Thumbai Poo | Plant Health Benefits & Medicinal Uses: Home Remedy For Insect Bites & Skin Diseases

Thumbai is a small plant that grows wildly in abundance. It’s botanical name is Leucas Aspera and it is found all over India extensively. It is called dronapushpi in Sanskrit, darunaphula in Bengali, goma madhupati in Hindi and Kubo in Sindhi. You can spot thumbai easily because of it’s beautiful white flowers and the long elongated leaves, they are also the best way to identify this amazing plant.

Both the flowers and leaves are used in home remedies. Here in Tamil Nadu, you can easily get thumbai plant, if you visit any village. It is hard to get thumbai plant in nurseries, but you can easily grow it in small pots with the seeds and they look really beautiful. In our village side thumbai is used extensively in home remedies and we use it for cooking too.

Thumbai Plant Traditional Uses:

This plant is the best medicine for insect bites and it is even used for treating snake bites! Thumbai  juice is given to the patient who is bitten by a snake and the juice is also rubbed on the bitten area and this is done once every 30 minutes. This treatment is still carried on in many villages, but it is best done under the supervision of an experienced person.

I wanted to write this treatment because usually these kind of treatments might save lives during an emergency, if medical help is not available immediately. Since this plant is found very commonly in our village, if anyone gets bitten by small insects, they just collect the leaves and rub it on a stone to get a paste and then apply on the affected area. Usually the pain will subside very quickly and with regular application the pain will be completely gone.

Since this plant is edible, you can safely take the juice of this plant without any side effects. When having oil bath during winter season, people who are suffering from sinus problems might get a headache. But when oil is heated along with thumbai flowers, they will not have any of the problems at all. A reader of this blog was asking me remedies for noise in the ears.

If it is caused due to infection, thumbai oil will treat it very effectively. I have to mention this plants effect on skin diseases. If you are suffering from any skin diseases that causes intense itching and hardening of the skin, try applying the crushed thumbai leaves on that area. With regular use, you will get good relief. Consuming the juice along with the external application will speed up the healing process….

3 Top Health Benefits Of Thumbai :

1. Thumbai Oil For Oil Bath & Noise In The Ear :

If you are suffering from sinusitis and if this problem is keeping you from having oil bath, try the oil made with thumbai flowers. To make the oil, heat unrefined sesame oil in a small pan along thumbai flowers in a low flame. Fry till the flowers are cooked well and strain, use this oil for having oil massage. This oil also prevents sinus headaches. A drop of this oil in each ear will prevent the noise in the ears that I mentioned earlier.

2. For Insect Bites & Skin Diseases:

Take the leaves of the plant and pound it as finely as you can in a mortar and pestle and apply it as a poultice over the affected area. Take a thin cotton cloth and tie it over the poultice to prevent it from falling down and also make sure not to add any water or very little water while pounding the plant.

3. Thumbai Juice: 

To make the juice, take the leaves and grind it to a smooth paste along with little boiled water. Take around 1 tbsp of the juice for 3 days in an empty stomach daily to speed up the healing process. This juice also can be applied for skin problems. This juice also removes intestinal worms.

NOTES:

• Always try to make the preparations with fresh herb.
• Thumbai poultice is very very effective and if you are suffering from skin diseases, please give it a try. You can also grind the paste using a mixer.
• You can also add few drops of honey to the juice, if you find it difficult to drink it as it is.