Broad Leaf Plantain saves man's finger

Working part-time in a community pharmacy on the Sunshine Coast has moments of pure magic at times. Here is the story of one of those moments. It is a busy Sunday as usual. As in most small towns, all the doctors offices and clinics are closed and the Emergency Department at the hospital is overflowing with people waiting for hours to be seen. So people come to the pharmacy for help first, before going to the emergency. As a community pharmacist I am used to these types of questions. Also as a herbalist and integrative pharmacist I am always looking for ways to bring in the knowledge of herbal medicine when appropriate. On this day the opportunity presented itself.

A gentleman in his 70's with a seriously lacerated finger that was infected came in asking for help. He had already been to the emergency the previous weekend to have his middle finger stitched. He was then put on an antibiotic, Clindamycin, and sent home to wait for the healing.

A week had gone by and he had run out of the antibiotic and came in for a refill because he said the finger was not healing. Since there were no refills on the prescription I was not able to help in that way. Besides if things were not healing it was important to look for a different approach. As we discussed possibilities with him and his friend our conversation circled around to herbal medicine. His friend had a wonderful experience that saved her kidneys by taking herbs. Since there was openness and receptivity to a herbal approach I was able to move forward with herbal suggestions.

I recommended that he poultice his finger with "Broad-leaf Plantain" which would pull out any toxins and accelerate healing. I have great confidence in the abilities of this little plant from personal experience on my own skin. Also I have read in herbals how it saved people from amputation who had blood poisoning. Even the Roman soldiers used it for sword wounds. In addition to the poultice with the plantain, I told him to find some Red Clover and make a tea and drink it to purify his blood. I sent them off and asked for feedback saying that I wanted to know how the treatment worked for him.

A week later on a Sunday I was told that a gentleman was waiting to talk to me. As I came around the corner there he was holding up his finger with a big smile. There was no big white bandage. The wound had completely closed and healed and the infection was gone. He told me that after 3 or 4 days the progress was great and now 7 days later the finger was beautifully healed. He proceeded to say that he had planted both Broad-leaf plantain and Red Clover all over his yard. He wanted to have them readily available.

This type of "pharmaceutical" experience gives me great joy when I am able to direct people to the wonderful Natural Pharmacy that is so available to all of us. A little knowledge and belief in the power of herbal medicine goes a long way. We need to reduce our dependence on modern medicine and go back to trusting the intelligence of plant medicine.