There are a number of uses for Comfrey herb and a very long history of its usage.
In ancient times the herb was called ‘knitbone’,’ all heal’ or ‘woundwort’ and was used topically for healing cuts, bruises, fractures, sprains, injured tendons/ligaments, sores and skin ulcers.
On the skin, comfrey is an emollient, soothing and was used to heal scars and blemishes. It was also said to promote a youthful complexion. Dioscorides, a greek physician, who wrote ‘Materia Medica’ in 50AD used the herb to heal wounds and broken bones. The Latin name ‘symphytum’ means ‘heal together’
It is now believed that the allatoin (a main component of comfrey) is responsible for the growth and multiplication of skin cells.
The medium we use for maceration is organic sunflower oil, as a rich oil full of vitamins and moisturising. Our comfrey oil macerate is effective for use in massage and can be easily blended with other carrier oils and essential oils can be added.
Maceration of comfrey is literally allowing the oil to take the goodness out of the leaves using this natural lovely process. Ours is a cold process maceration which leaves a fabulous naturally rich, nourishing green-coloured oil in its final form
We used comfrey oil macerate regularly in our clinical aromatherapy practice, for clients for which comfrey oil would be effective and approriate for their individual needs. All our products are only suitable for topical use.
For more in-depth information here are three links to research papers on the efficacy of comfrey. (1), (2), (3)
The comfrey we use is harvested by hand by us from deep within the rural countryside here in Aberdeenshire. We have permissions to access a private piece of controlled land for the harvest rather than forage. It is free from artificial fertilizers, pesticides and the comfrey grows completely naturally in its own environment.
The harvest takes place from end April into May, and we choose the optimum conditions for harvesting the plant as early in the season as we can (finding consecutive dry days can be very challenging!). We only take the youngest unblemished, freshest leaves. The harvest is fully sustainable and damages no part of the land. You can see no outward evidence that we have been to collect our yearly harvest.
Each year depending on weather conditions the plants are a different height and ready at different times on different years, so we monitor how the plants are doing from mid March each year. I have a small crop (that I do not use for production) at my home, and I keep an eye on their progress too as this gives me a general idea how the plants are coming on. This tiny crop is ideal for photo and video use for marketing purposes only.
The focus here has been on the history and use of comfrey herb on the body rather than its other uses: – such as an excellent mulch on your garden. The depth of the herbs roots into the ground bring their goodness up into the plant, which can be returned into the soil to enrich it and make it ideal for growing.
Comfrey Herb is also excellent for biodiversity as the bees and other insects love it.
There are so many reasons why I so enjoy working with these lovely herbs.
Our own comfrey uses – we have 6 products which contain our own wildcrafted comfrey from Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the comfrey oil macerated in organic sunflower (which in 2022 and 2023 the oil macerate for sale as an oil is macerated in organic olive oil) ,comfrey ointment, gardener’s hand balm, herbal foot balm, reflexology balm and skin SOS balm.
Comfrey Ointment – the wildcrafted comfrey is harvested by us in Aberdeenshire and macerated in organic sunflower oil to create a wonderfully rich and powerful oil. This oil is lovingly combined with other organically grown ingredients to make what we believe is a truly premium product
Gardeners Hand Balm – Great repair and deep moisturising for cut, grazed, dry or rough hands.
Herbal Foot Balm – Excellent regeneration and deep nourishment for overworked and/or damaged feet at the end of the day.
Reflexology Balm – Tested and used by reflexologists. This product was made by request and has been so popular. Many reflexologists also use the herbal foot balm too. We have been advised that it is very good for ‘slippage’ and reflexologists and their clients love it.
Skin SOS Balm – The Skin SOS Balm was developed following many requests from customers for a product that would specifically help with scars, and minor skin issues.
The SOS Balm contains a rich blend of powerful organic carrier oils and essential oils, which can be helpful on scar repair, also on psoriasis and eczema-prone skin. After much testing it was found also to be helpful for use on new tattoos and after tattoo removal. Protective, calming and regenerating.
All our artisan skin care products are made by a highly qualified aromatherapist (BSc in Complementary Therapies (Aromatherapy), Member of the International Federation of Professsional Aromatherapists)
We are very close to finishing our 2019 Comfrey harvest. A warm, dry spell brought the herbs up to being ready for harvest quickly this year, but then the cold, wet weather came in and we were delayed starting due to this.
Comfrey Herb 2019
Actually this is the first year that we have been up against the constant wet weather. In years past there has always been plenty of dry days that have allowed us fairly easily to get the harvest completed. I do have to juggle with other business commitments, that sometimes do end up being on a dry day, which is extremely frustrating. However, after some concentrated efforts and great help from family, we have managed to get it within a few litres of completion. So that feels very good.
The comfrey herbs this year are small, due to the warm spell bringing the flowers out before the plant had grown to its full height. We wild harvest the comfrey and we only use the leaf of the plant for our comfrey oil. The leaves however are in very good condition and will produce a good quality comfrey macerate. I use organic sunflower to macerate the comfrey and I use a cold process maceration. No heat is applied and the process is entirely natural.
When harvesting we are careful to pick only the best quality leaves, free from insects, complete, undamaged, new growth, no older leaves. They are all green, juicy , luscious looking leaves.
We pick in a private piece of ground in Aberdeenshire, that is protected from the use of fertilisers and pesticides. There is visually no difference in the environment during or after the harvest. The bees and butterflies who love comfrey are undisturbed and unaffected as they love the flowers, which remain untouched.
We use the comfrey oil from this comfrey harvest 2019 in our Scottish comfrey range of artisan skincare products, which are some of our best sellers. Comfrey has been used since ancient times for skin issues and was known as ‘knit bone’ and ‘woundwort’.
Gardeners Hand Balm is one of our best selling products, which contains our own hand harvested comfrey. Great for this time of year for all gardening hands. Many customers are not gardeners, but love using this extra rich moisturising balm for restoring skin on all types of hands.
Great healing & moisturising for hands that may be:
cut,
grazed,
chapped,
roughened
dry
sore
or simply exhausted.
Recommended to use as a treatment for tired hands at the end of the day. Keep by your bedside. After application this very rich, nourishing balm soaks into your skin to moisturise, soothe and protect. Our own wildcrafted comfrey is one of the main ingredients in the balm, which helps your skin regenerate while the organic essential oils heal, soothe and protect. Lavender for its antiseptic and skin healing properties, rose geranium is so balancing for all types of skin, and lemon to give a protective antiseptic & bactericidal properties. We get so many clients feeding back that they notice
after a few days application how different their hands feel. A little goes a very long way with the Balm. As it is so rich, only a small amount needs to be used in each application, and makes this an economic, as well as highly effective hand balm.
We also have many customers who like to use this for hands that have rheumatism and arthritis as the comfrey and lavender in the balm can be extremely helpful for these conditions with regular use.
We don’t use any preservatives in the Gardeners Hand Balm, as they are not necessary. We use organic rosemary extract as an anti-oxidant for promoting the Balms longevity. So you can be assured that you are using a totally natural product.
The Gardeners Hand Balm is available in a 60ml glass jar, ideal for recycling.
There are a myriad of Comfrey uses and history, we would like to share somewith you here.
In ancient times the herb was called ‘knitbone’,’ all heal’ or ‘woundwort’ and was used topically for healing cuts, bruises, fractures, sprains, injured tendons/ligaments, sores and skin ulcers.
On the skin, comfrey is an emollient, soothing and was used to heal scars and blemishes. It was also said to promote a youthful complexion.
Dioscorides, a greek physician, who wrote ‘Materia Medica’ in 50AD used the herb to heal wounds and broken bones. The Latin name ‘symphytum’ means ‘heal together’
It is now believed that the allatoin (a main component of comfrey) is responsible for the growth and multiplication of skin cells.
The medium we use for maceration is organic sunflower oil, as a rich oil full of vitamins and moisturising. Our comfrey oil macerate is effective for use in massage and can be easily blended with other carrier oils and essential oils can be added.
We use comfrey oil macerate regularly in our clinical aromatherapy practice, for clients for which comfrey oil would be effective and approriate for their individual needs. All our products are only suitable for topical use.
For further information here are three links to research papers on comfrey ointment. (1), (2), (3).
Our own comfrey uses – we have 6 products which contain our own wildcrafted comfrey from Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the comfrey oil macerated in organic sunflower,comfrey ointment,gardener’s hand balm, herbal foot balm,reflexology balm and Skin SOS Balm.
The comfrey is harvested by hand from deep within the rural countryside here in Aberdeenshire. We have permissions to access a private piece of controlled land for the harvest. It is free from artificial fertilizers, pesticides and the comfrey grows completely naturally in its own environment. The harvest took place this year in May and June 2016 and we choose the optimum conditions for harvesting the plant as early in the season as we can (finding consecutive dry days can be challenging!). The harvest is fully sustainable and damages no part of the land.
Comfrey Ointment – the wildcrafted comfrey is harvested by us in Aberdeenshire and macerated in organic sunflower oil to create a wonderfully rich and powerful oil. This oil is lovingly combined with other organically grown ingredients to make what we believe is a truly premium product
Gardeners Hand Balm – Great repair and deep moisturising for cut, grazed, dry or rough hands.
Herbal Foot Balm – Excellent regeneration and deep nourishment for overworked and/or damaged feet at the end of the day.
Reflexology Balm – Tested and used by reflexologists. This product was made by request and has been so popular. Many reflexologists also use the herbal foot balm too.
Skin SOS Balm – The Skin SOS Balm was developed following many requests from customers for a product that would specifically help with scars, and skin issues. It contains a rich blend of powerful organic carrier oils and essential oils, which can be helpful on scars, also on psoriasis and eczema-prone skin. After much testing it was found also to be helpful for use on new tattoos and after tattoo removal. Protective, calming and regenerating.
Look out for more comfrey uses and history in future blog posts
All our organic products are handcrafted by our highly qualified aromatherapist (BSc in Complementary Therapies (Aromatherapy), Member of the International Federation of Professsional Aromatherapists)
The end of December and start of January heralded some of the worst flooding in living memory in Aberdeenshire. Where we are living and working on the river Dee flooded causing great devastation along its entire length. In some cases local people have lost all their possessions and are unable to return to their homes for many months, for some perhaps never.
Farmers lost animals, and fields which were simply washed away Everyone was taken completely by surprise by the speed of the rising water, as floods had never been seen before to this extent. Wildlife and the environment, business and communities, roads and bridges, cars and transport – nothing was left unaffected.
We went down to the place where we gather the comfrey leaves from their natural environment, on a private piece of ground near the river Dee, to survey the damage. We use the comfrey leaves that we gather in our comfrey oil macerate and in our comfrey ointmentand other balms which contain our comfrey.
We knew that the comfrey plants are strong and resilient plants, but were very pleased to see them growing up through the debris that had been left in wake of the river in spate. Areas where the comfrey plants grow, that normally would be unaffected by usual high river levels, were entirely under water during the flood.
It is a great testament to the wonderful resilience of nature, that the comfrey plants and leaves are looking extremely healthy. We will be watching them closely over the next three months to see their progress to harvest time in April/May 2016.
If you would like to help the people here after the floods, Aboyne and Upper Deeside Rotary Club is collecting through crowdfunding at the Ballater and Deeside Flood Relief Fund.
After a good season with fairly long spells of dry weather (although not too warm here), we have now finished the comfrey harvest 2015. The comfrey plants are fine this year and because of the cooler weather, it makes harvesting easier as the plants in the sun are ready first.. We then progress to the plants that are in more sheltered areas, as they are ready later. The pictures are taken after the harvest, and as you can see we make no visual or environmental damage to this area of private ground in a wonderfully rural setting in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
There are a myriad of Comfrey uses and history, we would like to share some with you here.
