Natural remedy for stinging nettle?

[TexasLisa]

I like feeling the dirt with my bare hands. Gloves are cumbersome unless you are playing softball. I know, I am weird.

 

[Swede]

Am I the luckiest person alive that I don't really know what stinging nettles are? I mean, I've heard of them but I don't know what they look like and I've certainly never encountered them.

I've never been stung for my whole life until yesterday lol!

 

[Swede]

I have lots in my backyard. They hate me and I hate them. When I get stung, if I don't put something on it immediately, it can go on stinging until the next day.

Mine ends in 5 minutes, but that doesn't mean it still STINGS LIKE HELL!

 

[Swede]

I like feeling the dirt with my bare hands. Gloves are cumbersome unless you are playing softball. I know, I am weird.

Nope, you're not the only one

 

[milkmansdaughter]

@TexasLisa, I also very rarely use gloves, summer in the dirt or winter when it's cold.
@DarkRaven, I just got stung recently too. I got a nice big handful of the weed and pulled. I held my hand in cold milk. I couldn't think of anything faster at the time. (sorry, probably doesn't help your legs) I could definitely still feel it the next day, but not like the first few minutes. (Is it reeeeally ONLY 5-10 minutes of stinging?? It sure feels a lot longer than that!) I've dealt with the other kind of nettles before, and they're a nuisance, but as far as I can remember, this was my first encounter with the stinging nettles.

 

[Swede]

@TexasLisa, I also very rarely use gloves, summer in the dirt or winter when it's cold.
@DarkRaven, I just got stung recently too. I got a nice big handful of the weed and pulled. I held my hand in cold milk. I couldn't think of anything faster at the time. (sorry, probably doesn't help your legs) I could definitely still feel it the next day, but not like the first few minutes. (Is it reeeeally ONLY 5-10 minutes of stinging?? It sure feels a lot longer than that!) I've dealt with the other kind of nettles before, and they're a nuisance, but as far as I can remember, this was my first encounter with the stinging nettles.

Some nettles sting longer than others- you see, once I got stung, it lasted 5-10 mins. Another time, it looked spikier and it was a bigger patch, it stung me and it lasted 1 DAY!

lol I wouldn't put my legs in cold milk!!

 

[TexasLisa]

DarkRaven, Queen Cleopatra used to take milk and honey baths. If she did it, so can you.

 

[Swede]

Plantain (plantago, not the banana) works very well on nettle stings and insect stings and bites. There's a narrow leaf and wide leaf version.

(narrow leaf)

(wide leaf). If you get stung, grab a couple of leaves of this and bite them a couple of times to get the juices flowing, then slap onto the sting as a poultice. You can also make it into a salve for when there isn't any fresh- just infuse in oil and then add enough beeswax to make a salve. Plantain is also edible (the young leaves) and the seeds have medicinal value (a close relative of psyllium seed)

Although I give nettles healthy respect, I love them and have actually grown them on purpose in my garden. They taste good in soup and make a tea that does wonders for aches and pains. The sting is inactivated when the leaf is dried or cooked. Also, when the plants are very young, they don't sting.

I've never made soup out of it but will give it a shot

Thanks for the info @Britesea!

 

[sumi]

You can also make rennet with it: https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/diy-vegetable-rennet-for-cheese-making.14958/

 

[baymule]

I got Texas Bull Nettle growing on my place. I despise them. I don't know about stinging nettle, but i can tell you Texas Bull Nettles are evil and they pack a whallop. I cannot fathom anybody growing this on purpose.

http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/07/bull-nettle.html