This medicinal botanical is approved to treat inflammatory cutaneous disorders. Asian medicine employs flax to treat superficial infections. This herb functions as a soothing anti-inflammatory emollient due to the linolenic, linoleic, and oleic acids which combined comprise 30-45% of the extract weight. Proteins account for another 20-27% of the extract while mucilages comprise about 10%. Antioxidant, antimycotic, and estrogenic effects result from lignans, whose most abundant source is flax. Cyanogenic glycosides and phenylpropanes are the other active compounds in this extract.
The adverse cutaneous reactions have only been reported to linseed, the oil extracted from flax. They include irritation, erythema, eyelid edema, and one case of an anaphylaxis (3,13,22). Flax is administered as a cracked or ground seed, powder, linseed oil, or a poultice.