Peter Rabbit's mother gave him a cup of
chamomile tea after he returned from his day of danger in Mr. MacGregor's garden
to settle his stomach, calm him down, and make him sleepy. But the medicinal use
of chamomile starts way before the story of Peter Rabbit. Ancient Egyptians,
Romans, and Greeks used chamomile flowers to relieve sunstroke, fevers, and
colic. Germans use a phrase to describe chamomile, "alles zutraut,"
which means that chamomile can cure anything.
If you take German chamomile as a tea or
liquid extract, it can help stop pains from gas, heartburn, and ulcers. If you
use it as a cream or ointment on your skin, it can help reduce symptoms of
psoriasis, eczema, or radiation burns from cancer therapies. As an ointment,
chamomile may also help heal wounds that have taken a long time to get better.
You can put steeped chamomile flowers, or tinctures (solutions made from herb
and alcohol, or herb, alcohol, and water), into bathwater and soak in it; this
can help heal a number of skin problems, including hemorrhoids. Inhale the steam
from a pot of chamomile tea or a few drops of chamomile oil in boiling water
when you have a cold. When the tea cools, you can use it as a mouthwash or
gargle to help reduce pain from gum disease or mouth sores.
Plant Description
The tiny daisy-like flowers of German chamomile can soothe irritated
stomachs, lungs, and skin. The flowers have white collars circling raised,
cone-shaped, yellow centers and are less than an inch wide, growing on long,
thin, light green stems. Sometimes chamomile grows wild and close to the ground,
but you can also find it bordering herb gardens. It can reach up to three feet
high. Chamomile can mean either German chamomile or Roman (English) chamomile.
What's It Made Of?
The flowers are put into tea bags for tea, or crushed and steamed so that the
oil they contain, which is blue, can be taken out and packaged separately. The
oil contains ingredients that stop swelling and help reduce the growth of
bacteria, viruses, and even fungi, which can contribute to or cause swelling and
pain.
Available Forms
German chamomile is available as dried flower heads, tea, liquid extract, and
topical ointment.
How to Take It
There are many uses for chamomile. Irritation from chest colds, slow-healing
wounds, abscesses, gum inflammation, psoriasis, eczema, children's conditions
such as chickenpox, diaper rash, and colic are common reasons for taking
chamomile tea, baths, or tinctures. Usually, chamomile is used when symptoms
arise. If you are using it for ulcer, heartburn, or another potentially serious
condition, and your symptoms are not going away or are getting worse, see your
health care provider as soon as you can.
- To relieve colic, ulcer, stomach pain, heartburn, and gas, make
a tea of 2 to 3 g of the herb, steeped in hot water, three to four times daily
between meals, or take 5 ml of 1:5 chamomile tincture three times
daily.
- To use as a gargle or mouthwash for mouth sores or gum disease,
make a tea of 2 to 3 g of the herb, steeped in hot water, then let it cool, and
gargle as often as desired.
- For soothing the lungs during a cold or to calm a cough, pour a
few drops of essential oil into steaming water and inhale the steam, or prepare
tea and inhale the steam.
- To soothe hemorrhoids, cuts, eczema, or insect bites, use 1/4 lb. of dried
flowers per bath, or use
alcohol extracts of chamomile flowers in the tub.
- To use as a douche, use 3 to 10 percent infusion (herb steeped
in water; also called a "tea").
- For poultices applied to inflamed skin, use a 3 to 10 percent
infusion (herb steeped in water; also called a "tea").
- For psoriasis, eczema, or dry and flaky skin, apply cream with a
3 to 10 percent crude drug chamomile content.
Precautions
Chamomile is generally safe to use. Highly concentrated tea may cause
vomiting, however. If you're allergic to ragweed, you should avoid chamomile,
because they are both in the same family.
Chamomile should not be used in large amounts during pregnancy or while
breastfeeding. If you are pregnant discuss with your doctor whether or not you
should take chamomile.
Possible Interactions
Because the active substances in this herb may have blood-thinning
properties, you should not use chamomile while taking anticoagulant
(blood-thinning) medications.
Supporting Research
Achterrath-Tuckermann U, et al. Pharmacological
investigations with compounds of chamomile. V. Investigations on the spasmolytic
effect of compounds of chamomile and Kamillosan on the isolated guinea pig
ileum. Planta Med.
1980;39:38–50.
Blumenthal M, ed. The Complete German Commission E Monographs.
Boston, Mass: Integrative Medicine Communications; 1998.
Rosenberg RS, Grass L, Jenkins DJ, et al. Modulation of androgen and
progesterone receptors by phytochemicals in breast cancer cell lines. Biochem
Biophys Res Commun. 1998;248(3):935–939.
Subiza J, Subiza JL, Hinojosa M, et al. Anaphylactic reaction after the
ingestion of chamomile tea: a study of cross-reactivity with other composite
pollens. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1989;84(3):353–358.
Szelenyi I, Isaac O, Thiemer K. Pharmacologic experiments with
ulcer-protective effect of chamomile. Planta Med. 1979;35:218–227.
de la Motte S, Bose-O'Reilly S, Heinisch M, Harrison
F. Doppelblind-vergleich zwischen einem apfelpektin/kamillenextrakt-präparat und
plazebo bei kindern mit diarrhoe. Arzneimittelforschung.
1997;47:1247–1249.
Duke JA. The Green Pharmacy. Emmaus, Pa: Rodale
Press; 1997.
Foster S. Herbal Renaissance: Growing, Using and Understanding
Herbs in the Modern World. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gibbs-Smith;
1993.
Glowania HJ, Raulin C, Swoboda M. Effect of
chamomile on wound healing - a clinical double-blind study. Z Hautkr.
1987;
62:1262, 1267–1271.
Kowalchik C, Hylton W, eds. Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Herbs. Emmaus, Pa: Rodale Press; 1998.
McGuffin M, Hobbs C, Upton R, Goldberg A. American Herbal Products
Associations's Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC
Press; 1996.
Newall CA, Anderson LA, Phillipson JD. Herbal Medicines: A Guide for
Health Care Professionals. London, England: The Pharmaceutical
Press; 1996.
Salamon I. Chamomile: A medicinal plant. Herb, Spice, and Medicinal Plant
Digest. 1992;10:1–4.
Schultz V, Hansel R, Tyler V. Rational Phytotherapy: A
Physician's Guide to Herbal Medicine. Heidelberg: Springer;
1998.
Viola H, et al. Apigenin, a component of Matricaria
recutita flowers, is a central benzodiazepine receptors-ligand
with anxiolytic effects. Planta Med. 1995;61:213–216.
Copyright © 2000 Integrative Medicine
Communications
The publisher does not accept any responsibility for the
accuracy of the information or the consequences arising from the application,
use, or misuse of any of the information contained herein, including any injury
and/or damage to any person or property as a matter of product liability,
negligence, or otherwise. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made in regard
to the contents of this material. No claims or endorsements are made for any
drugs or compounds currently marketed or in investigative use. This material is
not intended as a guide to self-medication. The reader is advised to discuss the
information provided here with a doctor, pharmacist, nurse, or other authorized
healthcare practitioner and to check product information (including package
inserts) regarding dosage, precautions, warnings, interactions, and
contraindications before administering any drug, herb, or supplement discussed
herein.
