My Garden Guy, when he redid the back garden, planted all sorts of exotic, and extraordinarily wonderful, plants whose leaves give off an amazing scent and often have beautiful flowers.
Yes, they're ... geraniums!
Which I have been enjoying quite a bit. Brush by one, rub its leaves, smell them, and smile. We've got quite a few of them here, there's always a different, and quite wonderful, smell to enjoy.
And here's the coincidence... at my herbalist's yesterday, he found some random article somewhere about a topical treatment to address neuropathic pain, something that expresses itself in a lot of us MSers but in my case is putting a serious kibosh on my ... everything. Being constantly in a vague, apparently causeless, and certainly purposeless (from my POV at least) pain, really makes life no fun to live.
But he found that there's this stuff you can rub on your sore limbs, and the pain just magically goes away! It's amazing! Doesn't seem to have dosage limitations or issues of any sort! Lasts for hours! I put some on last night around 8 or 10 PM, and it was still working all night. All night!
And here's the coincidence... what is it?
Yup. You guessed it. Geraniums. Crush the leaves in your hand and then rub the oil on yourself, either just from your hands or rub the leaves on you.
No side effects, as far as I can tell, aside from a gentle floral scent. Sure beats the hell out of the pharmaceuticals I've tried--baclofen, for example, as far as I'm concerned takes too long to kick in, goes away too soon, and then according to the label you have to wait and wait and wait and wait to take another, during which time you are, of course... in pain.
Or I can rub geraniums on myself, as much as and whenever I like. The benefits of which last for hours. Hours.
So, my friends, if you know anyone with this kind of pain, get them geraniums. The better the smell, the better (more oil, among other things). Stick it in a pot, keep it watered and in the sun, and pick the leaves as you need them. Suck on that, Big Pharma! I've got a back yard full of plants that beat the snot out of anything you have to offer.
And, according to my herbalist's tests, the leaves have more power than just the oil. Oh wow, a plant is better for you than just an extract, where have I heard that before...?
So there it is, today's Strange Coincidence. Less pain, pretty leaves, good smells, no side effects apart from the charming geranium smell. Which, if you don't mind that smell, is a hell of a good side effect.
Which, in the troubled world we MSers live in... I'll take.
1 comment:
I'm laughing as I read this. Outside my window is a sea of white -- not flower petals, but icy snow! I have quite a while to go before our geraniums go in the gardens. I will remember this, though, and try it on my feet for the neuropathy. Thanks for the info!
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