is prepared as follows.
2 tablespoons of crushed birch leaves pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, insist on a boiling water bath in a tightly closed container for 15 minutes, cool at room temperature for 45 minutes, strain. It is recommended to add a little bicarbonate of soda to it - on the tip of a knife. Take an infusion of 1/2 cup 3- 4 times a day for 20-30 minutes before meals.
Infusion of birch leaves are used as an external remedy for itchy skin, psoriasis, eczema, neurodermatitis, furunculosis, acne, lichen planus, various rashes. In this case, it is useful to take the infusion orally at the same time.
Birch leaves are part of phytolysin, used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and to remove stones from the kidneys and bladder. Take phytolysin 3 times a day after meals, diluting 1 teaspoon of the drug in 0.5 cups of sweetened water.
Aqueous infusion and extract of birch leaves cause the death of paramecia, giardia and trichomonads. In giardiasis infusion take 200 ml a day for 15-45 days.
Interesting use of birch leaves for the treatment of cholecysto-angiocholitis and chronic cholecystitis in the exacerbation phase complicated by giardiasis.
Infusion is prepared from dried leaves of spring collection by insisting for a day 100 g of leaves in 1 liter of warm boiled water. Appointed 200 ml on an empty stomach followed by lying for 15-30 minutes on the right side. The course of treatment is 30 to 45 days. The infusion should not be stored for more than 3 days, as it quickly spoils and loses its activity, so it is more rational to prepare it daily. Infusion has an excellent choleretic effect.
With liver stones, it is useful to drink the infusion every day 4 cups hot.
In the treatment of anemia apply a collection of leaves of birch and nettle dicot, taken in equal amounts by weight.
2 tablespoons of crushed collection brewed in 1.5 cups of boiling water, insist in a tightly closed container in a warm place for 1 hour, strain, add 0.5 cup of fresh beet juice. Drink during the day in 3 or 4 doses 20 minutes before meals. Continue the course of treatment for 8 weeks.
Decoction of birch leaves is recommended as an excellent diuretic for kidney disease and rheumatism, for the treatment of arthritis, gallstone disease, inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial diseases, lung diseases, scurvy, scabies, rashes.
The decoction is prepared as follows.
2 tablespoons of crushed birch leaves pour 2 cups of boiling water, insist in a tightly closed container on a boiling water bath for 30 minutes, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, strain, add a tip of a knife bicarbonate of soda. Take 2/3-1/2 cup 2-3 times a day. The same decoction can be used to wash skin rashes, tumors, vulgar rashes, various skin irritations.
In gallstone disease decoction is recommended to prepare as follows.
2 tablespoons of dry crushed birch leaves pour 1 cup of steep boiling water, boil over low heat until the volume is not reduced by half, when cooled - strain. Take 1 dessert spoonful 3 times a day before meals. The course of treatment is 3 months. The decoction is excellent for small stones. There will be pain, contractions, cramping, and nausea when the stones come out. All of this has to be endured.
Another method of preparing the decoction may be recommended.
1 tablespoon with the top of dry crushed birch leaves pour 1 cup of steep boiling water, boil over low heat in a tightly closed bowl for 20 minutes, insist in a warm place for 1 hour, strain. Drink for a long time in the morning and evening 1 cup of decoction 30 minutes before meals.
Infusion or decoction of dried birch leaves is given to women to drink during menstruation to facilitate the exit of blood, and in the postpartum period, starting on the 12th day after childbirth, to facilitate and accelerate postpartum cleansing. For the same purpose it is useful to take an infusion or decoction of birch buds. Baths or tampons of infusion or decoction of birch leaves are used for erosions of the cervix and inflammatory processes in the uterus.
When menstruation is delayed, you can apply this remedy. You can drink 2 glasses of hot infusion of chamomile. You can take a hot bath with salt or mustard - 100 g per bath. It is useful to wipe with a hot infusion of birch leaves and hold your feet for 30 minutes in a very hot infusion of birch leaves, where you add a handful of table salt and 2-3 handfuls of birch ash. Then the legs are poured warm infusion of birch leaves, wipe dry and put on clean stockings, in which to pour dry mustard. It is also recommended to drink 0.5 cup of brewer's yeast and steamed milk on an empty stomach for several days in a row.
Many women suffer from cervical erosions and have been unable to get rid of them for years. Good results in the treatment of this disease gives good results in sprinchets with a decoction of birch leaves and eucalyptus, taken in equal parts by weight. 2 tablespoons of finely chopped mixture of birch and eucalyptus leaves boiled in a tightly closed bowl over low heat for 5 minutes, cooled in a warm place to 40 ° C (to a tolerable temperature) and spritzuetsya overnight. The course of treatment is one or two weeks.
Baths of birch leaves bring relief from joint rheumatism and gout, with allergic itchy dermatoses.
Red non-spiral dry lichen planus is treated like this. Sprinkle it with a strong hot decoction of birch leaves 2 times a day for 3 minutes. After 3 days you usually notice an improvement, after 2 weeks it should disappear altogether.
Eczema, especially of the hands, is very well cured by a decoction of birch twigs with leaves. They should be boiled and, without removing the twigs, put your hands in this decoction. The decoction should be as hot as your hands can tolerate. Keep your hands in the decoction should be 20-30 minutes. Do not wipe hands after the procedure - let them dry. Repeat the procedure daily 2-3 times a day (good at night), and the decoction can be used repeatedly. It is desirable to wet your hands as little as possible during treatment, or better not to wet them at all during the entire treatment period. The eczema dries up very quickly and goes away completely after this treatment.
Treatment of varicose veins achieves success if from food exclude sweets, confectionery. In the morning on an empty stomach and in the evening you should drink a glass of birch buds or leaves, prepared in a ratio of 1 : 10 with 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of natural bee honey. The veins should be smeared from bottom to top with apple cider vinegar morning and evening.
Obese people often develop diaper rash in the groin folds. To kill them, it is best to wash these places several times a day with a cold infusion of birch leaves. Sunflower oil, in which crushed fresh birch leaves have been infused, helps well. To do this, 100 g of birch leaves poured 500 g of vegetable oil and insist in a warm place, occasionally shaking, 2-3 weeks, then strain through a multilayer gauze. Oil rubbed once or twice a day diaper rash until they are completely cured.
It is useful to wash your hair with an infusion or decoction of birch leaves or buds. It promotes hair growth and eliminates dandruff.
To girls do not suffer from pustular rashes on the face, especially acne, it is useful to wipe the facial skin with wet hair while washing the head. Your facial skin will always be clean.
To strengthen the hair, juniper branches should be mixed equally by weight with fresh spring birch leaves. Crushed handful of the mixture boil in 3 liters of water for 5 minutes, insist in a warm place in a tightly closed container for 1 hour, strain. Use this decoction to wash and rinse your head.
Freshly harvested leaves of summer collection are used to treat sciatica, sciatica, neurological and other diseases, for which they prepare dry-air baths - fresh leaves are placed in a barrel and put a load on top. When the leaves begin to spontaneously combust, the weight is removed and the patient is placed in the heated leaves directly in the barrel for 30-40 minutes. This procedure is repeated several times until the pain is relieved, usually for one to two weeks. Leaves are also used as a wound-healing agent, for boils and boils, applying them in a thick layer, having previously turned the leaves into a mush. In the same way, that is, dry-air baths, treat rheumatism, gout, paralysis, colds, general weakness of the body after a serious illness.
Fresh young - spring - leaves are used in the treatment of pediatric rheumatism. To do this, birch leaves are placed in a dense layer on a sheet, then put the child on them and wrapped, leaving only the heart area uncovered. The procedure is performed for 1.5-2 hours each for 2 weeks.
Well kneaded and steamed birch leaves are used to reduce pain in the joints affected by rheumatism. They put them on the sore spot pa 3-4 hours, make a cloth bandage and cover with a film. The course of treatment is one to two weeks.
Many physicians state that they have witnessed unsuccessful treatment of rheumatism with swellings and hardening in the joints by various remedies, but the method described below helped.
If the rheumatism is in the legs, you should sew bags shaped like the legs and part of the torso up to the waist. Then tear up birch leaves and stuff the bags with them. In the evening, before going to bed, the legs of the patient should be inserted into these bags so that a fairly thick layer of leaves encircles the legs on all sides. Your feet will sweat a lot, just like they would in a steam bath. Sometimes the leaves should be changed at midnight if they have become too wet. A few sessions, and ... there's a complete cure.
An outstanding folk remedy for lower back, sacrum, back, shoulder blades and shoulder pain. These pains are the result of colds, living in a damp room, sometimes the result of syphilis, and sometimes unhealthy living conditions in general. If the disease began after a cold, it is necessary to rub ointment of birch buds - the method of making ointment given earlier. Then on the sore places should be put a layer of fresh birch leaves, bandage and do not remove the bandage until morning.
To treat joint rheumatism, it is useful to take a water ant bath.
Put the contents of one ant pile in a bag and bring it home. Pour everything from the bag into a bucket and fill it to the top with steep boiling water. You should insist the contents of the bucket for several hours, and then pour it into a hot bath with a temperature of 30-37 ° C. To increase the healing power of the bath should be added to it quite a significant amount of fresh birch leaves.
With dropsy the patient should be put to bed, put a thick layer of birch leaves on the swollen parts of the body, cover with a warm blanket and give plenty of warm diaphoretic drink. It can also treat gout, rheumatism, paralysis, physical weakness, and colds.
The decoction of birch leaves is used in cosmetics to remove age spots.
From eczema and many other skin diseases helps ointment made from birch leaves of the spring collection. Birch leaves should be washed with cold water and dried in the shade. In a glass, enameled or earthenware bowl put a layer of unsalted butter 1 cm thick, and on top - a layer of crushed birch leaves of the same thickness, then again a layer of butter, a layer of leaves, and so on. д. Cover the dish with a lid and thoroughly cover the crevices with dough, then put in the oven and cook on minimum heat for twenty-four hours in this mode - 2 hours warming, 2 hours cooling, etc. д. Then strain the ointment through gauze, squeeze out the remainder. Store the oil in the refrigerator.
For dry eczema of the head and hair loss, wash the head once a week with a warm, strong infusion of birch leaves and rub the head with table salt powder for about 15 minutes. Then rinse your head with the same infusion. This treatment should be repeated periodically. If all people used this method, there would be no bald people on our planet.
Strengthening effect foot bath of decoction of birch leaves. For its preparation, 7-10 handfuls of leaves are boiled with boiling water, the dish is tightly closed and let cool to 30 ° C. These foot baths can be taken along with birch leaves.
Foot baths are very useful for foot pain, sweating feet, open wounds, bruises of all kinds, bleeding or bruising, tumors, gout, cartilage knots, suppuration between the toes, abscesses under the nails, injuries from tight shoes. These baths are incomparable when it comes to softening all sorts of hardening on the feet. They are excellent for joint rheumatism, calluses, curing open and festering wounds on the feet and damage from corrosive foot sweat.
It is not uncommon for people to suffer from corns - thickened skin that prevents them from walking freely, causing pain and burning. Most often these keratinized areas of skin are steamed and peeled off with a safety razor, but they will form again afterwards. If you apply cold foot baths of decoction of birch leaves, in which dissolved table salt, then keratinization resolves and does not arise again. Such a bath is prepared from a decoction of birch leaves, prepared in a ratio of 1 :5, in which 1 tablespoon of salt is used per 1 liter of cold decoction. Both legs are lowered into the bath, even if only one leg is affected by the disease. The bath relieves pain, burning, and makes the skin soft. The duration of the bath is from 10 to 25 minutes. The number of baths depends on the resorption, that is, you should make as many baths as it takes for full recovery. The same baths are useful for relieving fatigue and strengthening internal organs, especially the bronchi and heart. But after the bath, the feet should not be wiped, and you should walk on the ground or hot stones for 15-20 minutes. If you live in a multi-story building and going downstairs is not always convenient for you, get yourself a flat box that you fill with either rock salt or pebbles and perform the walking procedure during your morning toilet or shave..
