Comfrey is an herb that has been widely used since the time of ancient Greece. During the war, it was used for simple cast to mend broken bones (because of its ability to mend broken bones, it is also known as the "knit bone").

Since then, for many centuries, Comfrey has been used as a popular, general herb used to treat many illnesses, such as diarrhea, colitis, dysentery, bronchitis, ulcer, menstrual disorders, and many others.

However, recently it was discovered that comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which is a known to cause liver diseases and cancer, and since its been prohibited for internal use.

On the other hand, these "warnings" weren''t discovered until recently, so during the 70''s many herbalists used comfrey for internal and external uses.

For these reasons, when using comfrey leave or root an herbalist or licensed acupuncturist must be consulted to adjust dosage and duration.

Of many herbs, few herbs are know to induce cancer and prevent cancer. Comfrey is one of those herbs. Hence, comfrey cannot be recommended as generally safe herb. For an example, according to an article on Washington Post written about comfrey root, ''according to animal testing, it has been shown to cause liver and bladder cancer, Canada and many European countries have forbidden use of comfrey root, but there are no restriction in United States.'' It also stated that FDA had not clearly evaluated safety of the comfrey.

Despite such warnings, _______ is known to be safe, it can be used for externally without doubt.

Comfrey contains a botanical extract called Allantoin which used for its healing, soothing, and anti-irritating properties. Likewise, it can be used to treat wounds, bruises, sprains, fracture and also used to treat hemorrhoids.

Because comfrey leaves are hairy/fuzzy, on a sensitive person, it may cause irritation, for insect bites and certain degrees of burns (including sunburn) it can be used as a wet compress for good results. Also, for dull muscle pain or stinging pain due to sunburn comfrey bath can be used to help relieve the pain.

Wet Compress Preparation 

Wet compress is ____ leave, or crushed leaves placed directly on the skin, extract can be applied to clean cloth and than applied to skin, according to the condition. Wet compression is usually used for bruise, congested skin (blood-shot), to reduce inflammation, discharge pus, or to removed toxins from the skin.

Wet compress can be divided into cold and hot compress. The hot compress is used to relax muscles or _______. The cold compress is used to treat inflammation, congested skin, heat and etc.

Because comfrey doesn''t have too much extract (not much moisture), it is often used as powder. Dr. Kirshner, in his book ''Natures Healing Grass'' describes how he used comfrey root as a powder compress to treat a wart.

''A 86 year old woman had a wort-like growth on left side of her nose. She went to her doctor regularly for treatments, but unfortunately, as time passed the growth kept getting larger and repulsive. Around this period, her son read an article on comfrey, and after discussing it with his parents, sent comfrey powder to his mother to use. During daytime, she applied it as a small compress, and at night, as a large compress to the affected area. At once, she began to its affects slowly, after about 60 days, her unsightly wart-like growth disappeared.''

Not only comfrey, but many other western herbs can be used effectively without any side effects to treat many illnesses and disorders when used properly.