What use are the 'holly and the ivy' of festive song once Christmas has gone? Little-known medicinal uses for least-favoured Christmas plant:

BRONCHITIS IN CHILDREN
A child with an acute attack of bronchitis may be quite ill, but, whether ill or not, his parents will be very worried about him. For the mild bronchitic condition associated with the pain and discomfort of teething, it is advised that he be taken to where the road is being tarred so that he can smell the tar. This is the usual Dublin method of treating whooping cough. For a child who is 'caught' on the chest, a preparation of garlic is used. In this case the leaves and cloves of the garlic are all chopped very fine, wrapped in brown paper and applied to the chest. I have cut up garlic as though to prepare this plaster and the smell of the garlic is very strong and it is probable that whatever action the plaster may have is due to the smell. In this, it resembles some well-known patent medicines which may be rubbed on the chest and which have pleasant medicinal smells. Ivy leaves may be chewed and the juice swallowed to 'clear' the chest. K'eogh says: The juice of the leaves cures wounds, scalds, snuffed into the nose, purges the head of slimy viscid cold humours.
A similar treatment is to chew, suck and swallow the juice of dandelion leaves.

CORNS
An ivy leaf tied around a soft corn is said to cure it-if the treatment can be continued for long enough. A more elaborate treatment is to soak the feet in a strong solution of washing soda. This is repeated daily for several days until pain of the corn is relieved. If these methods are not successful, a handful of ivy leaves should be put to steep in a pint of vinegar in a tightly corked bottle for forty-eight hours. The liquid is then poured off and still kept tightly corked. When required, it is applied carefully to each corn, taking care to see that the preparation does not get on the skin-it is very painful. K'eogh has this to say about the therapeutic uses of ivy leaves:

the juice of the leaves cures wounds, ulcers, burns and scalds.

The use of vinegar (a 5.4% solution of acetic acid) in the treatment of corns is an efficient method, and, if persisted in, would probably remove the corn completely. It was not a very popular remedy because it was liable to cause considerable pain. The most usual method was to bathe the corn in hot water and pare it with a razor. The corn was then touched with a drop of carbolic acid.

From Irish Folk Medicine by Patrick Logan
Appletree Press