| |  | | Use and Dose of Squaw Vine/Partridge Berry
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Damon
Posted on: September 30, 2007
Could you research the uses and doses for this herb?
Does it provide symptomatic relief or pathogenicidal effect or both or neither?
The actions of squaw vine, now known as partridge berry (Mitchella repens), are astringent, uterine tonic and diuretic.
Thomas Bartram, in his book "Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine (available at Richters) is used mainly for the genito-urinary system. It is used to strengthen and nourish in pregnancy, for sore nipples, painful menstruation, bladder irritation, excess fluids in the body tissues (edema) and suppression of urine (usually occurring in kidney inflammation).
Bartram gives the dose as 1 teaspoon of dried herb or 3 teaspoons of fresh herb per cup of boiling water, steeped for 15 minutes in a non-metal teapot. 1/2 to 1 cup, three times daily. For a tincture, the dose is 15 to 60 drops daily.
Maud Grieve (http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/squawv85.html) gives the following recipe for sore nipples: "2 OZ. of the herb (fresh, if possible), 1 pint of water. Make a strong decoction, strain, and add an equal quantity of good cream. Boil the whole down to the consistency of a soft salve, and when cool, anoint the nipple every time the child is removed from the breast."
In most cases, partridge berry would be used with other herbs, prescribed by a qualified medical or clinical herbalist, to effect a cure. In serious cases like kidney inflammation, a medical doctor should be consulted.
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