TCM horsetail herb used to stop wind heat infection

What is horsetail herb(Mu Zei)?
Medicinally it refers to the dried above ground part of Hippochaete hyemalis (L.) Bruhin. (or Equisetum hyemale. L.) This is a member in the family Equisetaceae. And other names of horsetail plant include scouring rush, Shave Grass, Herba Equiseti Hiemalis, rough horsetail, Horse Tail, Horsetail Grass, and so on. It is generally collected in summer and autumn. Before the use, it needs to remove impurities and dry in the sun or in the shade. And it can be used in the forms of horsetail supplement, extract, tea, powder, and pills.

Horsetail plant is a perennial herb, up to 50cm in height. Creeping rhizome is short, black, and with verticillate dark brown roots on nodes. Fasciculate stems are hard, upright, unbranched, cylindrical, and 4 to 8mm in diameter. Leaves degenerate into flaky shape; base grows into 6-10mm tubular sheath. The spike of sporangia is on the top of stems, oblong, 1 to 1.5cm long, and with dark brown small tip on apex. Spherical spores are many and wound by 2 filamentous elaters, which will pop open once contacting water so that the spores can reproduce. Heading stage is between June and August. Habitats are wet places under the hillside forest, riparian wetlands and stream, and sometimes the weeds.

Horsetail herb benefits
The Horsetails belong to the only surviving genus of Equisetum. More than that, its family Equisetaceae, its order Equisetales, and its classis Sphenopsida are all single respectively. It is one of the oldest plants on earth. Today the horsetail grass found in corn fields and wetlands in many places of the world is, actually, the dwarf species of huge fossil plants in Carboniferous era. In addition to its medicinal uses, it can be very helpful in everyday life too. Here are some proven tips.

When spring comes, many of the elderly will suffer from eye disorders, such as red eyes, photophobia, burning sensation, increased mucus, too much eye discharge, etc. And the above-mentioned symptoms are often caused by a virus, by a bacterial infection, or by allergies. Traditional Chinese medicine calls it "eyes of fire" and believes that it is associated with wind-heat infection, which is easily triggered in spring due to the growth and development of yang Qi. In this case, drinking horsetail tea is one of the simplest but effective options.

It can be used to make an amazing homemade toner. To make your own secret horsetail-based formula, you need to go through a few steps. To start with, chop the stems that don’t bloom yet and put them into a pot; next, add 2 pints of water and 1 tablespoon honey, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes; in addition, add 1 tablespoon of witch hazel juice after cooling and filtering; finally, mix them thoroughly. That’s it. This toner is good at shrinking enlarged pores on face and neck.

Since it is used as polishing material traditionally, similarly it can be used for dental stains removal and teeth whitening too. Actually many people have ever given it a try and claimed that it worked but the bitter astringent taste was so terrible. Nevertheless, this teeth-stains-clean method is based on physical instead of chemical properties. Because it works like fine grit sandpaper, long-term use may lead to enamel damage.