Naturopaths Why make hay flowers healthy

Hay flower application in natural medicine
To "hay" mowed a meadow. If it is an unfertilized, herbal and flower-rich mountain or meager meadow, it provides the best quality for hay flowers. The name is a collective term and refers to a mixture of dried flowers, seeds, fruits and smaller leaf or stem pieces of various meadow plants - mainly of grasses such as couch grass, Trespe, foxtail, Lolch, fescue, Liesch-, ball and Ruchgras. In addition, there are various types of clover and other flowering meadow flowers.

Hayflower fragrant and healthy. Image: © Wirths PR

Hayflower blossoms are used only externally and always warm (about 42 ° C) in the form of applied Heublumensäcken or hay flower bath. Skin-absorbed ingredients such as coumarins, furanocoumarins, flavonoids, essential oils and tannins have a mildly tissue-irritating effect and thus stimulate blood circulation. They activate the tissue metabolism, improve the elasticity of the connective tissue and have a soothing effect.

Sebastian Kneipp, a true advocate of "haystack", recommended her for rheumatic diseases and joint wear (osteoarthritis), as well as for calming and relaxing muscle aches (myalgia).

In folk medicine, hay flowers are used to strengthen the immune system for colds, for the treatment of influenza infections and fever, skin disorders, menopausal symptoms and kidney and bladder diseases.

Even today, midwives, especially those who give birth, recommend that birth steam baths be used with hay flower blossoms to ease the birth from the 38th week of pregnancy, in order to loosen the muscles of the pelvic floor and soften them.

Although hayflowers have many uses, they should never be used for acute rheumatism, open wounds or acute inflammation. It is also not recommended for a known grass pollen allergy.

For conventional medicine, hay flowers are of little interest, since the different composition in terms of diversity and proportion of each species depending on the meadow location and timing or frequency of mowing does not allow a clear pharmaceutical statement. Nevertheless, the hot hay flower sack experiences some recognition as a heat carrier in diseases of the rheumatic type, the healing effect being attributed rather to the uniform heat release.