Bloodroot Plant - Treatment and Medical benefits of Bloodroot paste and Powder

Latin description: Sanguinaria canadense

Common Name: Paucon, Pauson, Red Indian Paint, Red Puccoon, Red Root, Sanguinaria, Snakebite, Sweet Slumber

Parts Used: Rootstock which is dried and used for liquid extracts, oinments, and tinctures.

Medcinal Uses and Benefits of Bloodroot

• A vinegar extract of the root has been used as an antifungal wash for athlete's foot and nail fungus. Also, the tincture has been applied directly to fungal infections, eczema, cancers, tumors and rashes. Ointment has been applied to venereal sores, ringworm, eczema, scabies and warts.
• Used only in small doses; internally it has been used primarily as expectorant (sometimes combined with wild cherry bark, eucalyptus, and honey in syrup form) and used to treat bronchial, respiratory tract and throat infections, including bronchial asthma (combined with Lobelia inflata), chronic bronchitis, bleeding lungs, pneumonia (1 to 2 drops tincture repeated often through day), whooping cough, croup, laryngitis, emphysema, bronchiectasis, sinus congestion, catarrh, scarletina, and colds, as well as to improve peripheral circuation and for sluggish liver, scrofula, jaundice, dyspepsia,, and dysentary; externally the sap, or liquid extract of the root, was applied directly for sores, eczema, ringworm, ulcers (especially those associated with varicose veins), warts (combined with Chelidonium majus), and other skin problems; also nasal polyps (combined with bayberry as snuff), benign skin tumors, sore throat (combined with sage and cayenne in gargle form), and chilblains. The tincture has also been used in cases of dyspepsia, dropsy, and liver conditions.
• One old method of treating ringworm was to make a strong vinegar tincture from the fresh root.
• Was used by Native Americans to induce vomiting and as an expectorant; the orange juice of the plant was dripped onto lumps of maple sugar and taken for coughs and colds.
• The sap was applied by Native Americans to treat cancers of the breast, uterus, skin, nose, and ear. Some Native American tribes chewed the root, then spat the juice on burns to heal. The Onondagas used it as an emetic; the Tuscaroras for divination and disease; the Rappahannocks used a tea as a purge for fevers and rheumatism; the Mohegans used the tea as a 'blood medicine' and emetic; the Menominees used bloodroot to bolster the effects of other medicines; the Meskwakis chewed the root then spat on burns to heal them; the Pillager Ojibwe and the Potawatomis squeezed the juice of the root onto a lump of maple sugar and held it in the mouth for sore throat; the Potawatomis also made an infusion of the root for diptheria; the Penobscot strung pieces of the root together and wore around the neck to prevent bleeding; the Chippewa mixed it with Blue Cohosh in decoction form and took it for stomach cramps; the Seneca made a wash of the root with a small amount of wood ashes added and used it to wash the uterus during childbirth; for earache, the Mohawk made an infusion of the dried root and placed a few drops in the ear.
• One other use not attributed to a particular tribe was to soak the root in cold water for 2 nights, then mash and make a decoction which was used for stomach upset due to overeating; apparently a remedy prepared in advance of a known feast; used by the Malecites for consumption and infected cuts.
• Was used in the mid-19th century in a London hospital for breast cancer by making a paste of the extract together with zinc chloride, water and flour.
• Was used at one time to reduce high blood pressure.

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