Comfrey

Comfrey

Comfrey is from Symphytum officinale, an herb in the borage family and has a centuries-old tradition as a medicinal plant.  Various randomized controlled trials have demonstrated its effectiveness when used as a topical treatment for pain, inflammation and swelling of muscles and joints in degenerative arthritis, acute myalgia in the back, sprains, contusions and strains after sports injuries and accidents, for children and adults 3 and older.

Comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, substances that can cause liver damage, cancer, and even death, so it should be never be taken orally.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned oral comfrey products.  If you’re considering adding Comfrey to your wellness routine, consult your health care provider first to weigh the pros and cons before use.  Experts suggest to avoid using a comfrey topical for longer than 10 days in a row and no longer than four to six weeks in a year as a general guideline.  Never apply comfrey cream to broken skin or open wounds. Don’t take it If you have liver disease, cancer, or are taking any medication that affects the liver. Children, elderly people, and pregnant or nursing women shouldn’t use comfrey in any form.

Sources

Comfrey has a centuries-old tradition as a medicinal plant. Today, multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of comfrey preparations for the topical treatment of pain, inflammation and swelling of muscles and joints in degenerative arthritis, acute myalgia in the back, sprains, contusions and strains after sports injuries and accidents, also in children aged 3 or 4 and over. This paper provides information on clinical trials and non-interventional studies published on comfrey to date and further literature, substantiating the fact that topical comfrey preparations are a valuable therapy option for the treatment of painful muscle and joint complaints. –Source

Symphytum officinale, commonly known as comfrey, constitutes a traditional medicinal plant with a long-standing therapeutic history, and preparations thereof have been widely used for the treatment of painful muscle and joint complaints, wound and bone healing, and inflammation. Today, its topical use is based on its analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, which have been substantiated by modern clinical trials. However, the molecular basis of its action remained elusive. Here, we show that a hydroalcoholic extract of comfrey root impairs the development of a pro-inflammatory scenario in primary human endothelial cells in a dose-dependent manner. The extract, and especially its mucilage-depleted fraction, impair the interleukin-1 (IL-1) induced expression of pro-inflammatory markers including E-selectin, VCAM1, ICAM1, and COX-2. Both preparations inhibit the activation of NF-κB, a transcription factor of central importance for the expression of these and other pro-inflammatory genes. Furthermore, our biochemical studies provide evidence that comfrey inhibits NF-κB signaling at two stages: it dampens not only the activation of IKK1/2 and the subsequent IκBα degradation, but also interferes with NF-κB p65 nucleo-cytoplasmatic shuttling and transactivation. These results provide a first mechanistic insight into the mode of action of a century-old popular herbal medicine. –Source

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.) has been used over many centuries as a medicinal plant. In particular, the use of the root has a longstanding tradition. Today, several randomised controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety. Comfrey root extract has been used for the topical treatment of painful muscle and joint complaints. It is clinically proven to relieve pain, inflammation and swelling of muscles and joints in the case of degenerative arthritis, acute myalgia in the back, sprains, contusions and strains after sports injuries and accidents, also in children aged 3 years and older. This paper provides information on clinical trials, non-interventional studies and further literature published on comfrey root till date. –Source

In the treatment of minor blunt injuries several topical drugs are known to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. They represent, however, two fundamentally different major pharmacological therapy approaches: the “chemical-synthetical” and the “phytotherapeutical” approach. The main objective of this trial (CODEC_2004) was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of an ointment of Comfrey extract (Extr. Rad. Symphyti) with that of a Diclofenac gel in the treatment of acute unilateral ankle sprain (distortion). In a single-blind, controlled, randomized, parallel-group, multicenter and confirmatory clinical trial outpatients with acute unilateral ankle sprains (n=164, mean age 29.0 years, 47.6% female) received either a 6 cm long ointment layer of Kytta-Salbe f (Comfrey extract) (n=82) or of Diclofenac gel containing 1.16 g of diclofenac diethylamine salt (n=82) for 7 +/- 1 days, four times a day. Primary variable was the area-under-the-curve (AUC) of the pain reaction to pressure on the injured area measured by a calibrated caliper (tonometer). Secondary variables were the circumference of the joint (swelling; figure-of-eight method), the individual spontaneous pain sensation at rest and at movement according to a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the judgment of impaired movements of the injured joint by the method of “neutral-zero”, consumption of rescue medication (paracetamol), as well as the global efficacy evaluation and the global assessment of tolerability (both by physician and patient, 4 ranks). In this study the primary variable was also to be validated prospectively. It was confirmatorily shown that Comfrey extract is non-inferior to diclofenac. The 95% confidence interval for the AUC (Comfrey extract minus Diclofenac gel) was 19.01-103.09h*N/cm2 and was completely above the margin of non-inferiority. Moreover, the results of the primary and secondary variables indicate that Comfrey extract may be superior to Diclofenac gel. –Source

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