A few days ago, surfing on the internet I have found on www.stumbleupon.com a page dedicated to the review of our blog. I have found there one comment that has intrigued me by its harsh words and I quote:

‘If you have a simple bruise, with no other tissue lesions you can apply on that area a bandage soaked in comfrey tea. Keep it there for one hour. The tea is easy to prepare: ½ l of boiling water adding 30g of comfrey. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Do not drink the remaining tea after applying the bandage.” Not satire. This person is serious. My thought is that if you’re going to play doctor you should be accountable for your crappy advice just like a real doctor. Furthermore, when these knuckleheads get sued they should use “complementary and alternative” lawyers who didn’t actually go to law school but practice law anyway. Maybe alternative law doesn’t suck as bad as alternative medicine.’

This was written by a man who uses for his comments the nickname ‘Pigasus‘ here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/url/www.healblog.net/body/5-tips-on-how-to-treat-bruises/

Due to the fact that this message seemed to me like bringing serious accusations regarding the efficiency and professionalism of my work I have decided to write back an article as a response to Mr. Pigasus. From this message I have deducted that Mr. Pigasus does not have confidence at all in complementary and alternative medicine. He also likes to make statements without making any researches before doing that. Well Mr.Pigasus, in case you did not know, or did not have the benevolence of looking on the internet or in profile books for the medical use of comfrey, I will show you that I do not write ‘crappy advice’ at all and that I do not ‘play doctor’. Here is what some researchers found out about comfrey long before I was even borne:

‘Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654), the famous herbalist, knew of comfrey and said:

A syrup made there of is very effectual in inward hurts, and the distilled water for the same purpose also, and for outward wounds or sores in the fleshy or sinewy parts of the body, and to abate the fits of agues and to allay the sharpness of humours. A decoction of the leaves is good for those purposes, but not so effectual as the roots. The roots being outwardly applied cure fresh wounds or cuts immediately, being bruised and laid there to; and is specially good for ruptures and broken bones, so powerful to consolidate and knit together that if they be boiled with dissevered pieces of flesh in a pot, it will join them together again.’

‘Ointments containing comfrey, often made with lanolin as well, are supposed to be good for healing wounds and burns in the skin. Comfrey leaves added to bathwater are also supposed to be good for the skin.’

These two previous paragraphs were taken from: http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/comfrey/comfrey.PDF

Another web source will support my statements about the use of comfrey in treating bruises too: http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Comfrey-Herbal-Remedies.

‘Comfrey root has long been in use externally for bites, burns, bruises, sprains, stings, and wounds. It contains allantoin, which increases the growth of cells and is an excellent demulcent due to its high mucilage content. Comfrey root is also a useful anti-inflammatory.’

‘Contraindicated during pregnancy or nursing. Because comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are known to be toxic to the liver, it is not recommended for internal use for longer than 10 days–with the advice of a qualified herbalist. External use only.’

This is why I have written in my article that the remaining comfrey tea must not be consumed after applying the bandages.

On this website they also have a list published on Supporting Research. On that list you will find only names of scientists and doctors, who have worked hard for understanding complementary and alternative medicine.

Another example sustaining the fact that comfrey is good for external use can be found here on http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/comfrey.html, and I quote:
‘Comfrey is an effective remedy for a variety of conditions. It is a powerful antibacterial, antifungal, and to reduce swelling and inflammation. Comfrey is an anodyne, meaning that it relieves pain; it’s an astringents, meaning that it shrinks blood vessels; it expels mucous; it’s a haemostatic, meaning it can stimulated the clotting of blood; it’s a proliferant, meaning it stimulates cell growth; it’s a refrigerant and can be a mild sedative; and it expedite the healing process.’

As you can all see, all I have written in the article 5tips on how to treat bruises was deeply researched before being published.

Dear readers, I am sorry if this article has made you lose some of your precious time reading it, but I felt like showing everyone, not only to Mr. Pigasus that I make researches in books, I talk with my colleagues at the hospital if I’m not sure upon something and I check the internet before writing anything. I might be young, and with little medical experience gathered until now in the hospital I specialize for becoming a family doctor, but I would not write things just so that they are being written.
I hope you all understand.