What are the effects of willow teeth

Willow trees are not uncommon in our daily life. They can be seen everywhere on the banks of lakes. March and April are the months when willow trees sprout and grow flowers. The tender willow buds also mean the arrival of spring. However, few people know that willow buds have many medicinal effects, such as clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting bowel movement and diuresis, treating common inflammations such as bronchitis, dredging muscles and bones, etc., and are usually used to make medicines.

Chinese medical scientists have long known that rich medicinal materials can be obtained from willow trees. According to "Shennong Bencaojing", the roots, bark, branches and leaves of willow can all be used as medicine, which have the effects of removing phlegm and improving eyesight, clearing away heat and detoxifying, and promoting diuresis and preventing wind. For example, the juice of willow flowers can treat jaundice, coughing up blood, vomiting blood, bloody stool, hematuria and amenorrhea in women. External application can cure toothache. Willow leaves are rich in tannins, which have diuretic, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects. In recent years, the medical community has used willow leaves to make injections, which have good effects in treating upper respiratory tract infections, tracheitis, pneumonia, cystitis, suppurative mumps, mastitis, and pharyngitis. Willow leaves also contain high levels of iodine. The sugar-coated tablets made from them can prevent and treat endemic goiter.

Willow buds can be eaten, made into tea, and used for treating diseases, but they must be picked before the flowers bloom. When making tea, you should choose newly sprouted buds, dry them, and then brew them with boiling water together with the tea leaves. To this day, monks in Changchunling Temple in Yangzhou still use a mixture of willow leaves and tea leaves to make "disaster-eliminating and longevity-prolonging tea." The tea made from willow buds and tea leaves looks fragrant and tastes delicious. It can prevent and treat jaundice and pain in the muscles and bones.

Ancient books say that it is mainly used to treat "feng shui jaundice, dampness, rheumatism, spasm, knee pain" and so on. In Guangling area, willow buds are mixed with rice or steamed and rolled up with flour to clear away heat and improve eyesight. In northern Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and other places, when willow buds sprout, many young girls go together to pick them, boil them in water and then let them cool, then add sesame oil, salt, onions, garlic, and balsamic vinegar to mix and eat as a dish, or dry the buds and fry them with soybean oil in summer. What’s even more strange is that there is an insect that attacks willow trees called the longhorn beetle, whose larvae are called willow borer, which is also a traditional Chinese medicine.

"Compendium of Materia Medica" records that if this insect is dried and ground into powder, taking one at a time can cure blood stasis, low back injuries, stomachache, rubella and wind poison, eye opacity, intestinal bleeding, postpartum diarrhea, mouth sores, ear swelling, and swollen and painful gums. The dried sawdust discharged by willow borers in the holes bored into willow trees can be decocted or heated up and applied to the affected area to dispel wind, relieve itching, and reduce swelling.

Representative prescriptions include Xiaoer Jindan. Its functions are mainly to dispel wind and resolve phlegm, clear away heat and calm the nerves. Clinically used for colds, fever, headache, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, palpitations