St John's Wort

St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a small bush type plant with yellow flowers.  The sure tell sign that you found one is if you hold a leaf up to the sun, there will be tiny pin holes throughout the leaf. The yellow flowers are where you will find the Hypericin.  Crush the flower heads and you will be left with a rust-colored residue on your fingers (this is the medicine).

I was lucky enough to have one pop-up in my yard. The best time to harvest it is late summer. I chose end July to harvest mine. It is most potent if used fresh, instead of dried.  I found the sunflower oil I macerated the St Johns wort into took on a somewhat sweet smell, and turned orange in color. 

St John’s Wort (SJW) has many medicinal uses when applied topically.  I infused it in Sunflower oil, and in Vegetable glycerin to receive both its lipophilic and hydrophilic constituents. Of course, because we are using natural plants, we can say the following statements are not FDA approved:   

• Antimicrobial – SJW is found when the plant is harvested later in the season, the antibacterial activity is higher. Also in the last 40 years, it has been found to be antiviral especially against the herpes simplex virus, and other enveloped viruses (not non-enveloped viruses like Norovirus or rhinovirus). There is limited knowledge of its effects on fungal infections.
• Antioxidant – Even at low concentrations, SJW extracts proved to have antioxidative properties increasing cell survival.
• Anti-inflammatory – The hyperforin in the SJW reduces symptoms of inflammatory diseases significantly. One study of 18 patients with atopic dermatitis, in all 18 patients showed the hypericum cream was significantly superior to the typical vehicle in the topical treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis.
• Anti-cancer – When injected into the dermal layer of the skin, the hypericin in the SJW showed a toxic effect on cancer cells. There is limited research done on topically applied SJW in cancer research.
• Wound repair – SJW has a number of constituents involved in wound healing, and shown to show significant acceleration of healing excision, circular, and linear incision wounds.

St John’s Wort does prove to cause some photosensitization when heavily applied topically, or eaten on a daily basis. If used in a lower concentration in a formulation, it does not seem to have a potential for severe photosensitization. But like most plants, if it is beneficial for a sunburn, it will most likely cause one. I would advise using it only at night on the skin, or on a cloudy day.