The use of medicinal herbs has long been a foundation of ancient medicine. Great civilizations such as the Egyptians, Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, Roman and Greek used various medicinal herbs to treat illnesses.
One of the medicinal herbs that is commonly used at the time was Ephedra sinica. This particular evergreen-shrub is most common in Asia, particularly China, Russia and Mongolia. Commonly known as “Ma-Huang” in Chinese, Ephedra is mainly used to treat respiratory conditions such as nasal congestions, wheezing and asthma. Other common ailments where Ephedra is used are flu, colds and fever.
Ephedra’s medicinal properties may be attributed to its two alkaloid components known as Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine. Ephedrine is basically a type of natural chemical that increases norephinephrine activity which as has stimulating effect. It is because of this ephedrine activity that Ephedra is most commonly used as a stimulant and respiratory decongestant.
Today, more than 700 drugs that are sold by pharmaceutical companies and drug stores have ephedrine as one of their active compounds. Although Ephedra can be effective in treating the aforementioned ailments, there are certain side effects that must be considered.
Ephedra do cause seizures in both healthy and people who already have seizure disorders if taken in large dosages. Ephedra is also not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women due to some complications that it may cause with infants. Using Ephedra in conjunction with other dietary medicines or supplements may result to health problems. Finally, Ephedra doesn’t go well with coffee or any other caffeinated beverage since it may increase the seriousness of all aforementioned side effects.
With this in mind, it might not be wise to use Ephedra (Ephedra sinica) to treat anal fissure. Anal Fissure is a condition wherein an open tear or cut may be seen in the anal mucosa lining. This is a very painful condition wherein it cause significant pain when passing bowel motions, it also causes spot bleeding from the anal area and causes an itching or burning sensation as well.
Anal fissure may be Acute or Chronic. Anal fissures can be categorized as Acute when it is in its early onset. The tear or cut may resemble just like a normal paper cut, almost invisible to the eye, and may be home treated. Acute anal fissures usually last from 2 to 7 days and, in most cases, heal on their own.
Anal fissure can be categorized as chronic if it fails to heal and persists for more than 3 months. Chronic anal fissures usually have larger visible tearing on the anal lining and is very, very painful. Chronic anal fissures may be treated with taking stool softeners so as to alleviate pain when passing stool and also by applying zinc oxide prescription creams.
Using ephedra (Ephedra sinica) to treat anal fissure isn’t a good option due to the herb’s stimulant-like nature. Ephedra may even augment the inflammation brought about by the fissure and even increase the feeling of pain when afflicted with anal fissure. Ephedra may also cause complications if taken with stool softeners, laxatives, etc.
Please Share
