sneezewort

[cprlaw08]

im still on a quest to find a effective harmless sneezing powder and have just remembered reading that the sneezewort plant can be used to make sneezing powder my drying then grinding up its leaves into a fine powder, theres nothing on the internet to say it has any harmful effects on humans and is sold as a medicienal herb but i was just wondering if anyone has tried making it before and does it work ? i guess this could be a particuarly effective powder for hayfever sufferers ?

thoughts and opinions please

thanks

[Shay]

I dunno, I'm sure I once read something about that this particular plant can cause blindness, but can't find anything about that when searching online now. Maybe it was some other plant that's supposed to make people sneeze a lot that does that...

Though on further research it seems that sneezewort doesn't refer to a single plant but is more of a collective term used to describe a family of plants of over 40 species, so who knows if all of them are safe or not.

[cprlaw08]

I dunno, I'm sure I once read something about that this particular plant can cause blindness, but can't find anything about that when searching online now. Maybe it was some other plant that's supposed to make people sneeze a lot that does that...

Though on further research it seems that sneezewort doesn't refer to a single plant but is more of a collective term used to describe a family of plants of over 40 species, so who knows if all of them are safe or not.

hmm i thought i read it was the hemlock root they made sneezing powder from that caused blindness and other poisioning symptoms but the sneezewort plant i found for sale on a herbal website seems to be used for many different purposes and has no ill effects to humans but is toxic to dogs cats and horses

but i dont like the thought of blindness, i think ill research a bit more and see what everyone else on here has to say

[cprlaw08]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achillea_ptarmica this is the type of sneezewort listed to be used as a sneezing powder but i cant much proof of its use or more importantly any risks or side effects of it

[Jorm]

I don't know much of anything about Achillea ptarmica specifically, but in general plant material doesn't pose serious health risks unless it's actually ingested or inhaled into the lungs. And when I say inhaled into the lungs I don't mean just sniffing it, I mean actually inhaling particles of the plant into your lungs. Again, that's in general, and I'm not an expert, so I would definitely recommend doing more research before you start experimenting, but provided you were carefully and did your testing with only a very small amount I wouldn't be too worried about serious or lasting side effects. The fact that it's used at all as an herbal remedy and particularly is listed as one that CAN be ingested is a good sign for it not posing a danger when used externally, but on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be a very large amount of information on it's medicinal uses so it's hard to say.