Medicinal Uses of the Neem Tree

Known as "the village pharmacy" in India, the neem tree has been used in medicine for over 4,000 years and can live for 150 to 200 years. Every part of the tree---the bark, branches, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruit---holds some type medicinal properties, from being an antiseptic to an antipyretic to an anti-inflammatory.

Neem Leaves

• The neem tree's deep green leaves have serrated edges and can be used topically or orally to treat certain illnesses. By creating a paste out of neem leaves or soaking in water with neem leaves, you can treat chickenpox and warts. The leaves can all be made into capsules or teas to be taken as an oral immunity booster. Though very bitter in taste, neem leaf tea reduces the malaria's fever. You can also soak your feet in this tea to treat some foot fungi. When the oil extracted from the neem's leaves is mixed into a lotion, it can be topically applied to cure ringworm, eczema and scabies, usually only in three or four days. Chronic case may take up to two weeks to clear up. In folk medicine, the oils taken from neem leaves are used to treat leprosy, intestinal worms and certain nosebleeds as well.

Neem Twigs

• For good oral hygiene the people of India and Africa used the twigs from neem trees as toothbrushes. Today, extracts from the tree are still being used for oral hygiene as an ingredient in commercial toothpastes. According to folk medicine, neem twigs can also be used to treat coughs, asthma, diabetes and intestinal worms.

Neem Seeds

• The oils taken out of the neem seed, in combination with the extracts from the neem leaf, produce a spermicidal effect that may make theses extracts an effective contraceptive when applied vaginally. The compound founds in the extracts from neem leaves and seeds relieves pain, acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and reduces fevers, making it conducive to healing cuts, burns, earaches, sprains and fevers.

Neem Bark

• The tough, scaly bark of the neem tree appears brown when the tree is young then turns a gray color as the tree ages. This bark possesses analgesic properties to reduce pain and can also diminish fever. Powdered neem bark, in combination with powdered neem roots, helps control fleas and ticks on your pets, which in return can stop you bed from transferring this insects onto you.

Neem Flowers

• Neem flowers grow in huge clusters, sometimes with 250 individual white blooms in a single cluster. While the clusters are large the individual flowers measure only a couple millimeters in diameter. In folk medicine, these heavenly scented flowers are used to treat build ups of phlegm, intestinal worms and bile suppression.

Neem Fruit

• The small, round fruit from a neem tree resembles as an olive and turns from green to yellow when ripe. Each fruit harbors at least one seed. Though not a delicious tasting fruit, it can be taken to treat urinary disorders, nosebleeds, eye problems, diabetes and leprosy.