Chickweed: History, Uses & Traditional Herbal Remedies

Chickweed is a plant native to northern Europe, but now grows around the world. To gardeners it is considered a weed, growing through cracks in sidewalks in sun or shade. To herbalists, it is a valuable herb used to treat a wide variety of inflammatory diseases from coughs to skin rashes.

Traditional Uses

• In early modern English herbals, chickweed is recommended as a healing salve or ointment. Some Native Americans used the herb as a wound poultice. It is considered by contemporary herbalists to be an anti-inflammatory herb, good for relieving coughs, congestion and other symptoms of the common cold.

Internal Uses

• Ingested as a tea or tincture, chickweed is indicated as an antitussive (for coughs), a mild diuretic, and as a demulcent for stomach ulcers and sore throats.

External Uses

• As an ointment or salve, chickweed is used for inflammatory skin diseases such a eczema and psoriasis. It is also good for rashes, insect bites and burns.