The blackberry or Solanum nigrum, is a herbaceous plant that grows and obtains wild in any part of the world. It is a small plant no bigger than 70 centimeters in height, its leaves are of intense green color of smooth texture and a thin and brittle stem. It is of great use for its proven medicinal properties.
It is very common to find it in the lots or courtyards of the houses. The blackberry plant has as fruits small round berries the size of a pea and a green color, which change to a bright black color like that of the grapes when they are ripe, they can be highly toxic due to a chemical compound or alkaloid that has called solanine.
The poisoning by consumption of quantities in excess of doses of the blackberry, (especially when its fruits are green), produces vomiting, stomach pain, drowsiness, fever and in extreme cases, paralysis and finally death by heart failure. The concentration of solanine depends on the degree of maturity of the fruits.
Among its healing properties and uses we have that it is prepared in infusions made (as I mentioned in controlled quantities), with its leaves, as a sedative and analgesic, it is also recommended as an anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and laxative, for the treatment of psoriasis, chicken pox , hemorrhoids, arthritis and external wounds, applied in the form of cataplasm or plasters directly on the skin or affected part.
The blackberry herb is very effective in combating and curing fungal infections. Among them, particularly in the case of the so-called Athlete's Foot or Fungus dermatophytosis of the feet, caused by the fungi Trichophyton mentagrophytes or Trichophyton rubrum. For this, the green leaves of the plant are squeezed or crushed in a vessel with water and then your feet are immersed in it, and you will immediately experience a great improvement and in a few days you will be completely cured.
But one of the most common uses of this herb is that it is used to cure the so-called Shingles or Herpes Zoster. In medicine Traditional indigenous is mentioned for its many properties and use.
Shingles is a rash caused by the Varicella virus]. It occurs in the form of bubbles of water or blisters that sprout on the skin. The symptoms are a very intense pain, together with an unbearable burning. They usually occur before the shingles erupt. After its outbreak the bubbles break, forming small sores or ulcers, which begin to dry and fall after about three weeks.
The name of Culebrilla is given by the elongated shape that in some cases can have the eruption, in the shape of a snake. The popular belief (told by my grandmother, a lady who died of 110 years), is that he had to seek a cure before the shingles surrounded the body, finding his head with his tail, since the person died irremediably. The truth is that the virus if not attacked in time can be deadly.
All those who have suffered from Varicella, are prone to suffer from shingles, since the virus remains dormant in the body for many years and is usually manifested from the 50 years where there is the greatest likelihood of developing this disease.
The eruption of this Herpes or Shingles normally manifests in areas such as the back, chest, belly or belly, arms, hands, face, ears and in many cases it has been seen that it has come to sprout inside the mouth, specifically in the language.
In Venezuela, as part of popular beliefs, the healers or sorcerers use it to cure Culebrilla, preparing a poultice or poultice, which they place on the diseased part where the shingles erupted. And in a kind of session, they pray healing prayers, invoke the spirits, using spells while smoking tobacco, they also make the so-called powder blows. Many say that those prayers and the powers conferred to the sorcerer by the spirits are the ones that cure the patient of this mythical shingles, but what is proven is that everything is due to the healing power of this miraculous plant.
