Broken toe.

Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 23:14:54 -0700
Sender: HERB@TREARNPC.EGE.EDU.TR
From: "Suzanne E. Sky, L.Ac." <sky3trs@INETWORLD.NET>
Subject: broken toe painful

> Well, I'm irascible today beause I just broke my toe and had to cancel my vacation. Is there any herbal remedies for broken bones that anyone knows of to make the healing occur faster? One little compound fracture and my whole life has been shut down for want of a tiny toe.
> I can't recall anything about broken bones being discussed before but my mind is fading and the pain in my toe has taken over my whole body so I may be overlooking the obvious. Help is requested (in edited form). <weak chuckle>

Hello,

Sorry, I've been not paying attention (not even turning on my computer) for about a day so I missed the original of this message. But here's a few suggestions, herbal and otherwise.

Comfrey root poultice is great to assist the healing process, one of it's folk names is "knitbone". Try to get the cut comfrey root, (powder if you can't find it). It has to be the root. The leaves aren't strong enough.Cook in a non-metallic pot, till it's gorpy. Let it cool a bit, of course, so you don't burn your skin. Put it in cheesecloth, and wrap around your foot (or is it just your toe?). Do this 1-2x a day. Or you could just soak your foot in the whole pot of it I suppose. I hope these insturctions aren't too vague. Let me know if you want them more specific.

I just suggested this to a friend for her friend last month & it really helped. I've seen comfrey root help heal things up amazingly well once before too.

Other people had to cook the comfrey root up for her, most didn't succeed in getting it gorpy, but when my friend cooked it, it turned out just right. So experiment. The woman also received acupuncture (which is very helpful to promote healing & keep circulation happening) and in addition to the comfrey root poultice her acupuncturist gave her some Chinese liniment to apply (however, I don't know which one, as that info was relayed to me 2nd hand)

Also, here's a non-herbal homeopathic protocol for compound fractures. This is from a short homeopathy first-aid course I took, given by a classical homeopath.

  • step 1) start with Hypericum for the nerve pain. Take until the nerve pain subsides & they feel the bruised feeling or the bed/chair feels too hard. Then see how you feel.
  • step 2) use arnica if your foot still feels bruised. Stop once it feels OK. use Ledum (which she said helps reabsorb the blood) about every 4 hours or 3x day for about 2 days OR Ledum is indicated if joint feels cold and/or numb, or there's much swelling
  • step 3) Once the pain, bruised feeling & any swelling's down, then she follows with Symphytum (which, by the way, is homeopathic Comfrey) 6x or 12x, for 3 times a day until bone is recovered. She says this helps cut recovery time down.

She emphasized NOT to start the Symphytum until the bone is set or it may heal incorrectly.

There are other possibilities she gave, but this is the basic framework.

Hope no one minds such a long homeopathic diversion. It's not something I use often, but it does seem to come in handy for first aid, sprains and the like.

Hope this is helpful.

From: Paul Iannone <pi@DIGITALPOPCORN.COM>

> her acupuncturist gave her some Chinese liniment to apply (however, I don't know which one, as that info was relayed to me 2nd hand)

Probably Zheng Gu Shui (Correct [broken] Bone Liquid). It is considered very good for helping bones knit, and relieving pain. It does stain, though, so be careful with it. Available in any Chinatown and some health food stores.

> Also, here's a non-herbal homeopathic protocol for compound fractures. This is from a short homeopathy first-aid course I took, given by a classical homeopath. [snipped]

Good advice. Another possibility is homeopathic Ruta, which can help with healing small bones (it is famous for the pain of broken ribs, and is MARVELOUS for that).