As Medical Herbalists we see lots of patients for stress-related complaints. And these do not have to be the symptoms of stress themselves.
There can be many conditions that are affected by the presence of stress in somebody’s life.
For example:
- many people suffer with digestive upsets when they are stressed or nervous
- for some people it is cold sores or ulcers when they are stressed or rundown
- eczema and psoriasis are classic skin disorders than can be exacerbated by stress
How many more complaints can you think of where stress could play a role?
One Size does not Fit All
As we always say, each prescription is individual to the patient, so what helps one patient to feel less stressed may not help another, and this is where our training and experience comes in. But we thought you would like to read a little for yourselves about three of the herbs that we might use if somebody is anxious, stressed and uptight. (Very different from what we might use for someone who is anxious, stressed and exhausted, or someone who is anxious, stressed and irritable).
There are many herbs we might use in this instance, such as St John’s Wort, Valerian, Passionflower, Limeblossom, Skullcap, Motherwort, Chamomile, Lavender, Vervain, Californian Poppy and many more in fact. But we will focus here on three.
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Tranquillising, sedative, hypnotic
Valerian has tranquillising properties, but is non-addictive and non-toxic. A tranquilliser is a nerve relaxant, or sedative. It is also a hypnotic which means that it relieves anxiety aids a restful, natural sleep with no bad after effects.
Antispasmodic and Blood-Pressure-Lowering
It is also a spasmolytic or anti-spasmodic, which means it relieves muscle spasms. It is also hypo-tensive, which means it lowers high blood pressure (and is a great remedy when the complaint is stress-related.
Valerian reduces nervous activity (especially over-activity). In historical times it was credited with healing epilepsy, and although we would not recommend anybody treat their epilepsy by taking the odd bit of Valerian, it may very well feature as part of a prescribed medicine in this situation.
For people who find it hard to switch off
Valerian always cones to our mind when somebody reports that they find it hard to switch off, and its calming action is very much more about being relaxing, rather than sedating (in the way we think of things these days, making people feel knocked-out or groggy).
Anxiety and Tension
Many symptoms of anxiety such as racing heart, tremors or shaking, or feeling panicked can be helped with Valerian. In terms of being a relaxant Valerian helps over-tensed muscles such as the neck or shoulder muscles, as well as working on the digestive muscles for colic, cramp and irritable bowel syndrome.
Cats very often like the smell of Valerian – patients report their cats going crazy for it!
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)
A Heart Remedy, Relaxing and Calming
Motherwort has long been considered a heart remedy. We regularly use it for patients who have palpitations or a pounding heart, and especially when this is linked in to some sort of stress or worry or the heart function is weak. Like Valerian, Motherwort’s relaxing and sedating action promotes relaxation rather than drowsiness.
Muscle-action
It also works on the uterus, encourage the muscles to contract correctly so is used for period pain, premenstrual tension and delayed periods, and should not be taken during pregnancy. Motherwort can also lower blood pressure and has an action similar to Valerian.
Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)
Relaxing, Soothing, Mood herb
Lavender is an anti-depressive, mood-lifting herb. Lavender is also a relaxant so is soothing and calming to the nervous system for cases of sleeplessness, irritability, migraine and headaches.
Anti-spasmodic
It is also anti-spasmodic, but also carminative (anti-flatulent – dispels wind from the stomach and intestines, where wind is present). This means it soothes indigestion and colic and relieves wind and bloating. It is antiseptic and antibacterial when the essential oil is used externally.
It also works on the body temperature so if a person is getting hot spells, lavender disperses the heat build-up.
All three of these herbs can be taken in tincture form.
You will have noticed how there are often similarities between what one herb is used for and the next. The skill of the herbalist is to understand which herbs will suit which people, depending on their understanding of the case from the consultation.
If you would like to see which herbs we stock at Foreman & Jones please follow this link.
Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
