Family: Polygonaceae.

Synonyms: Yellow Dock, Curled Dock, Curly Dock, Sour Dock, Narrow Dock, Garden Patience and Rumex.

Parts Used: Root.

Active Compounds: Miscellaneous; tannins, rumicin and oxalates.

Medicinal Actions and Uses

Alterative, laxative, hepatic, cholagogue, tonic, depurative, astringent, antiscorbutic, detergent.

Used for:

• Poor Digestion
• Skin Conditions

Yellow Dock is used extensively in the treatment of chronic skin complaints such as psoriasis. The anthraquinones present have a markedly cathartic action on the bowel, but in this herb they act in a mild way. Thus it is useful for constipation, working as it does in a much wider way than simply stimulating the gut muscles. It promotes the flow of bile and has that somewhat obscure action of being a blood cleanser The action on the gall-bladder gives it a role in the treatment of jaundice when this is due to congestion.

Traditional herbalists recommend this herb for: bad blood with chronic skin disease; bubonic swellings; low deposits in glands and cellular tissues, and tendency to indolent ulcers; feeble recuperative power; irritative, dry laryngo- tracheal cough; stubborn, dry, summer cough; chronic sore throat, with glandular enlargements and hypersecretion; nervous dyspepsia, with epigastric fullness and pain extending through left half of chest; cough, with dyspnoea and sense of praecordial fullness.