It’s that time of year. The weather is getting warmer and people are getting outside. Yes, after this long pandemic, we are actually getting outside!

With that, we might want to start thinking about how to care for ourselves and our families should we have a run in with poison oak or a swarm of mosquitos. There are a good handful of different things that can be helpful in these scenarios, including applying a paste of bentonite clay or a poultice of comfrey, but today I want to tell you about how to use an echinacea extract or tincture. 

People often think of echinacea when they want an immune stimulating herb during cold season or when there is a virus going around. There is even research that has been done that points to echinacea being helpful to COVID-19 patients. This shows that echinacea is well known, respected and studied. So why aren’t folks using it to help with the smaller, everyday things like bug bites? 

I honestly think they just don’t know how effective echinacea tincture is for the big and the little things.

Echinacea is a bitter, pungent and cool herb. A cooling herb can be perfect for skin irritations. It is anti-inflammatory. It is also extremely powerful against bacterial and viral infections. Think about how red, hot and itchy a rash can be and you might consider applying an echinacea tincture  to it. 

Here is an example of how well it has worked for me. I am a hiker and I love to get out into the woods. Unfortunately, so do the mosquitos and apparently, I am a delicious source of dinner because they swarm to me. I mean, literally, folks around me will barely get bit and I will have a few dozen bites. It’s ridiculous. While I could use the remedies mentioned above, bentonite or a poultice, they just aren’t very practical to carry and then administer when I’m on the trail. But echinacea tincture is super easy and fast to use. I literally just put a drop on a bite and it stops itching. It also will help to heal any skin that might be broken or irritated from me scratching. I know, I know, I shouldn’t scratch my bug bites.

Echinacea tincture applied topically also works really well for poison oak or poison ivy rashes.  If you have an ongoing rash, combining a burdock tincture with an echinacea tincture can be really helpful when spritzed onto the skin. I prefer repurposing a small spray bottle rather than dabbing it on with a cotton ball since touching a rash can make it itch more but either way works. 

So grab yourself some echinacea tincture, it happens that Mountain Rose has it on sale for a whopping 25% off until the end of the month and while supplies last. You can keep some in your medicine cabinet and also in your backpack. Let me know how it works for you and the other ways you use it. I would love to hear your personal stories, comment below. 

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