Herbal Pain Relief

Biology:
Cloves are the dried buds harvested by hand from the clove tree of the Myrtaceae family. The tree can grow more than 15m high. The name clove derives from the Latin word clavus – nail, because the clove buds resemble a nail in shape.

Cultural history:
Cloves originate from the SIndonesian Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum)pice Islands – Molukkas -, which today are part of Indonesia. They already reached Europe in the times of the Roman Empire. Cloves were highly praised for their fragrance and their flavor. They were mainly used for scenting clothes and refining sweet wines, but also used as incense and painkillers.

Beside the Spice Islands today world’s main centers for clove cultivation are the African islands of Zanzibar and Madagascar.

Active ingredients:
Good quality cloves contain up to 15% essential oils. 70-85% of these oils consist of Eugenol.

Effects & side effects:
Eugenol is a strong local anesthetic, and already since the Middle Ages cloves were therefore held in high esteem as a remedy against tooth aches and painful infections of the gums. Chewing cloves or inserting small pieces of cloves in dental cavities in many parts of the world today still is one the most popular painkillers used against painful conditions of the mouth and the throat – and indeed cloves are not only surprisingly effective against such types of pain, but at the same time one the few painkillers that could be described as “tasty.”

There are no severe side effects known.