Poultices - Homemade Healing!

I’ve used a variety of different poultices over the years, from ones as simple as wetting clayish soil to put on a bee sting to all the others you’ll find below. Poultices are overlooked and considered to be out of fashion these days, but that never stopped me from using them. I encourage anyone dealing with health issues or pain to consider trying a poultice. The results will amaze you!

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Poultice Options

• Activated charcoal: Excellent for drawing out toxins and can be used on any part of the body. Good for insect bites to bring down the swelling and promote healing. Charcoal is a must have on hand emergency medicine for any household, but especially for those with young kids. Charcoal taken orally can save a child from poisoning. Take 1/4 cup of charcoal and blend with water into a sludgy liquid add more water if needed and get them to drink immediately while you’re on your way to the emergency room! It’s excellent for sour stomachs, taken in capsules - 2 or 3. it is constipating, but that’s only a short term side-effect
• Onion or garlic poultice: For colds, flu and bronchitis, localized infections. Place a moderately thin slice or paste of the onion between two layers of cloth. Apply this to the bottom of the feet and wrap in waterproof cloth/plastic and cover with socks. Leave on for half an hour and and repeat every 3 hours as needed until the illness is gone. This can also be applied to the chest or back for coughing and congestion. You can use a garlic version of this over and around the ear for an ear infection        
• Cabbage: Excellent for decongesting the liver, cancer of the breast, mastitis, low back pain. Use only organic cabbage leaves. Prepare whole cabbage leaves by pounding them a bit with a rolling pin, then crush the roller over them a few times. Wilting them in a vegetable steamer for a few minutes and then they are ready to apply. You may opt to skip the wilting step if is time is short. Simply apply the leaves to the part of the body needing attention. Secure with an ace bandage and leave in place for 1 hour or until you feel agitated! Weirdly this is the body’s way of telling you we’re good! Some folks like to puree the cabbage in a blender or food processor, make a patty out of it, place in cheese cloth and then apply making sure to put a layer of some other fabric or san wrap over the side away from the skin so the juice doesn’t run everywhere. Not my favorite way, kind of messy, but effective. If you are doing cabbage poultices frequently this pureed version is a great option. Poultices can be made ahead and frozen as individual patties between cheese cloth on the skin side and old t-shirt or other cotton on the topside. Make your patties and freeze them cloth and all. Take out to thaw each day for use.
• Garlic for Warts: Fresh garlic poultice for removal of warts. Make a paste of fresh garlic and apply just enough to cover the wart. Cover with a bandage and leave on over night. Continue until the wart(s) are gone.
• Healing Clays: My all time favorite. Clay is good for a wide variety of complaints. Inflammation, arthritis, toxic liver and/or gallbladder, infections, boils, mastitis, menstrual problems and/or cramping, endometriosis, breast cancer, skin cancers. Clay will reduce pain profoundly. This type of poultice is made by making a thick paste of water and clay and applying directly to skin and then putting the cloth over the clay. Keep the poultice on until it begins to naturally pull away from the skin or until it bugs you! Bentonite is the best clay, but all clays are healers so no need to be fussy. Fortunately, you can also buy pre-moistened clay in slabs from pottery suppliers. Make certain that the clay contains no lead or other added ingredients. Sore no More is a premixed poultice blend of clay, homeopathic arnica and herbs available for treating animals. It’s a wonderfully easy to use source of clay and is perfectly fine for humans to use also! I used to mix my own powdered clay up, but after Sore no More I wouldn’t go back! After use,  the clay can be recycled by drying it out in the sun, placing it later in a bowel to rehydrate it for future use. Store in a plastic bag or sealed container. 
• Castor Oil Packs: Stimulate immunity by boosting T-cell production among other great things. Castor oil packs go beyond relieving pain to acting powerfully to reduce weakened white blood cells helping to charge up the blood. The end result is a profound decrease in inflammation.It is important to use only hexane free, cold pressed organic castor oil. You may use a flannel cloth for the oil repeatedly by simply recharging it with some fresh oil on the next application. Castor oil is a sure fired method, but it must be used regular to see the full benefit over time. As with most natural cures it's consistency over time that gets the job done!

Most poultices are applied with a fabric backing such as flannel see a link below or purchase at any fabric store. Other good fabrics are old t-shirt material or flour sack dish towels. The poultice is applied to the fabric, placed on the area of the body and then fixed in place with an appropriately sized ace bandage. Larger bandages can be found on Amazon or at your local non-chain pharmacy.  

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Purchase Links

Made for horses, great for humans too! Powerful anti inflammatory!

A Powerful Poultice option Activated Charcoal

BTH, go to for Healing Clay as a mask or small areas.

Hexane Free Castor Oil helpful for many conditions.

Video how to demonstrations for poultice making and using!
Charcoal  -  Bentonite Clay  -   Cabbage  -  Onion  -  Garlic - Castor Oil Pack

Poultice Flannel
Ace Bandages
The onion video also demonstrates a very old time remedy from Europe
using raw onion at the bedside of anyone coming down with seasonal colds, flus or bronchitis!
I encourage you to explore the world of poultices,
​there are many other herbs and foods that can be used to create healing poultices!
​Please post & share your experiences with our Community of Bridge Crossers!

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Queen of Thrones Castor oil Compress makes it a breeze to work with this poultice!

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