Flowers offer more than heady scents and beautiful colors and petals. Parts of flowers have been used for thousands of years in healing and medicine, and continue to be used for alternative healing today. Understanding the power of flowers may help individuals find natural remedies for a variety of ills. However, consumers utilizing natural remedies should inform their physicians of such treatments to prevent potential interaction with medications or treatments.
Passion Flower
Parts of the passion flower (known in the botanical world as Passiflora incarnata) have been used for generations to treat conditions, such as insomnia and anxiety, says the U.S. National Institutes of Health. A hypnotic agent in the passion flower may have a calming affect on the body similar to benzodiazepine. The flower has also been used to treat pain and exhaustion, states the website Drugs.
Dandelion
Dandelion is a favorite flower of many because of its beautiful yellow flowers, but this flower is also rich in vitamins and minerals. Dandelion teas have been used for thousands of years in Asia and Native Americans made tonics of dandelion to treat ailments from skin conditions to swelling to stomach upset, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Lavender
Lavender is a beautiful purple flower that has long been used in healing processes in alternative medicine and practices, such as Ayurvedic medicine. Known for its antiseptic properties, the essential oils in lavender are also known to fight fungus and bacteria in the environment as well as calm emotions, according to NaturalHealingGuide.com. Components in lavender oil such as cincole, coumarin and gerniol have been used to treat skin irritations and inflammation as well as for the treatment of mild stomach upset.
Chamomile
Chamomile, like the dandelion, has been brewed into teas from the ancient Orient to old Mexico and Europe as a treatment for anxiety, nausea and colic, among others. Known as Manzanilla in Mexico, the herb was often used by native healers to help treat gas and as an eyewash, according to Nancy Neff, MD and assistant professor at the Department of Community Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.
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