Witch Hazel, whose another name is Hamamelis Virginiana, happens to be deciduous tree / shrub growing prominently in Atlantic North America. Nowadays, this plant is also grown in Europe as well as Asia. On an average, this plant touches a height of 15 ft / 4.6 m and bears bright yellow flowers in the fall. Since a long long time, the leaves and bark of the Witch Hazel was used by people as poultice as well as to treat swelling and inflammation. With time, people have discovered various more ways to make use of it. So read on to know about the uses and benefits of the Witch Hazel.

 

A versatile plant, Witch Hazel has many uses ranging from facial care to relaxing aching feet. Apart from these, this plant can also be use for the treatment of a number of maladies. For instance, the Witch Hazel can be used for curing of hemorrhoids, mouth and throat inflammation as well as other conditions like varicose veins, wounds and burns. Witch Hazel can be used to soothe down the pain of sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy blisters, windburn, sprained muscles, etc.

 

The main medicinal property of Witch Hazel is the hamamelis liquid that can be extracted and then decocted from fresh dried leaves, bark and twigs. Tannins and volatile oils in this plant are responsible for its astringent properties. Just like any other herbal astringent, the Witch Hazel too serves in lessening the irritation on the tissue / skin surface (due to burns, wounds, etc.) through a kind of numbing. After this is done, the astringent helps in preventing the occurrence of any kind of infection.

 

It is believed that a cold compress of Witch Hazel provides relief from a headache. In the cosmetics industry, the Witch Hazel is employed for making products such as facial skin freshener, stringent that tend to lessen the size of pores, make-up remover and creams / ointments to lessen the bags under the eyes. Products for the men which contain Witch Hazel include herbal shaving cream and aftershave.