Talk:Rumex

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The reference used in [1] ^ Łukasz Łuczaj (2008). "Archival data on wild food plants used in Poland in 1948". J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 4 (4). doi:10.1186/1746-4269-4-4. PMC 2275233. has nothing to do with the quote used. the article says that dock leaves are used as remedies for nettle stings, but the pubmed research paper doesnt mention this. However, if the link isfollowed after the quote it directs to a completely different page. if someone doesnt change this, i will delete the reference to the pubmed research article. James 193.1.30.8 (talk) 10:01, 15 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, that article is for the edibleness. What was confusing was the two unrelated uses of "[1]" because of two different citations styles. I've fixed this so one is a [1] and the other is a [2]. Kingdon (talk) 05:30, 16 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The list of these species is really long. Shouldn't they be moved to a separate article? -- carol (talk) 08:45, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The article states "dock leaves are a traditional remedy for the sting of nettles". However, the page on stinging nettles describes this as an "ineffective folk remedy". If the remedy is ineffective, then would this article be improved by indicating this? Colin2468 (talk) 16:38, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If we have a source for saying it is ineffective, sure. Kingdon (talk) 20:35, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think 'citation needed' is necessary here. How can you cite "we don't know any" without providing links to every page on the internet? We know it's a traditional remedy, that's a fact. Have people scientifically analysed it? Probably, but if they found anything of merit, then we would probably be reading about it here with a citation to the claim being made by the study. We can with equal correctness say that it has no known beneficial effects on tuberculosis, but that wouldn't be relevant. Unless someone can point us to a NPOV study into the benefits of dock leaves on nettle stings, then we can safely say we don't know of any. It is the page on nettles which needs citation for claiming that dock leaves actually work. People used to treat bruises by covering them in crushed earthworm oil, but that didn't work. The best readily available cure for itching caused by the histamine content of nettle stings is, er, antihistamine.

For the record, to those people who caused me to spend various points of my childhood searching for a readily available dock leaf after stinging myself, thanks for that useless bit of time-wasting information.. it doesn't work. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.255.106 (talk) 14:58, 17 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have a source for this but I was always told that dock leaves work in 2 main ways: firstly wiping a crushed leaf or stem across the sting will help to remove any nettle hairs still there (similar to washing with water or a wet wipe) which will stop the sting getting any worse and secondly because nettle stings are alkali and the acid in the dock leaves helps neutralise it (and for the same reason they can be used on alkali common wasp stings but should never be used on acidic bee stings). Based on my own experience and what I've been told they're not any better at easing the pain than any other solution, but do have the benefit of being free and nearby (in Western Europe at least) where other treatments might not be easily available if you're out in the countryside and didn't bring them with you. My own experience (and I know this is OR) is that they do help ease the sting. They won't stop it completely but they make it more bearable until it goes away. 82.68.159.246 (talk) 10:34, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Article includes:

In Western Europe, dock leaves are a traditional remedy for the sting of nettles, .... The Dock leaf is not known to have shown any curative properties of any kind beyond the placebo effect.

This looks very wrong to me, and I notice the statement has no reference. I was always taught that dock leaves were effective because their "juice" was a topical analgesic. I don't have a reference for this but, if correct, there must be one. HairyWombat (talk) 03:25, 26 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

From the article, the juice contains Oxalic acid which has industrial uses, and Tannin which has well documented medicinal uses related to digestion, but none as an analgesic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.255.106 (talk) 16:47, 17 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]