Commiphora habessinica
Part Used: Dried oleo-gum-resin ("tears")
Myrrh (Commiphora habessinica) is a resin yielding bush that does not grow more than 9 feet in height, but is of sturdy build, with knotted branches, and branchlets that stand out at right-angles, ending in a sharp spine. There are ducts in the bark, and the tissue between them breaks down, forming large cavities, which, with the remaining ducts, becomes filled with a granular secretion which is freely discharged when the bark is wounded, or from natural fissures. The active constituents include volatile oil, resin (myrrhin), gum, ash, salts, sulphates, benzoates, malates, and acetates of potassa. Myrrh is a powerful antiseptic, being a remedy second only to echinacea. It is a strong cleaning and healing agent, soothing the body and speeding the healing process. It is often used with goldenseal. It is often used in mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes for fighting and preventing gum disease. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy to treat digestive upsets, and is diluted to use as an antiseptic mouthwash or gargle. Pregnant women should not use Myrrh oil. This herb has medicinal properties like astringent, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and vulnerary.
Myrrh achieves its antimicrobial action by stimulating the production of white blood corpuscles and also by its direct antimicrobial effect. It is of great value in the treatment of mouth infections such as ulcers, gingivitis and pyorrhoea, as well as the catarrhal problems such as pharyngitis and sinusitis. It is astringent, healing, tonic and stimulant. It is also a direct emmenagogue, a tonic in dyspepsia, an expectorant in the absence of feverish symptoms, a stimulant to the mucous tissues, a stomachic carminative, exciting appetite and the flow of gastric juice, and an astringent wash. It is used in chronic catarrh, phthisis pulmonalis, chlorosis, and in amenorrhoea is often combined with aloes and iron. As a wash it is good for spongy gums, ulcerated throat and aphthous stomatitis, and the tincture is also applied to foul and indolentulcers. It has been found helpful in bronchorrhoea and leucorrhoea. It has also been used as a vermifuge.
References:
HerbalEd. http://www.herbaled.org/THM/Singles/myrrh.html
Botanical.Com. http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/myrrh-66.html
