Cure allergic rhinitis with horsetail

According to Oriental medicine, Xanthium fruit has a bitter and spicy taste, warm properties, is slightly toxic, and enters the lung meridian. It is used to treat headache pain, runny nose, rheumatism, skin itching...

Horsetail

The horse head plant is a wild plant that grows everywhere in our country, often found in wastelands, rice fields, and roadsides. The plant also has other names such as Xanthium strumarium, Xanthium japonicum, Xanthium ear, Phác ma, and Mac nhanh (Tay). Scientific name: Xanthium strumarium L. (synonym: Xanthium japonicum Widder), Asteraceae family.

Plant description:

The horse head is a herbaceous plant, annual, 50 - 80cm high, with few branches. The stem is cylindrical, hard, grooved, green, sometimes with purple-brown spots, with stiff hairs. The leaves grow alternately, triangular heart-shaped, 4 - 10cm long, 4 - 12cm wide, divided into 3 - 5 lobes, irregularly toothed edges, with short and stiff hairs on both sides, 3 main veins, 10cm long petiole, with stiff hairs. The inflorescence grows at the tip of branches or leaf axils, light green, with two types of heads, same base; the upper heads are small with bisexual flowers, the other heads bear female flowers; bracts are arranged in two rows, hairy; bisexual flowers are tubular, without hairy crest, corolla has 5 lobes, 5 stamens; female flowers have no corolla and hairy crest. The fruit is a pair of achenes, ovoid, with two sharp horns at the tip and covered with hooks; 12 - 15mm long, 7mm wide. Fruit season is from May to August.

Chemical composition: Alkaloids, saponins, fats, iodine. Modern studies also show that: the fruit has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, cough-relieving, respiratory stimulant, immunosuppressive (anti-allergic) effects...

There are many types of Xanthium strumarii such as Xanthium strumarii, yellow Xanthium strumarii, peach-flower Xanthium strumarii, etc., but the type used to treat rhinitis is the type of Xanthium strumarii that is rich in medicinal properties. In Oriental medicine, it is the dried ripe fruit of the Xanthium strumarii plant (Fructus Xanthii strumarii).

Oriental medicine books classify horsetail in the group of “Tan On Giai Bieu” medicines - meaning a warming medicine, which has the effect of relieving colds and treating some diseases caused by external pathogens invading the “bieu” (outer surface) of the body. The usual dosage is 10 - 16g per day, in the form of decoction or pill.

Contraindications: Do not use if you have a headache due to blood deficiency. Do not use sprouted herbs. Xanthium sibiricum Patrin ex Widder is the fruit of the plant Xanthium sibiricum Patrin ex Widder.

Xanthium fruit can be used to treat rhinitis in two ways: alone (using only Xanthium fruit) or combined with some other herbs in the "Xanthium fruit powder" formula.

Medicinal uses of horsetail

Treatment of allergic rhinitis:

- Use an appropriate amount of horsetail fruit, roast until gray, grind into fine powder. Take 3 times a day, 3g each time, continuously for 2 weeks (1 course), rest for a few days and then continue with another course.

The results of treating allergic rhinitis in the above way when observed clinically show that, usually after using the drug for 2-3 courses, in the majority of patients, allergic reactions are significantly improved, or the disease flares up much less often than before. Some patients using the drug have diarrhea, mild headache, fatigue, and need to stop using it.

- “Xanthium fruit powder” recipe: this recipe has the effect of expelling wind, clearing heat, and clearing the nose. Used to treat nasal congestion with no clear sense of smell, runny nose, and pain in the forehead. Includes: Xanthium fruit (Xanthium fruit) 8g, Chinese clematis 15g, Angelica dahurica 30g, mint 1.5g, all ground into a fine powder. After each meal, drink 6g, and take the medicine with a decoction of white onion and tea leaves (to make a decoction).

It can also be used in decoction form: use the herbs in the above dosage, boil and drink during the day. But you need to pay attention to 2 issues: the "tan di" medicine needs to be wrapped in cloth to avoid hair from mixing into the medicine, causing itching; the "mint" medicine must be added later (after boiling, add mint, boil again and then remove from heat immediately).

To improve effectiveness, you can increase or decrease the dose based on specific symptoms as follows:

- If the nose has a runny yellow discharge with an unpleasant odor, dizziness, and severe pain in the forehead: add 20g of raw gypsum, 10g of honeysuckle, and 8g of chrysanthemum. Add to the decoction, or cook with white onions and tea leaves (to make a decoction).

- If the nose has a lot of clear water runny nose, and the condition gets worse in cold weather: remove the mint and add 8-10g of perilla and Vietnamese balm each.

Lung decongestant (helps breathing), nasal decongestant:

- 8g of horse head, 8g of Chinese clematis root, 12g of angelica root, 4g of mint. Boil and drink. Used for lung disease containing dampness and turbidity, when turbidity goes back up the nostrils causing blockage, runny nose, rhinitis, and sinusitis.

- Angelica sinensis porridge: 20g of horsetail, 6g of angelica sinensis, 30g of astragalus, 10g of perilla, 4g of asarum, 60g of rice, appropriate amount of sugar. Boil the herbs to get the water, cook with rice, add sugar when the porridge is done. Eat once a day for 7-10 days. Used for patients with sinusitis, headache, nasal congestion, stuffy nose.

Phlegm-relieving tea: 20g gardenia fruit, 6g mint, 12g Xanthium strumarium, 12g cinnamon bark. Grind all the herbs together, brew with tea, drink 1 pot per day. Use for 7-20 days. Used for cases of rhinitis with secretions, thick yellow phlegm, nasal mucosa swelling, headache, pain in the nasal wing area.

Wind-clearing and itch-relieving:

- 8g of Xanthium strumarium, 8g of Dipsacus root. Decoct and drink. Treats measles, itchy rash, sores and ulcers.

- 10g of horsetail, 12g of Vietnamese balm, 10g of honeysuckle, 10g of bupleurum, 10g of dandelion, 8g of mint, 6g of licorice. Boil to drink. Used for itchy rashes, acne, and skin itching.

According to Health and Life