Toothache Treatment
We have the will to outlast everything!
Up and down the roadsides, along fence rows of pastures and
farms, and in the woodlands of the southern United States grows the toothache
tree. It is a small tree or large shrub with beneficial medicinal properties.
Especially for those who
suffer from toothache pain and have no immediate access to modern dental care,
as may occur in a survival situation. Although it prefers the dry soils
of open areas, the toothache tree can be frequently
seen in the forested regions of warmer climates of the world, including
Mexico, Central and South America, and Africa.
A member of the genus Zanthoxylum, the toothache tree is
well known by many common names: prickly
ash, tickle tongue, pepper bark, Hercules club, rabbit gum and aceitillo.
The deciduous tree may grow up to 18 feet tall and has a
loose crown of glossy, pale green pinnately compound leaves. The leaves give
off an easy to identify peppery smell when crushed. In the spring, dense
clusters of tiny, fragrant greenish-yellow
flowers cover the branch tips and in the fall, pea-size, pitted black fruits
dot its bare branches.
The smooth bark of stems and trunk are liberally coated with corky warts tipped with sharp, slightly
curved thorns. A clear, watery sap will
ooze from cuts in the bark.
It is the simple
“taste” test that quickly determines the toothache tree’s amazing
property from that of its neighbors. If a marble-sized
portion of the inner bark, leaves, flowers, or fruits is chewed, an intense numbness or tingling sensation to the tongue
and lip is instantly felt. No other tree
has this unique ability.
A comprehensive phytochemical analysis has exposed its
secrets. All parts of the aromatic tree (roots. sap, bark, leaves, flowers, and
fruits) contain the following compounds: Zanthoxylum,
coumarin, sesamin, and various minor resinoids. A very pungent resin,. Zanthoxylum
has a complex chemical structure and properties similar to the commercial
product benzocaine.
Coumarin and sesamin are toxic glycosides with documented pain
reducing abilities. Coumarin is found largely
in the leaves, and in concentration can destroy the cloning mechanism in human
blood. Hence, only measured amounts of the tree should be utilized in the
treatment of toothache pain to prevent accidental ingestion and unpleasant
poison reactions.
For the relief of
toothache pain, gather a fresh leaf and roll it into a tube. Moisten the
tube-leaf with salvia and crush thoroughly between your fingers to form a
paste. Insert the paste directly onto the affected tooth and hold in place against gum and inner cheek until
the agonizing pain diminishes in its intensity.
A copious amount of saliva
is secreted due to the paste’s chemical properties and must be spat out, as swallowing may lead to vomiting
and gastrointestinal irritation. In winter, use fruit or bark to make the
paste.
Pain relief may last for a few minutes to several hours depending upon the location in the mouth of the decayed or injured tooth, the condition of the tooth and its surrounding gum, the physical state of the individual’s health, and his variable tolerance to pain.
An abscessed tooth is a localized infection and has complications that may block the paste’s ability to relieve pain. For better results, treat the infection and the accompanying symptoms first before applying the paste to the sore tooth.
Another hazard to consider is the consumption of alcohol
while using the paste. An old timer’s remedy for treating toothache, it is not
recommended in the treatment of any dental complaint or with any kind of oral medication. Ingested alcohol causes counter effects and may
accelerate the toxicity of the medicine.
The toothache tree has a broad spectrum of medical usage
beyond dental ailments.
The sap applied locally relieves surface pain, and in the tropics has seen use as a topical anesthetic in the jungle surgery of knife or machete injuries, gun-shot wounds, the setting of broken bones, and in snake bite treatment.
A wet paste made of bark powder and warm water is antibiotic
in nature and is painted onto sores, ulcers, infected tick bites, cancer and tumors. An inner
bark tea has a double value as a wound antiseptic
and for a soothing wash on skin irritations or swellings. To gain relief from
the misery of diarrhea, drink a few cups of dilute bark or fruit tea every four
hours or as needed.
Research into the anti-germ or anti-microbial abilities of
plants helps in understanding how they work, which germs they affect, and how
best to apply them outside the laboratory. An antimicrobial study of the
toothache tree reveals it to be an important viable source in the search for
new antibiotic tools to combat infectious diseases.
In cultured media, an
ethanol extract of the bark markedly reduced the population levels of gram
positive and gram negative staining bacteria, yeast, and mycobacteria. All are
representatives of the worst scourges afflicting mankind today, such as
pneumonia plague, influenza, typhoid, tuberculosis, dysentery, septicemia
(blood-poisoning). etc.
The bark extract made into a purified pharmaceutical drug exhibits definite anticholinergic properties and has shown great results in the battle against cholera.
The toothache tree has many lesser known uses valuable to
the survivalist. Its flowers, leaves and immature fruits are a food source. The
intense heat of cooking dispels their toxic principles, but even so, they are mainly limited to the role of
culinary preparation or as food
flavoring.
Young leaves added to meat dishes or stews made of wild game
tames the tangy, offensive taste some animals exude while cooking, and makes
the meal more palatable.
Powdered fruits or bark are excellent substitutes for black
pepper, and in many areas of the tree’s range of distribution, the local
inhabitants utilize it solely for that purpose. A specially processed extract
of the fruits has economic possibilities as a preservative of perishable foods and in the preparation of leather
products for wear in tropical climes.
In the home garden, a dilute extract of the sap in
combination with pyrethrum becomes a powerful natural insecticide for use
against aphids, mites, and parasitic insects that prey upon succulent food
plants.
A yellow dye made by boiling the roots has dual uses, as an
herbicide to control the growth of undesired weeds and as a nematocide to kill
destructive root-parasitizing nematodes.
Bark tea sprayed on fences and borders enclosing the garden
or orchard helps to deter the activities of rabbits and other foraging animals.
The hunter who bathes or rinses his hair with the dilute bark tea before the
hunt will improve his ability to stalk game without easy detection.
Wire snares, metal traps, footwear and clothing soaked in a
tube filled with bark tea increases the trapper’s skills to bag more
fur-bearing animals. The tea acts as an agent to neutralize or mask our human
scent. It is man’s smell that creates wariness and fear among wild animals.
A thick slurry of fresh pulverized bark and water is a
highly effective fish poison. Two gallons of slurry stirred into a shallow pond
or into little ponds of intermittent
creeks stuns all the fish within a 20-foot radius. Ideally, the water
temperature should be 60 degrees F and above, and the depth less than four feet
to allow the poison to diffuse equally.
Using this method, the
fish are easily netted or speared, and large amounts of animal protein can be gathered for the table. To the aqua farmer,
it is a means of acquiring replacement stock or food for his game fish, as most
of the stunned fish will revive once in a fresh habitat.
The toothache tree’s trunk is too warped for commercial
lumbering and its brittle wood useless to the large-scale woodworking
industries. Nevertheless, it is still found
in the labor-intensive economies practiced in Latin America as a fuel, for farm
implements and in the manufacture of furniture or minor household items.
Insect resistance appears to be a major characteristic of
the tree as termites do not readily attack the deadwood
unless it has been sufficiently weathered.
Its dried leaves and wood chips burn with a strong,
pleasing odor and find use in the
manufacture of incense or to make gentle smudges to repel flies, mosquitoes,
and flying Insects from home.
The fresh wood is very fire resistant
and requires an igniter fuel to assist in its combustion. Charcoal made from
the toothache tree burns with an intense flame and high temperature and finds
use in metallurgy.
Honey bees have been known to fly great distances to visit
the tree’s sweet flowers. The flowers are considered to be a good bee food by
the honey production trade. Many nectar-feeding insects, hummingbirds, moths, and rare butterflies have been observed in the flowers. The African honey
bee or killer bee as it is popularly known
has been recorded at its flower clusters
in Central and South America.
Ripe fruits are eaten by field mice, wild turkey, quail, and various songbirds. They remain on the tree well into winter and are the favorite food of many types of migrating birds. Their preference for the fruits helps to explain why the toothache tree is so numerous along fence rows and road-sides of the South.
The sharp, thorny branches
and trunks are utilized by many nesting birds as protective barriers
against predatory snakes and mammals. A species of stinging wood ant found in
the tropics makes its home in the corky warts of the bark. They are very
aggressive and will swarm out to attack any intruder that disturbs the tree.
The ants add further protection for the roosting birds, their nurseries, and
the birds seem to be unharmed by the ants.
The webworm or tent
caterpillar, the larval stage of the eastern moth, is the only insect that
feeds extensively upon the foliage of the toothache tree. In the spring and
summer months, they make their tent colonies in the leaves and hundreds of hungry caterpillars begin their
feeding activities. Their voracious appetites may partially strip the tree of
its leaves giving it a peculiar denuded appearance.
Field tests suggesting the web worm’s utility as survival
aid were conducted and the following
observations were established:
1. The caterpillar’s diet of the peppery leaves made them
unsavory to hungry chickens.
2. They are a fish attractant, as crushing and scattering
the caterpillars’ pulp onto the surface of a fish pond stimulated a feeding
frenzy among schools of small panfish
3. The individual caterpillars are excellent live lures for
bait fishing.
In Latin America and in
Africa, the toothache tree is sometimes planted in ornamental gardens or in landscapes by city planners. Away from the
cities, small plot farmers transplant the tree to form living fences and
corrals to enclose and protect their meager livestock. The tree is seldom
foraged upon by farm animals except for an exploratory nibble.
When harvesting material from the toothache tree, always
wear heavy-duty gloves and protective
clothing. Special care must be taken to avoid its sharp, claw-like thorns or
deep lacerations may result. Experience has proven how difficult these heal
even with the aid of antibiotic ointments.
The actual handling of
the wood or contact with the sap or the leaves may cause painful dermatitis or
a burning skin rash among persons who are allergy prone.
To be safe, do your own
sensitivity test. Rub a leaf or a piece of inner bark onto the underside of a
wrist where the skin is thin and very sensitive to chemical irritants. Look at
the patch after 24 hours to note its condition. If you should discover yourself
to be a dermatitis sufferer, limit your usage to the milder fruits.
Intimate knowledge of
the functional uses of the plants that surround us in our daily lives is a
major step towards becoming self-reliant. The more we know, the greater our
confidence to be able to face adversity and win. The future becomes brighter as
we venture out to meet its challenges.
The toothache tree with its many uses is a valuable addition
to the abundant survival aids nature has provided us. It is a source of
immediate pain relief and is readily attainable to the outdoorsman and the
survivalist where it grows.
It should be used with caution, however, as it is a crude
drug with toxic side effects. If abused or too much dependency is placed upon
its pain reducing properties, addiction may occur. To protect yourself from an
overdose, take only one leaf at a time on a set time scale.
There is no substitute for qualified dental and professional care of pains, injuries and infections. The toothache tree’s medicinal abilities should be utilized only as a temporary aid until professional treatment can be acquired.
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Great write up.Thanks I have (2) similar looking trees down near my Creek. in central southern Va, just wondering if it might be the same family,Ill have to check it out when the woods dries out some.
keebler.
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