This thing on the balcony actually cured my eczema that had lasted for years.

I knew about the cactus plant when I was a child, but I didn't like it. It was covered with thorns and couldn't be touched or played with. I also wondered why people planted it. Until one day, I saw a cactus on the table and a cactus on the balcony at my teacher's home. I couldn't help but ask him why he loved cactus so much. The teacher joked, "I hope my medical skills can reach the level that immortals will come to seek help, and my little house will become a sacred place for immortals." It was the first time I heard such an interesting explanation, and I immediately became interested in cactus.

Cactus is a strong plant, so its flower language is strength. Cacti like strong light, are resistant to heat, drought and barrenness, have strong vitality, and often grow in dry environments such as deserts. They are called "desert hero flowers" and are a type of succulent plants. There are many types of cacti, with a total of 70-110 genera and more than 2,000 species in the world. They can be specifically divided into: fan cacti, segmental cacti, crab claw cacti (crab orchids), leaf-type forest cacti, and spherical cacti.

In addition to being ornamental, cactus can also be used as medicine, which may surprise you. I remember when I was a child, I had mumps. The barefoot doctor at home asked me to get a fresh cactus, remove the thorns, mash it, and apply it on my face. After 2-3 days, the swelling was gone. It was very effective. This is the effect of cactus in clearing away heat and detoxifying.

Cactus is cold in nature and bitter in taste. It enters the heart, lung and stomach meridians and has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting qi and activating blood circulation. In addition to treating mumps, it can also be used externally to treat mastitis, skin boils, burns, etc., all of which are crushed and applied externally.

Cactus also has many uses for internal use. For example, decocting one to two taels of fresh cactus in water can treat acute dysentery; taking the cactus stem, peeling and removing the thorns, dip it in an appropriate amount of honey and boil it to treat bronchial asthma; grinding the cactus into powder, one qian each time, swallowing it with boiled water, or using one or two taels of cactus, chopping it into small pieces, and stir-frying it with two taels of beef can treat stomachache.