Gryzhnik smooth

Popular names: fringed grass, gladun, dog soap, field soap.

Parts Used: Flowering herb.

Pharmacy name: hernia grass – Hemiariae heiba (formerly: Herba Herniariae).

Botanical description. Smooth, creeping stems along the plane of the soil bear opposite small leaves of an elliptical or lanceolate shape, 3 to 8 mm long. Tiny (not often more than 1 mm) greenish-yellow flowers are collected in 5-10 glomeruli in the axils of the leaves. For medical purposes, another species is also used – the woolly hernia (Herniaria hirsuta L.), which differs from the one described only by the pubescent stem and leaves. Both species bloom from June to September. Gryzhnik is so invisible that few people know him. It grows along roadsides, in sandy fields and pastures, in dumps and rocky wastelands throughout Central Europe. Likes calcareous and gravel soils.

Collection and preparation. This plant is harvested during flowering. And since the active ingredients are easily destroyed, the grass will need to be dried in the shade; artificial heating significantly degrades the quality of raw materials. Pharmaceutical goods deteriorate quickly during storage, so try to always get fresh raw materials. Dry grass should never be stored for more than a year.

Active ingredients: a mixture of various saponins, flavonoids, two coumarins – herniarin and umbelliferon, a certain amount of essential oil and tannins.

Healing action and application.Gryzhnik has long been attributed to the influence on metabolism. It is believed that saponins lead to a mild diuretic effect. They are also useful as a cough suppressant, but the anti-spasmodic effect of the product on the kidneys and bladder is much more important. Therefore, the hernia is an integral part of so many fees used for diseases of the kidneys and bladder. Bearberry leaves are a classic urinary tract disinfectant. Combining them with hernia, they get a wonderful tea, which also helps with all kinds of spastic pains. The German National Health Service does not recommend the use of hernia, as its effectiveness has not been sufficiently confirmed. But in the aftermath, this does not mean that the product should not be used.

  • Effective kidney tea: Bearberry leaves 20.0 Hernia herb 25.0

Two teaspoons of this mixture, poured with 1/4 liter of cold water, put in the cold and filter only after 12 hours. However, it is better to drink tea warmed up.

Application in folk medicine. Apparently, the infrequent use of hernia is due to the fact that few people know this nondescript herb. There are references in old and new herbalists that the hernia is useful for coughs, pulmonary tuberculosis, kidney and bladder diseases, jaundice and women’s diseases, but the excessive praise that traditional medicine lavishes on other medicinal plants is absent here. The use of hernia for baths with poorly healing wounds is also reduced, since there are better remedies (chamomile, arnica, comfrey, calendula).

Side effects. At observance of the above dosage of side effects it is not necessary to be afraid. Only a very large overdose can cause symptoms of central paralysis.