Nettle leaf – Urtica dioica

Description

Use in skin care preparations and in hair tonics, shampoos and conditioners. dried nettle is used in teas or simply sprinkled into cooked foods and smoothies. Nettle leaf may also be tinctured.
Stinging nettle root is used for urination problems related to an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH]). These problems include nighttime urination, too frequent urination, painful urination, inability to urinate, and irritable bladder.
Stinging nettle root is also used for joint ailments, as a diuretic, and as an astringent.
Stinging nettle above ground parts are used along with large amounts of fluids in so-called ?irrigation therapy? for urinary tract infections (UTI), urinary tract inflammation, and kidney stones (nephrolithiasis). The above-ground parts are also used for allergies, hayfever, and osteoarthritis.
Some people use the above ground parts of stinging nettle for internal bleeding, including uterine bleeding, nosebleeds, and bowel bleeding. The above ground parts are also used for anemia, poor circulation, an enlarged spleen, diabetes and other endocrine disorders, stomach acid, diarrhea and dysentery, asthma, lung congestion, rash and eczema, cancer, preventing the signs of aging, ?blood purification,? wound healing, and as a general tonic.
Stinging nettle above ground parts are applied to the skin for muscle aches and pains, oily scalp, oily hair, and hair loss (alopecia).