Stemless carline thistle

Stemless carline thistle, also known as dwarf carline thistle, scientific name carlina acaulis, is a plant of the Asteraceae family. This remedy has tonic, draining, digestive and diuretic properties and therefore helps to counteract cellulite, improves digestion and supports the work of the liver. You can prepare a decoction in this way, bring to a boil a cup of water together with a tablespoon of carlina roots, let it simmer for a couple of minutes, filter and let it cool down, then drink a cup. Be careful not to overdo it with the remedy because an excessive dose can irritate the stomach mucosa. As an alternative to internal use, the same decoction can also be applied externally on wounds, pimples, blisters or acne thanks to its healing action. This use comes from the tradition of several countries in which the carline thistle has been used for centuries to treat wounds and other skin affections, including even tumors. And a recent study has demonstrated the effectiveness of Carlina extracts to heal or soothe various skin problems, moreover it has observed the plant's ability to induce apoptosis, i.e. death, of skin cancer cells (Strzemski et al, Front Pharmacol, 2017). Clearly the use of the carlina to treat serious diseases such as tumors is not to be taken into consideration, we have reported the study solely with the aim to show that science is becoming interested in this plant characterized by powerful healing properties on skin diseases. Therefore, only in case of wounds, acne or blisters you can apply on the affected area a gauze soaked in the decoction, it will help the healing process. Finally, the decoction is also useful to gargle in case of irritations or ulcers in mouth.