The linden is a perennial tree, with a smooth crust and many branches. They are many types, there is no difference between them from a medical point of view, and their leaves are in the shape of a serrated heart, and some of them are lanceolate, similar to olive leaves, and their color is silver. This variety (silver) is common in Arab countries, and its flowers are clustered white, or blonde, and have a good aromatic smell, and its bark and flowers are used.
The therapeutic benefits of linden have been known since ancient times. The Roman historian Blaine, who lived in the first century AD, chewed its leaves to treat mouth ulcers. Its leaves were also used by the Arab physician and philosopher Ibn Sina as a pain reliever and a treatment for varicose veins.
It was mentioned in Ibn Al-Bitar’s “Al-Jami’ Limufradat Al-Dawaa’ wa’l-Athatha” that the linden tree is “an analgesic for vomiting, which suppresses the intensity of bile poured into the abdomen and intestines, and is very beneficial for headaches.”
And it came in Tadhkirat Dawood by Antioch, that it “opens the dams, and removes chest diseases such as asthma and lung ulcers, and liver diseases such as dropsy, jaundice, hemiplegia, rickets, tetanus, pulmonary edema, and cold strikes.
Ibn Sina said about him: “It is useful for hemorrhoids and asthma as a drink, and it breaks up stones if drunk with its flowers.” In modern medicine, studies have shown that linden is useful for treating nerve pain, purifying the kidneys, and calming chest pain. It is also useful in treating intestinal sputum and stomach disorders, and removing phlegm. As well as for the treatment of wounds, ulcers and burns.
Among its benefits is that it is used as an antispasmodic, stomach and intestinal colic, and indigestion. It is a treatment for congested colds, bronchitis, coughing, and asthma. It is considered a stimulant for the secretion of bile and liver. It helps sleep and get rid of anxiety. It calms rheumatic pains and is beneficial for digestive and nervous disorders and hardening of the arteries.
Its therapeutic uses
This emulsion is prepared by soaking a teaspoon of the flowers in a cup of boiling hot water for 10-15 minutes, then filtered and sweetened with honey or plant sugar and drunk, at the rate of three cups per day, to treat the following:
1. Infection with a cold, flu, chest infections, cough, headache, and other winter illnesses.
2. Spasms of nerves, jitteriness, dizziness, nervous vomiting, palpitations, respiratory distress, melancholy, insomnia, and other symptoms caused by nervous disorders.
3. Atherosclerosis and circulatory disorders, and the resulting symptoms such as varicose veins and hemorrhoids.
4. Laziness or weakness of the digestive system, and what it causes of flatulence and heaviness in the stomach, and other digestive disorders.
5. Headaches and migraines.
6. Gout and rheumatism pain.
7. Albumin, salts, cholesterol and diabetes.
8. Urinary sand and stones, whether in the kidneys, bladder or liver, and the resulting renal, bladder or hepatic colic.
8. Gout, rheumatism and sciatica.
Bark decoction:
It is prepared by taking a medium spoon of bark (which is the white powder between the outer shell and the wood) and boiling it in a cup of water for one minute. Then the fire is extinguished and the emulsion is patient for 5-10 minutes, then it is filtered, then it is sweetened with honey or plant sugar, and a cup of it is drunk in the morning on an empty stomach and the last in the evening when going to sleep for two to three weeks.
linden charcoal:
The linden branches are dried and charred (from charcoal), then its charcoal is crushed, and it is taken either in a powder form or mixed with honey and granulated (from grain) the size of a small “hillah” for one grain, and it is advisable to add a little senna powder to it to facilitate the stomach and remove it from the intestines. Two medium spoons of the powder are taken daily, one in the morning and the second in the evening, provided that it is accompanied by a laxative to remove it from the intestines. And if you like, two pills are taken in the morning and the same in the evening.
This charcoal is described to get rid of the rottenness of the intestines and to absorb gases and toxins from them.
Floral decoction:
It is prepared by adding a large handful to each liter of water and boiling it over low heat for 2-3 minutes. The decoction is used to treat the following:
1. Sunstroke, high fever and strong headache, by taking a bath by adding two or three liters to the bathing water at a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius.
2. To reduce inflammation resulting from a bruise or sprain in the joints, by taking a quantity of this broth to wash the site of the bruise or sprain with it.
3. To treat the skin, especially the skin of the face, to purify it, remove pimples, and wipe its wrinkles, by wiping and applying poultices.
• Ointment: Linden charcoal powder rubs them with oil and anoints burns and calluses with it, which speeds up their healing.