In the spring and summer your kids – and you too- are more likely to be running around outside barefoot or rolling and playing in the grass. Getting a bug bite or sting can put an end to these happy times. This bug bite and sting herbal remedy never fails to work and to get the kids quickly ready for more outdoor adventures.
To squelch a bug bite or sting:
Quickly find a broad leaf plantain leaf - easily found as they are in almost all grassy areas. It is low growing, dark green and broad, with “ribs” on the leaf – please look it up in a plant identification book if you are not sure.
Chew up the leaf – the action of salvia activates its sting stopping powers. (If you are afraid to chew it up then bite on it and mix it with some of your salvia.)
Place the chewed up plantain leaf on the bug bite or sting. Almost immediately the stinging will stop. You or your child can hold the plantain mass in place while you go inside and get the rest of the remedy.
Find your comfrey tincture (you do have a good herbal first aid kit, right?), a big Band-Aid (my kids preferred using a gauze pad and first aid tape - so much more dramatic).
Leaving the plantain mass in place, secure it with the Band-Aid or gauze and first aid tape. Once secured, dribble some comfrey tincture under the dressing and on the sting. The comfrey is soothing and cool and takes away any lingering pain, stinging or discomfort.
Leave on until it falls off later that day or the next morning. If it is a particularly bad bite or sting, you may need to put a fresh plantain/comfrey dressing on the next day.
This remedy has never failed and prevents infections from the bite or sting. The best thing is how much it seems to empower the children (and adults too!). If someone around them gets a bug bite or sting the kids are the first ones to find the plantain (so be sure you teach them to be able to accurately identify it) and they show up beaming and full of compassion – “Don’t worry. It’s OK --we have the plantain!”
Recent Comments