Mugwort
Species Name: Artemisia vulgaris.
Also known as: Felon Herb, Cingulum Sancti Johannis, Saint John's Plant, Common Artemisia, Wild Wormwood, Chinese Moxa, Sailor's Tobacco, Common Artemisia.
What is Mugwort? Mugwort is native of Europe and Asia. It was brought to America, and it grows on roadsides, riverbanks, and in vacant lots and waste places.
It thrives in well-drained, neutral-to-slightly-alkaline soil and grows to a height of approximately six feet.
It is an aromatic, shrubby perennial with red-brown stems, with deeply cut, dark green leaves that are downy white underneath, and bears clusters of yellow-to-red-brown flower heads that bloom from July to September.
Home remedies using mugwort:
Benefits of Mugwort:
Mugwort is a bitter herb that relieves stomach acidity, dyspepsia, indigestion, travel sickness and acute bowel and stomach pain. It also soothes the nerves, reduces tension and insomnia.
Mugwort is beneficial for easing menstrual cramps and painful menopausal symptoms, and it also improves liver and gallbladder function.
Uses of Mugwort:
A compress of mugwort has been used to ease and help promote childbirth and assist with the expulsion of the afterbirth.
It is an agent that stimulates menstruation by increasing blood circulation to the pelvic area and uterus and is a useful remedy for irregular menstruation, and menstrual cramping.
In Ayurvedic medicine, mugwort has been used for female reproductive system disorders, nervous conditions, and as a wash for fungal infections such as athlete's foot.
Mugwart relieves gastric disorders and bowel complaints and pain. A mild infusion of mugwort is useful as a digestive stimulant, and eases nervous and sluggish digestion, dyspepsia, stomach acidity, travel sickness, and indigestion.
It is helpful in cases of mild depression and nervous tension. A weak infusion of mugwort has sedative properties that may quiet restlessness and anxiety. Its antispasmodic action may relieve persistent vomiting, and has been used in the treatment of epilepsy.
By adding mugwart to bath water it is used as a soothing treatment for relief of aches in muscles and joints. In a clinical trial, crushed fresh mugwort leaves applied to the skin were shown to be effective in eradicating warts.
Taken as an infusion, mugwort is helpful in ridding the system of pinworm infestation. Mugwart was used to ease rheumatism and is still used for acupuncture points on the skin.
A species of mugwort (A. douglasiana), common in the southwestern United States, was used by some western Native Americans to prevent them from getting poison oak rash. The fresh mugwort leaf was rubbed over areas of exposed skin before walking into areas infested with poison oak.
Mugwort is also a natural insect repellent and has been utilized in clothes closets as protection against moths.
Mugwort is available in capsules, tinctures, and oils. The dried herb has also been smoked as a nicotine-free tobacco.
Side Effects of Mugwort:
Since mugwort is a uterine stimulant, it should not be used by pregnant women, and it is not recommended for nursing mothers.
Overuse (many times the recommended dosage) or prolonged use should be avoided, as it is toxic in large doses.
