Comfrey is most famous for its high allantoin content. This chemical constituent is responsible for comfrey’s vulnerary action and cell proliferation. Once cells have been damaged or died, the next step is to replace those cells. This is where cell proliferation comes in. When the bone is broken, most doctors will put a cast onto the area. This immobilizes the area for protection from secondary injuries and it also provides an environment for the bones to heal undisturbed. It is not, however, there to heal the area. It does so inadvertently by simply giving the break a safe place to heal. It is in fact the innate intelligence of the body that does the healing.

Most of the time the area heals, but not completely or quickly enough. Why? This is because the body has not been given anything to stimulate the rapid proliferation of the new cells needed to completely finish the job, and accomplish it in a timely manner. It is like the reconstruction of a damaged building being repaired by part-time workers with limited supplies. Often there are budget cuts and any remaining revenue is allocated to more important things to sustain the entire city (like the entire human body). So rather than reconstructing the building exactly as the blueprints indicated, the workers (like the cells of the body) are forced to do a patch job on the building so they can move on to more critical tasks.

Our bodies are like highly efficient machines that are designed to handle just about anything the environment can throw at them. Since each cell is equipped with the blueprint for the entire human body, why then does it seem that the body lacks what it needs to heal completely? I believe that it is not that the body lacks anything. Rather, the individual and society have deviated from a natural and healthy lifestyle that would naturally provide the body an abundance of energy and nutrients necessary for completing the healing process.

This is why we use herbs. They act as a crutch, making up for what we have not been taking in naturally. Like Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, “Let your medicine be your food and your food, medicine.” (Herbal Journal by Zoe Hawes and Friends, unpaged) Comfrey is a unique herb in that it is used whether or not we are in an optimal healthy condition. If you are healthy you will still want comfrey to help heal your wounds quickly and if you are sick you will use comfrey.

When we are injured we want only two things: to heal and to heal fast! We apply comfrey topically to an injury for its therapeutic value which mostly comes from the chemical constituent allantoin. It will travel transdermally (through the skin) all the way to the bone. This works similarly to the nicotine patch that smokers use on their skin to quit smoking. Whether you are in a cast or wearing a bandage, healthy or not, you can use comfrey. It will soothe, heal and knit you back together.

Referring to the workers, comfrey is like a grant that supplies all of the necessary supplies and only the fastest workers that will build with the same prudence and skill as the original architects of that building. This frees up the regular workers to do what they would normally have been doing (maintenance), had this building not been damaged. Homeostasis of the city is retained and we have a new building.