Milkweed Asclepias syriaca Medicianal Uses - Survival Manual

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a common perennial plant found in fields and forest edges from the East Coast of the USA westward to Kansas and up into Canada.

The plant usually forms a single erect stem that can grow to be as tall as six feet, but 3 or 4 feet is more common. The leaves are arranged opposite and have an oblong-ovate shape with a short petiole. Purple flowers in clusters from leaf axils will appear from June to August. The seed pods will have a warty look, which is useful in differentiating this plant from other closely related species. Some milkweed species are highly poisonous.

There is a long list of medicinal uses for Milkweed which include asthma, arthritis, bronchitis, edema aka dropsy, kidney stones, scrofula, some bladder issues, water retention, stomach ailments, gallstones and some female disorders. The plant can cause an increase in sweating which can somewhat help when combating a fever.

To use Milkweed to treat gallstones you boil the plant in water (steeping). Place 1 teaspoon worth of Milkweed into 1 cup of boiling water. Drink this as a dose. Take 3 doses per day.

Milkweed tea can be used to help with arthritis. It isn't going to heal 100% but it can help and any help is worth the effort.

Milkweed tea can help with and asthma.

To use Milkweed for Kidney Stones you again steep the milkweed to make a tea and consume it when you wake up and again shortly before going to bed.

Milkweed use for asthma and bronchitis treatment proceeds as follows. Dig up the roots of the plant in the fall. Clean thoroughly and dry. Steep the crushed roots to make tea.

Milkweed tea increases the flow of urine and is therefore, good for conditions of the bladder such as a bladder infection.

Milkweed is treating a fever. Milkweed is a great diaphoretic, which means it can help bring on sweat which will cool the body and help bring down a high fever. This should only be done when a fever is really bad because a fever is one way in which the body makes itself less hospitable to various bacteria and viruses that invade the body.

Milkweed tea improves lymphatic drainage. This makes it effective in the treatment of peripheral edema, which is the swelling of your extremities due to fluid building as well as scrofula, which is glandular swelling. Edema is often brought on by age but other causes can bring on edema as well. Regardless of the cause the Milkweed can help with people suffering from peripheral edema and scrofula.

Warts can be treated with Milkweed by simply applying the milky sap directly to the wart.

Use the images below to help identify this plant: