Urtica diodca, Nettles

Common names

Stinging nettle, common nettle

German = Grosse brandnetel, French = Grande ortie, Spanish = ortiga, Italian = Grande ortica

History

The Romans treated rheumatic conditions by flaying their joints with fresh nettles so as to stimulate blood circulation. . Urtica urens (L), the small, or annual nettle, is also used medicinally, and has similar actions to Urtica dioica. U. urens is prescribed in homoeopathic medicine for rheumatic pain, burns and nettle rash.

Medieval uses:

Nettle tea as a spring tonic.
Used to cure jaundice, renovate the blood, and remove any disease existing therein. If the juice is taken, it will cure pleurisy of the side and will renovate & invigorate an aged man in body & mind.
Decoction was taken as a cure for rheumatism.
Nettle is of dry temperature, a little hot, scarce in the 1st degree. A remedy against the venomous qualities of hemlock, mushrooms & quicksilver (mercury). Used as a counter-poison against Henbane, serpents & scorpions. Considered to be an all heal
Good for the kidneys & urinary complaints. Used for blood purifying. Nettle poultice was used for minor cuts, grazes & wounds to stem the bleeding. A decoction of the roots was given for tuberculosis. Used as a rheumatic
To strengthen the absorbent and circulating vessels
Root of nettle to extract iron and fragments of wood from wounds and to open it.
For a stitch under the arm or breast & extending through to the shoulder. For a bleeding nose. Used for wind colic, strangury or a chronic cough & it will reduce a swelling. Produces a flow of urine without harm to the bladder. Thorn wounds. For contamination of the humours, nosebleed, take the root for hoarseness.

Medicine that helpeth against leprosy. Use the seed to avoid lechery (unrestrained indulgence in sexual activity). For haemorrhoids

Medicinal uses

Mild diuretic, astringent, tonic, haemostatic, dermatological agent; extracts are reported to have hypoglycaemic properties.

Benefits

Rheumatic conditions, uterine haemorrhage, cutaneous eruptions, infantile and psychogenic eczema, epistaxis, melaena. Specifically indicated in nervous eczema. The root is indicated in the symptomatic treatment of micturition disorders such as nocturia, pollakisuria, dysuria and urine retention and in benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Urtica is rich in iron and vitamin C, making it a useful remedy in anaemia and other debilitated states, the presence of the vitamin C ensuring that the iron is properly absorbed. The herb has an important effect on the kidney and on fluid and uric acid excretion, so is of benefit in gout and other arthritic conditions, particularly if there is an element of anaemia. The painful, irritant effect of the sting is lost on drying or heating with water, but if preserved in cold alcoholic tincture the irritant action is preserved. A tincture of the fresh leaf applied locally to an inflamed joint will induce counter-irritation and produce reddening over the joint. Blood is thus flushed through the area and out to the surface of the skin, where the toxins may even be taken off in the fluid of a burst blister.

Urtica is also of benefit in chronic skin conditions such as eczema, helping to cleanse the body of accumulated toxins. An infusion of the dried leaf is effective in helping to control dandruff and hair loss on the scalp. As a haemostatic and astringent, Urtica helps check wound bleeding and to treat menorrhagia; it is also used for haemorrhoids and can be taken internally to treat gastric and intestinal problems. The powdered leaves were traditionally used as a snuff to arrest nosebleeds.

Urtica is known to stimulate milk flow in nursing mothers, and is often used in this way by farmers for their stock. It has been shown experimentally to have both hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemic properties, the hypoglycaemic component being ‘urticin’. 

In a clinical trial, men with benign prostatic hypertrophy (Stages I and II) were treated with a dried standardised Urtica root extract for 20 weeks. A morphologically relevant effect on the prostate adenoma cells was found that may be due to competitive inhibition by the extract of the binding capacity of SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). An increased binding capacity of SHBG to testosterone and dihydrotestosterone results in hyperplasia as a compensation for a decrease in hormones. Other clinical trials have reported improvements in urinary flow, and reduced urinary frequency, nocturia and residual urine after six months treatment.

Other uses

As a vegetable to make nettle soup: Nettles are a good source of chlorophyll, and are a traditional spring tonic. In spring, the fresh green leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach or made into a soup

Warnings

In a few individuals, exposure to the histamine in fresh nettles can be extremely dangerous. However, in the dried or cooked state nettles are completely non-toxic and may be eaten freely as a vegetable or drunk as an infusion.

References

Bradley, P.R. (ed.) 1992 British Herbal Compendium, Volume 1, BHMA, Bournemouth.

BHMA 1983 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, BHMA, Bournemouth.

Culpeper, N. 1649 Complete Herbal and English Physician, 1990 reprint of the 1814 London edition of Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, Meyer, Illinois.

Grieve, M. 1931 A Modern Herbal, (ed. C.F. Leyel 1985), London.

Hoffmann, D. 1990 The New Holistic Herbal, Second Edition, Element, Shaftesbury.

Lust, J. 1990 The Herb Book, Bantam, London.

Mabey, R. (ed.) 1991 The Complete New Herbal, Penguin, London.

Mills, S.Y. 1993 The A-Z of Modern Herbalism, Diamond Books, London.

Ody, P. 1993 The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal, Dorling Kindersley, London.

Weiss, R.F. 1991 Herbal Medicine, Beaconsfield Arcanum, Beaconsfield.

Special thanks to www.purplesage.org.uk