Before going through childbirth, I had never heard of Witch Hazel. If you’d asked me back then what I thought it was, I would have said “Don’t witches use it in their brew, along with eye of newt?”

But after experiencing the intense pain of a healing episiotomy, and the cool, soothing relief of witch hazel, I knew I had come across something truly magical.

Witch hazel is an oddly beautiful flower, which blooms in late autumn and into the cold of winter. It carries amazing antibacterial, antiseptic, and astringent properties that make it ideal for topical skincare.

After discovering its uses treating wounds, I began adding it to my daily hygiene routine by mixing it with my Apple Cider Vinegar/Essential Oil Toner, and saw fantastic results. My pores were noticeably smaller, my skin tone was more even, and blemishes were fewer and farther between.

According to the University of Michigan, witch hazel can also be used to treat Krohn’s Disease by drinking it as a tea or tonic and “Tannin-containing herbs (such as Witch hazel) may be helpful to decrease diarrhea during acute flare-ups and have been used for this purpose in traditional medicine. A preliminary trial using isolated tannins in the course of usual drug therapy for Crohn’s disease found them to be more effective for reducing diarrhea than was no additional treatment.”

An article titled “Witch Hazel Tea Benefits” published by Buddha Teas says,“This herbal drink can help with respiratory illnesses, it can help with healing sore throats, and it also has various soothing effects on inflammations of various parts of the body.’

So, whether you are putting it on your skin or drinking it, witch hazel is extremely useful for many different ailments, and is not something that should be overlooked when considering a solution.

Sources:

Witch Hazel Tea Benefits. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.witchhazeltea.com/Witch-Hazel-Tea-Benefits/

Witch Hazel | University of Michigan Health System. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hn-2186007