Have you ever heard of Dr. Pol Henry? This Belgian doctor is at the base of the natural medicine that is gemmotherapy. Indeed, he was the first to consider the therapeutic potential of buds (gemmae in Latin).

He was not the very first to realize their therapeutic interest: Saint Hildegard of Bingen was already using some buds, mainly apple, ash or blackcurrant. But Pol Henry was the first to research them in more detail and to realize the interest of ALL buds.

Among the many buds discovered, there are several that could change the lives of people with arthritis!

La sève, un ingrédient clé en gemmothérapie

According to, Dr. Pol Henry, gemmotherapy is not a therapeutic medicine like any other: It acts first as an energetic medicine before being a"therapy based on active principles" . And the notion of energy opening that he advanced opens up fascinating perspectives. 

The reason that buds are so rich in active ingredients is partly due to the presence of one ingredient in particular: sap. The sap of a tree can be compared to the blood in the human body. Like the latter, it is present in all parts of the tree, including the buds and provides nutrients and electromagnetic information. And although this energetic presence cannot be biologically measured, its presence nonetheless plays an essential role in gemmotherapy.

Le bourgeon, un condensé de principes actifs

In the 1960s, Dr. Henry chose to select the "embryonic tissues" of a plant rather than its adult parts.

For him, all these young parts: young shoots, rootlets, young bark and especially buds, carry the future of the plant. The bud is particularly valued because it has not yet differentiated and carries all the active principles of the tree in the making: leaf, flower, bark and roots.

Thus, the buds contain active ingredients from each part of the plant: nucleic acid, vitamins, trace elements, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, enzymes, amino acids and growth hormones. There you have it, in a small bud, a "totum" of active ingredients!

In phytotherapy, it is well known that the "totum" of the plant (i.e., the plant in its entirety) is much more effective than all of its constituents taken separately. 

5 bourgeons contre l’arthrose

Le bourgeon de bouleau, pour soutenir les reins

When arthritis sets in, and it is often that the body's waste elimination chain is impeded. It is then necessary to act at the level of the kidneys and, for that, the warty birch (Betula verrucosa) is ideal.

The birch macerateis somewhat similar to birch sap with its "detox" action, It flushes out toxins, including uric acid. Birch macerate supports the kidneys as much as the articular systemas :

• < b>anti-inflammatory;

• kidney drainer ;

• diuretic ;

• < b>antirheumatic.

Le  bourgeon de cassis, pour soulager l’inflammation

The blackcurrant (Ribes Nigrum) will act on all the emunctory organs, through its draining action, but it will do much more than that! The blackcurrant bud macerate is above all a antirheumaticand anti-inflammatory powerful. 

Its action on the adrenal gland stimulates the natural production of cortisone, relieving inflammation and pain and the blackcurrant glycerine macerate will eventually replace your anti-inflammatory drugs. It will also restore flexibility to your tendons and ligaments and protect your cartilage . 

In short, it is a remedy for arthritis, gout, ligament and tendon pain and painful joints.< /b>

Le bourgeon de pin, protège le cartilage de l’usure 

The pine (Pinus Montana) is an excellent remineralizer, it fights wear and tear and the destruction of articular cartilage (useful to strengthen a spine!) thanks to its stimulating action on chrondrocytes.

It is a great remedy for various arthroses (gonarthrosis, coxarthrosis, small joints), it relieves inflammatory rheumatism, chronic arthrosic pain.

Le bourgeon de ronce, indiquée pour l’arthrose du genou 

The Bramble (Rubus Fructicosus) Is a remedy for bone tissue decay and fights osteoporosis.

Through its osteoblastic action, it consolidates and stimulates cells capable of making bone tissue (osteoblasts).

Le bourgeon de vigne, un anti-inflammatoire chronique

The grapevine glycerine macerate (Vitis vinifera), helps relieve arthritis, acute rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis.

he anti-inflammatory properties of the vine bud apply, to the great relief of users, especially in chronic conditions such as acute rheumatic fever, various arthritic pain, arthroses (coxarthrosis, gonarthrosis), especially those of small joints and those with hyperuricemia.

Thevine bud slows and stops joint deformities, erythema nodosum, because it slows the formation of osteophytes. 

La gemmothérapie de l’arthrose en conclusion

Although Dr. Pol Henry passed away 32 years ago, his work and his gemmotherapy remedies continue to grow.

So in case of osteoarthritis, don't hesitate anymore to turn to these solutions that nature has given us. The glycerine macerates of birch, blackcurrant, vine, pine and bramble.

< u>Sources:

< font style="font-size: 12px;"> 1. Ph. Andrianne, Gemmotherapy: past present and future, Phytotherapy, 2008.< /font>

< font style="font-size: 12px;">2. LAURINE PINEAU, Le grand livre de la gemmothérapie, Leduc.s Editions, 2019