Salicin as Herbal Pain Relief
Salicin is derived from the white willow plant which is abundant in some parts and Northern America. The white willow plant contains salicin mostly in its bark. In the early 1800's, salicin was extracted from the bark and eventually it was copied into a synthetic version. The synthetic version of this herbal pain relief is aspirin.
Salicin as herbal pain relief is actually more efficient than the chemical version aspirin because it does not have undesirable side effects such as an upset stomach or intestinal bleeding. Unlike synthesized aspirin, this herbal pain relief does not thin our blood and does not cause other complications that aspirin does. Other complications that synthetic aspirin can cause are bleeding in the brain and some stomach disorders.
The White Willow
The white willow tree is a tree that is found in Europe, portions of North America and Asia and some areas in Africa. This herbal pain relief which is contained in the white willow bark was initially discovered by a French chemist in the year 1827 by extracting salicin from it. The bark has already been widely used by many Native Americans, the Chinese and Indians as a form of herbal pain relief. A few years later, a large drug company developed a synthetic version of salicin, which became known as aspirin.
Up to this very day, the herbal pain relief from the white willow tree is still widely used to help alleviate pain and find relief for it. It is also a very diverse herbal pain relief option because it can help with many different kinds of aches and pains that plague people. It is non-specific with the types of pain it can treat, such as chronic and acute pains generated in the body.
How Salicin Works
This form of herbal pain relief works by reducing the substances that causes inflammation and pain in our bodies. The salicin is transformed into salycilic acid as it enters our body and this lowers the levels of prostaglandins in our body. There are some warnings that come with consuming White Willow products, such as not to take these in combination with synthetic aspirin and not to be taken by pregnant women.
White Willow is usually ingested in capsule form and some alternative medicine practitioners recommend it to people with chronic back pain and different forms of arthritis. This form of herbal pain relief not only grants relief for those in excruciating pain but can also allow individuals to lead normal lives with regular use.
