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Yarrow wound powder can reduce bleeding and promote wound healing. It’s a must have for your first aid kit! I’ll show you how to make and use your own yarrow wound powder.
Summer is the season for cuts, scrapes and itchy bug bites. At least it is at my house! Luckily, my first aid kit recently gained a new addition – yarrow wound powder. Ever heard of it? Believe me, it’s pretty incredible stuff!
I love my wound powder and I’ll show you why. I’ll also teach you how to make and use your own yarrow wound powder. I think you’re going to love it too!
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Please keep in mind that I am not a medical professional. You should consult with your doctor about any herbs or herbal treatments you would like to use.
What is Yarrow Wound Powder?
Yarrow wound powder is made from dried and ground yarrow plants. This wound powder is made from the yarrow leaves in particular. You can also use yarrow flowers in wound powder, but they’re not as effective at treating wounds as the leaves.
If you want to learn all about yarrow, you should checkout my earlier article on The Many Benefits of Yarrow Plant. In that article I discuss the amazing benefits of yarrow that have made it an herbal favorite for thousands of years. But I digress – back to the wound powder!
What is Yarrow Wound Powder Used for?
Yarrow wound powder is excellent at treating wounds. The yarrow plant contains antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that can help heal and soothe wounds. Yarrow is also a styptic, meaning that it has the ability to reduce bleeding and encourage blood clotting. Because of this, yarrow is very handy to have around when you need to treat a scrape or cut.
I have been using my yarrow wound powder all summer to treat my family’s itchy and inflamed bug bites and bike accidents. It’s been amazingly effective! I plan to always keep some of this powder in my family’s first aid kit.
How to Make Yarrow Wound Powder
If you are harvesting your own yarrow for this wound powder, please be sure that you have properly identified the yarrow plant first. Yarrow can bare a resemblance to other more dangerous plants. This video does a good job illustrating what to look for when identifying yarrow.
The process of making yarrow wound powder is pretty simple. Let’s look at it step by step.
- First, harvest your yarrow. I gave more details about harvesting yarrow in The Many Benefits of Yarrow Plant. Basically, you’ll want to trim some stems off of your yarrow plant to within a few inches from the ground
- Next, dry the yarrow. Lay the yarrow out and the separate the flowers and leaves from the stems. Place the yarrow leaves and flowers in an area with good air circulation and let them completely dry. I love using this hanging herb dryer for this step.
- After drying, you’ll want to finely blend your dried yarrow leaves. Blend your dry leaves using a blender, food processor or coffee grinder.
- Lastly, transfer your yarrow wound powder to a jar and label.
Other Sources for Yarrow
If you don’t have access to yarrow plants, don’t worry. You can also purchase yarrow and yarrow products online.
I like to get my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have some yarrow herb that would be perfect for making into wound powder and for other uses. Mountain Rose Herb also sells a yarrow powder if you want to skip the blending process.
Applying Wound Powder
Now that you’ve got your wound powder made, it’s time to put it to work! Yarrow wound powder is really easy to use. When the need arises, you’ll simply mix a bit of the wound powder with some water to make a paste. You can apply that paste directly onto the wound.
As an alternative to water, you can also use something like coconut oil to make your wound powder into paste. Honey would also make a great alternative to water because honey contains its own antioxidant and antibacterial properties.
You can also use fresh yarrow leaves to make this wound dressing. Simply mash up or chew the fresh yarrow leaves and add a little water if needed. Then apply to the wound.
Storing Wound Powder
I recommend that you label and store your yarrow wound powder in a cool, dark place. You might want to consider having some small containers of this powder in your first aid kit, back packing supplies, car or wherever else you might anticipate needing it. This wound powder is low cost (or free!) and will keep for a long time.
More About Herbs
If you love the idea of using herbs and natural solutions as much as I do, then I suggest you look into the courses offered by the Herbal Academy. I have learned so much since starting my classes and I’m absolutely loving it! I can’t wait to learn more!
For more of my own articles about herbs, please see:
- How to Make a Healing Dandelion Salve – Don’t Kill These Weeds!
- The Study of Medicinal Herbs – Learn with Me!
- Make Your Own Chive Blossom Vinegar
- Natural Cold and Flu Remedies You Can Make at Home with Herbs
What herbal remedy is your favorite? What herbs would you like to learn more about? Leave me a comment and let me know – I’d love to hear about it!
I have used Yarrow on my chickens whenever they get a bleeding wound. It works great!
Once dried, do you need to remove the tiny leaves from the stems before blending into a powder?