Hi friends,
I’m glad some of you enjoyed the self-defense story last week. Creepy behaviors, I know! But learning to spot the manipulative tactics can warn you before a violent situation starts.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I not only enjoy self-defense, but also health and medicine, particularly the herbal and preventative type.
I’m currently packing wads of chewed up greenery back behind my molar and hoping to save what seems like another dying tooth root. I’ve been plagued with teeth difficulties from a young age. I cracked the molar last week, then had it prepared for a crown and while I’m waiting for the permanent crown to come, that pain in that tooth is building up daily, despite the temporary crown on it.
So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite herbs and see if anyone out there had suggestions to save an inflamed root so I don’t need a root canal on top of a crown. I snapped the pictures this morning from my own garden and yard. 🙂
Contains an amazing substance called allantoin in it that stimulates tissue growth. It will mend damaged tissue together, almost like magic and has been called knitbone for it’s ability to heal injuries.
Controversy: contains alkaloids that may harm the liver, with LARGE quantities of the herb, but nothing as bad as acetaminophen (Tylenol).
A yard weed in the Midwest, this plant is amazing for bee stings, mosquito bites and drawing out an infection. All my kids know how to chew it up and put the wad of green goo on bites for immediate relief.
Look for parallel veins on the back of both the narrow and broad leaf varieties to distinguish from dandelion and grass.
An age-old tooth remedy, this is numbing the pain of my tooth (and burning my tongue a little) and I’m hoping it’s anti-inflammatory properties will kick in and calm that dang root down.
How about you? Any good tooth remedies?
Here’s hoping I don’t need a root canal in addition to the crown. Too bad real life healing isn’t as easy to do as healing in my books!
Quick Writing Update:
ARC copies of Combat Outbreak, Book 3 have been sent out. Send me a note if you were expecting one and didn’t get it. Twelve days until release!
And since we’re talking about herbal healing, here’s a fun spot in Combat Outbreak where Isha packs herbal poultices around Kiriai during a long intermission to help boost her for the finale of the fight:
Kiriai emerged into pandemonium. It wasn’t just the noise that seemed so much louder after her brief sojourn in the quiet of Yabban’s training dojo. Shisen and Aibo were ripping the covers off and Isha slipped hands underneath Kiriai’s arms from behind, pulling her to a sitting position. The herbal poultices fell from her body with heavy wet plops that felt as if she were shedding a second skin.
“Are you ready?” Isha’s calm patience helped Kiriai ignore the urgency that radiated from everyone else around her. She sucked in a breath before giving a short nod.
“Brace yourself,” said Isha. In one smooth motion, Isha had pulled Kiriai to her feet. She joined Aibo and Shisen, and in moments the three women had removed the rest of the poultice treatment and were briskly rubbing her dry with towels.
“Quick, out of your wet ones and put these on.”
There was no time for modesty. Aibo and Shisen held their towels around Kiriai as she quickly stripped off her sodden underthings, gave herself a quick drying swipe with Isha’s towel and pulled on the dry set. She quickly followed those with her uniform and in less than a minute after leaving trance state, Kiriai was ready to fight again.
From under the awning, Kiriai could see the center arena was set up again, and the judges were moving to their places. Isha handed her one last tonic, which she downed in a few rapid gulps, followed by a shudder. Kiriai could feel her heart rate speed up as her body picked up on the cues of another round beginning. She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet and felt only mild twinges in the place of her earlier pain. Kiriai stretched both hands high, sucked in a large lungful breath and let it out as she lowered her arms, testing her shoulders and ribs.
“Isha,” said Kiriai with a smile and a shake of her head, “you’re a miracle worker. I can’t believe how much better I feel.”
“Well, you will feel it afterward. I mixed quite a bit of pain relievers into the remedies. I don’t have a fixing wand, after all.”
“You know I don’t care about afterward,” Kiriai said with a soft laugh. “And you’re much better than a fixing wand.”
But it wasn’t just Isha. Kiriai stopped and really looked at the people surrounding her. Six friends, advisers, family, whatever she wanted to call them. They were the reason she had even a sliver of a chance to win this. Her heart felt like it skipped a beat and she couldn’t find words big enough for what she felt. Instead, she met each of the six pairs of eyes and tried to convey what she felt. Her crew nodded in return. Tomi gave her a wink and then, to her surprise, Aibo barreled forward and hit her with a full-body hug.
Kiriai laughed and returned the hug. It broke the tension, and the rest of the crew reached out, clapped her on the shoulders or joined the hug. Kiriai was ready. I don’t need many people in my life, but I need these people.
“Find your seats, folks. Intermission is over. It’s time for what we’ve all been waiting for: round two!”
Her crew fell silent and stepped back. Kiriai tipped her head side-to-side to loosen her neck and straightened her shoulders, and after one last snap of her yellow belt, she stepped out from under the awning. . .
Happy reading this week,
— Misty 🙂
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