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 o