What are the benefits of chamomile during pregnancy?
During pregnancy, many drugs are prohibited. And in this case, medicinal herbs are a common alternative to synthetic drugs. Plants are used both externally and internally, in the form of infusions, teas, and decoctions.
External use has a healing, antiseptic and bactericidal effect. Therefore, chamomile infusions are used to treat skin, hair, and mucous membranes. Flowers are used in the form of compresses, washes, rinses, and inhalations.
Decoctions of yellow-white flowers help the gastrointestinal tract function properly, relieve bloating and constipation. The decoction is recommended by many women as a remedy for toxicosis during pregnancy.
Chamomile during pregnancy affects not only physiology, but also the emotional sphere. After all, it is known that during pregnancy a woman experiences tearfulness, irritability, and unreasonable anxiety. Floral aromatic tea copes well with these unpleasant phenomena, brings the mood back to normal, calms the nervous system, relieving anxiety and overexcitement. The active substances contained in the plant have a moderate analgesic effect and relieve headaches.
Indications for use
The range of uses of chamomile, this natural pharmacy, is quite wide: from external local lotions to the treatment of chronic stomach problems.
Most often it is recommended for pregnant women in the following cases:
- for colds, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, acute respiratory viral infections, and influenza, inhalations and gargling are prescribed;
- rinsing is also prescribed for inflammatory processes in the oral cavity: stomatitis, periodontitis, gingivitis;
- It is recommended to rinse or bury the nose with a decoction for a runny nose;
- Chamomile tea relieves cough;
- taking the infusion orally eliminates inflammation and excessive gas formation in the gastrointestinal tract, helps with gastritis, colitis, enteritis;
- Due to the ability to bind and remove toxins, decoctions are used for poisoning and problems with food digestion;
- medicinal baths quickly eliminate the unpleasant symptoms of genitourinary diseases. However, treatment requires additional medication;
- For cuts, abrasions, and other skin injuries, chamomile lotions or washes are used as an antiseptic.
Methods of application
The basic rule is that all infusions and decoctions must be fresh; they should be left in the refrigerator for no more than a day. At room temperature, especially in hot weather, herbal infusions and decoctions quickly turn sour.
Chamomile tea during pregnancy
Brew the drink in a ceramic or porcelain container in this way: 1-2 teaspoons of flowers are poured into 300-400 ml of hot, but not boiling water. After 7 minutes, the tea is ready to drink. It helps eliminate headaches, normalize sleep, digestion, and also relieve cold symptoms.
Chamomile decoction during pregnancy
The decoction contains a high concentration of active substances; it is used for gargling and nasal drops. The flowers are poured with hot water, in the proportion of 1 tablespoon of flowers to 1 cup of boiling water, then the excess liquid is evaporated in a water bath. After ten minutes, remove the dishes from the heat, and let the product infuse for another half hour. Then the decoction is ready for use. It can be used for sitz baths. A half-liter jar of decoction is added to ten liters of warm water. The duration of the bath is up to 15 minutes. Self-douching should be avoided and should only be used after consultation with a doctor.
Important! Water for washing and bathing should not be hot. High water temperature will increase inflammation and can cause burns. And during pregnancy, hot baths are fraught with the risk of miscarriage.
The decoction is often used for external use: to wash wounds, gargle and rinse the mouth. They are used for the skin as a preventive anti-inflammatory agent. You can wash your face in the morning and evening. The affected areas of the skin are washed or carefully blotted with a cotton pad soaked in the broth.
Chamomile infusion during pregnancy
The infusion is often taken orally and drunk for various uncomfortable conditions: headaches, stomach upsets, fatigue, insomnia. Dried flowers (5 tbsp) are poured into a glass of water and infused under a lid in a porcelain, stainless steel or enamel bowl. The plant is one of those that easily releases healing substances into water, so it is suitable for both hot and cold infusion. Infusion time – 8 hours.
Did you know? Prepared tea, infusion or decoction should not be stored in plastic containers. Glass or porcelain are best for storage.
Simple rules
First you need to prepare a decoction. For this you will need, of course, chamomile .
You can buy it at the pharmacy, or you can collect it yourself in the summer, away from the city and roads, and then dry it.
Two tablespoons of dried herbs are poured into a glass of cold water.
Now the container needs to be placed on high heat and brought to a boil.
Then remove from heat, cover with a lid and leave for 40 minutes to brew. Then the resulting liquid is filtered, now it can be used for.
Rinsing your nose with chamomile decoction is quite simple. To do this you will need one of the following items:
- a special teapot for washing;
- syringe;
- syringe without needle.
First, fill whatever item you have on hand with the broth, stand in front of the sink, lean forward and turn your head slightly so that one nostril is lower than the other. Now place the spout of the teapot to the nasal passage that is higher and tilt it. The broth will pour into one nostril, rinse the nasal passages and pour out through the second nostril.
Attention!
After you pour out all the broth, stand for a while so that the remaining broth has time to flow out.
If you rinse your nose with a syringe or syringe, the broth will be poured under pressure. And it is very important not to overdo it . If the pressure is too high, the broth may enter the middle ear and Eustachian tube.
This can cause inflammation in the ear: and eustachitis.
If you don’t have any of the above, you can simply scoop the decoction into your palms, lower your face into it and suck in the liquid through your nostrils. However, it is very important to be careful with this washing method.
Do not forget that nasal rinsing is only part of the overall treatment that a doctor should prescribe.
In folk medicine, chamomile has been used for a runny nose for a long time. It is often used for colds to treat runny nose in children. The herbal decoction can be dripped into the nose and gargled with it. The natural medicine is suitable even for a baby.
Precautionary measures
Even before external use, check whether you have an allergic reaction to the plant. After all, if no rejection reactions have been observed before, then the appearance of allergies during pregnancy is possible.
To check, a cotton pad soaked in the broth is applied to the inner elbow. If during the day the skin becomes inflamed and there is a feeling of tightness, you should discard chamomile. When drinking tea, watch the amount and strength of the drink. Chamomile is one of the plants that stimulates the production of estrogen in the ovaries, which, along with other factors, can provoke premature birth.
If there are no contraindications, it is permissible to drink up to 400 ml of weak tea per day .
Chamomile during early pregnancy
For use only as an external and local remedy. Ingestion may have unwanted stimulation on the muscles of the uterus, and this is a possible threat of miscarriage. And although the risk is not so great, it is still better for a woman in the first trimester to refrain from internal use of infusions and teas. But decoctions and infusions are effectively used for rinsing the mouth, throat, washing the nose, eyes, and skin for any inflammatory processes.
Chamomile during late pregnancy
At a later date, it is possible to use the plant for both external and internal use. The infusion is an excellent product for intimate hygiene. And weak chamomile tea will be a real salvation for constipation, gas, nausea, heartburn, headaches, and will help stabilize the emotional background.
Preparation of healing infusion. Recipes
How to prepare an infusion for rinsing the nose with chamomile? There are several effective recipes that will help eliminate the unpleasant symptoms of a runny nose. Let's look at the most popular:
- You should prepare pharmaceutical medicinal chamomile, which is packaged in bags. It is enough to pour one sachet with boiling water (1 tbsp.) and let it brew for 20 minutes. When the solution has cooled, it can be used to rinse the nose. It should be remembered that hot liquid can only aggravate the problem and provoke the development of a strong inflammatory process after manipulation.
- How to prepare a chamomile solution for rinsing the nose? To prepare the following recipe, you need to prepare dry herbs. The dried plant can be purchased at any pharmacy. Pour boiling water (1 tbsp) over the herb (1 tbsp) and leave to steep for an hour. Under any circumstances, the healing agent must be infused until it cools down. Before rinsing your nose with chamomile, you need to strain the infusion. Since the solid component of the plant can damage the mucous membranes during the washing process.
Before each procedure, you need to prepare a new infusion. The shelf life of the medicinal product is 1 day. To enhance the therapeutic effect, the following recommendations should be followed:
- Sage must be brewed simultaneously with chamomile - in equal proportions;
- add a few drops of iodine;
- pour salt or baking soda into the healing agent - it is important not to overdo it, otherwise you can cause severe irritation of the mucous membranes.
Contraindications and side effects
It is forbidden to use chamomile if you are hypersensitive to the plant. You should avoid taking this plant if you have a stomach ulcer, a tendency to diarrhea, or kidney and bladder diseases. And uncontrolled drinking during pregnancy is unacceptable.
With concomitant diseases and exceeding the permissible concentration, the following side effects :
- nausea, vomiting, pain in the upper abdomen;
- high blood pressure;
- allergic reactions, such as bronchospasm and Quincke's edema when taken orally, and when used externally - rash, skin itching, swelling.
If at least one of the signs of intolerance appears, then use should be stopped immediately. And then you need to consult a doctor as soon as possible.
When is it appropriate to rinse your nose?
Rinsing your nose with chamomile when you have a runny nose is very useful.
These absolutely harmless procedures help moisturize the mucous membrane and wash away various irritating substances. Through constant rinsing, you can achieve better outflow of mucus and prevent clogging of the anastomosis that connects the nasal cavity with the paranasal sinuses. When you have rhinitis, it is useful to rinse your nose, as the mucus thins out and comes off easier. After the procedure, nasal breathing improves. If rinsing is carried out correctly, this allows you to do without vasoconstrictor nasal drops and breathe well through your nose even at night.
How to brew chamomile correctly: video
This video clearly explains how to prepare dry raw materials so that all the beneficial properties are preserved. Cold and hot brewing methods are considered.
To summarize, it must be said that you should not give up the healing effect of chamomile during pregnancy. After all, the list of effects of these small flowers on the body is quite impressive: antibacterial, analgesic, hemostatic, sedative, choleretic, anti-inflammatory. Thanks to its properties, the plant gently relieves the painful symptoms of one of the most common ailments of toxicosis during pregnancy, and normalizes the emotional background of a woman.
When used correctly and in minimal dosage, it is safe to use in any trimester. And, despite concerns, you can still drink chamomile during pregnancy if you follow the dosage, note changes in your condition and consult your doctor.
Tell us how it was for you: did chamomile help you during pregnancy, what symptoms were relieved with its help, what is your doctor’s opinion about the use of this and other medicinal plants.
