Since there are many of us dealing with chronic pain, I thought I would share a herbal recipe. I will be talking about my own experiences and the historic use of the herb...so "not intended as a substitute for medical advice". Duh.
We've been talking about St johnswort oil as pain reliever when applied topically. Well, SJW doesn't bloom here until June and I've used up all of last summer's oil so I am turning to another herb which I love...DANDELION! This much maligned weed has been used historically for pain, digestive complaints, bladder health (old english name is piss-in-bed!), constipation, and one of the first greens in spring. I love it...and have a large patch of it growing out in front where my grass used to be..haha.
How I made my dandelion salve was pretty darn simple. I filled a quart jar with yellow dandelion flowers. I picked them off of the stalks since I was primarily interested in the flower-power. :) I was making a lot of salve so you don't have to go through picking a whole quart of dandelion flowers...use a smaller jar if you'd like. To the flowers I add coconut oil which has been already melted. I stir and then top up the jar to make sure it's all mixed up. Then I place the jar in a water bath in my crock pot, turn it on low and leave it. Sometimes for a day, overnight, or a couple. However the spirit moves me. Then, while the whole thing is still hot I strain it through cheesecloth into a clean jar or multiple containers. It will set up as it cools. And be a lovely color of yellow as well!!
I use this salve for aches and pains. The coconut oil melts at body temp and leaves a lovely feeling. It might feel greasy at first but it will soak in after a minute or so. It takes a while to work and I find that if I load up on it at bedtime, I will feel much better in the morning!
Now, there are about a thousand variations on the above recipe. If you want to learn more about this herb (and others maybe) try this site:
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/
Plus, she has lots of links there too. Let me know if you give it a try and if it works for you!
Jacki
My dandelion oil/salve for aches and pain
Thanks, Jacki. :-)
You are welcome. :) I just made a fresh batch of double strength oil. I filled up a quart jar with flowerheads, poured EV Olive Oil to fill and put it in a water bath in the crockpot on low. After about 24 hours I strained out the flowers, filled up another quart with fresh dandelion and poured the same oil in. Again in the crockpot.
It works great overnight but it stinks! I need to melt some cocoa butter and or coconut oil to mix with it. It should bring it from oil to a salve and hopefully cover up some of the stink! hahaha.... But if it works, I don't care if it stinks :)
Everyone here but me advocates the usefulness of dandelions. Nadine eats the greens; Kay believes you get more peaches if you allow dandelions to grow beneath the trees. Mindy does something with the roots. (Not sure what, but she occasionally ask us to send her some.) If it can help with pain, I’ll jump on the dandelion bandwagon with the others.
Dandelions for pain relief is a new one for me, but it won’t interfere with medication so why not try it. You use the yellow flowers not the white fluff, right? I ask because the white fluff is all we have this time of year. Do you still have flowers there? (Jim)
You can make wine out of it, too. Or so I hear...{nonchalant whistling}
It's the yellow flowers all right. Maybe the seeds would have the same properties??? Plants are so amazing...you never know.
Dandelion wine, dandelion lemonade, dandelion roots in your stir fry, leaves in your salad, dandelion flower petals in honey...the list goes on. Ahhhh the lovely dandelion! LOL! I actually have one in my hair right now that my son gave me when we were outside :)
:-)
My GS's tell me that if you make a wish on a stalk of dandelion fluff,and if you can blow off all the fluff in one breath, you get what you wished for. If you wished for more dandelions that is certainly true. (Jim)
If you blow off the fluff from a dandelion with one breath and count how many little seeds are still stuck to the head, that's how many children (grandchildren) you'll someday have. *lol*
I have read online that dandelion roots made into a strong tea can even help cancer (I'm not advocating this instead of traditional/Western medicine, just saying I read it. )
Dandelion roots can be dug up, dried, then roasted in the oven until they are dark...pulverize or grind them and you can use as a no-caffeine substitute coffee. People did this in the South during the Civil War, and everywhere during the Great Depression.