Originally Posted by raptureready

My mother, also a sufferer of this disease, dug up burdock (wild leafy weed) roots, washed, quartered and cut them into 3-4" lengths. Then she would pour about 2" of rubbing alcohol out of the bottle and put enough of the burdock roots in it to fill it up. She'd put the cap back on and set this mixture in the window sill. When the alcohol turns sort of dark brown it's done and ready to use. She'd rub this on the most painful areas a couple of times a day and it helped. Worried that there might be something in burdock that would hurt her I contacted a plant/folk medicine expert at the University of Illinois. He researched it for me and said that burdock has been used for hundreds of years as a pain reliever. It can, although a bit bitter, be eaten in salads, dried and brewed as tea, or infused in alcohol as mom did. You can also use a rolling pin to crush the fresh leaves, dip them in hot water and wrap them around a gout inflamed toe then wrap a towel around that for some relief.