Urtica dioica: The Cultural and Medicinal History of
Stinging Nettle
Alyssa Peterson, Lauralee Cook, Kelly Swensen
PWS 101

Urtica dioica: The Cultural and Medicinal History of
Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica, or Stinging Nettle, is a well-known plant in much of the Northern Hemisphere. This weed is often found growing beside abandoned buildings and in empty fields, but it has a long history of traditional use both medicinally as well as in other cultural practices. It has been used for centuries for a wide variety of ailments ranging from treating bloody noses, to inflamed uvula. Today, the use of U. dioica has been whittled down to include the treatment of just a few ailments, but still remains an important medicinal plant.
Background …show more content…
Up to 3,000 years ago, the Egyptians used nettle in an infusion for the relief of arthritis and lower back pain. It is believed that the Jews included nettle in their Passover herbs as well. In ancient Greece and Rome, Pliny the Elder identified stinging nettle as “a nutritious food in the spring, which was said to prevent disease throughout the year.” 61 remedies were reported by Hippocrates and his students. Some examples of these remedies are antidotes from poison of hemlock, fungi, mercury, salamander bites, serpents and scorpions. A decoction was used for various female health issues. Stinging of the legs and forehead were said to cure lethargy, and a topical application of root extract was used for nosebleeds, dog bites, cancers, ulcers, sprains, and inflamed tumors. The paste of nettle seed was used topically as an expectorant. Many of these uses were also recommended by Dioscorides, including crushed leaves for the stopping of nosebleeds, leaves mixed with shellfish for stomach upsets and as a diuretic, and nettle juice gargled for an inflamed …show more content…
The fibers from the plant were also burned to cauterize skin. It was thought that sickness would come out through the burns. As medicine, they used the juice from the pounded roots to help the baby come faster of pregnant women who were overdue. This juice was also used as a scalp treatment to keep hair from falling out. Nettles were rubbed on one’s chest for chest pain. People who had Locomotor ataxia, an inability to control one's own bodily movements, would cut the bottoms of their feet and rub nettles and hellebore roots into them to make the disease go away. (Turner N.C., and Bell M.A.M.,