White Willow is a tree grows in most parts of Europe and Britain and is also found in North America. The bark has medicinal use in herbal medicine.
Medicinal Properties of White Willow
In 1838 chemists identified salicylic acid in the bark of white Willow as the primary active compound which has anti-inflammatory and pain relieving action. Scientists have copied this compound and produced a synthetic form, acetylsalicylic acid – better known as the drug aspirin.
White Willow contains other flavonoids, tannins and phenolic glycosides which are said to prolong the analgesic action of salicyclic acid.
White Willow Herbal Remedies
Our herbalists recommend white Willow for the following disorders:
Deep Venous Thrombosis
Headaches
Iritis
Pleurisy
Spasticity
Stroke
Temporal Arteritis
Transient Ischaemic Attacks
Whiplash
Other White Willow Information
Herbalists often use white Willow for the pain associated with arthritis, rheumatism, neuralgia, Lumbago, sciatica and spondylitis. It is available in tablets and capsules or liquid tonic, and can be used in tincture form for children 3 years of age and above. Herb tincture dosage is lower than adult levels – a simple guide for children is one drop per stone of weight.
Side Effects of White Willow
White Willow is generally not associated with the side effects usually found when taking aspirin, although people with peptic and duodenal ulcers should probably avoid this herb.
If you are already using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, you should not take white Willow at the same time. However, you may wish to discuss with your doctor or naturopath, using white Willow instead, particularly if you are experiencing or concerned about stomach problems.
Several drugs interact with aspirin, hence in theory could also interact with Willow due to its salicyate content. As a precaution, it is best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking the following medicines with Willow: bismuth subsalicylate, ketorolac, nadolol, repaglinide, ticlopidine, zafirlukast.
When this article was written there were no other well-known negative drug interactions with the herb white Willow.
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