Preparations for External Use

AROMATIC WATERS

Scented waters are used to treat many different skin problems, ranging from acne to burns. They can also be used for purely cosmetic purposes. Because the essential oils they contain are so dilute, aromatic waters can be applied directly to the skin and taken internally. They also come in handy for soaking herbal compresses to treat skin and complexion problems. But they are often expensive and hard to find.

BODY OILS

Body oils made from herbs or essential oils are suitable for massage, but can also be offered as an alternative to some internal remedies. I recall taking care of a child with a stomachache who refused every natural remedy from my well-stocked cupboards. He finally settled for a tummy rub with a body oil containing essential oils that aid digestion. Later, he claimed it was the best medicine anyone had ever given him and even asked for a bottle to take home!

If you add heat-supplying herbs or essential oils such as cinnamon, cloves and cayenne to your body oil, it becomes a liniment suitable for rubbing into sore muscles. Body oil is also the basis for making facial creams and skin lotions. While herbal body oils are extremely versatile, they usually take longer to act than internal remedies.

COMPRESS

A compress is quick to assemble yet very effective for a variety of problems: headaches, bleeding, bruises, muscle cramps, sore throats and almost any time alternating hot and cold is needed to increase circulation. It is also used to bolster immunity and to increase lymph flow, especially when there is an internal infection or a growth, such as a fibroid. Making a compress is easy—soak a soft cloth in a strong herbal tea, diluted tincture or glycerite, essential oils or aromatic water, wring out the cloth, then fold it and lay it on the skin. A castor oil pack is a compress in which the cloth is soaked in warm castor oil (sometimes combined with essential oils). The soaked cloth is placed on the skin and covered with a hot water bottle to retain heat. The one inconvenience with a compress is that to use it you must either lie down or tie it in place.

HERBAL BATH

Besides providing a relaxing and luxurious way to take your medicine, a bath can combine herbs with other therapies, including aromatherapy—the use of fragrant herbs or essential oils—and hydrotherapy, which uses alternating hot and cold water treatments to stimulate circulation. Heat relaxes the muscles, and cold reduces swelling. When you consider that stress is the most common factor in promoting disease, an herbal bath may be one of the most important herbal treatments available! Baths are also useful in treating certain skin problems, and the steam that rises off a bath containing essential oils can be a treatment in itself for various breathing and circulation problems.

A variation on a full body bath is a foot or hand bath, popularized by the French herbalist Maurice Messegue and the French aromatherapist Marguerite Maury. In his book Of People and Plants, Messegue reports some amazing cures for serious problems using only herbal foot and hand baths. To make a foot or hand bath, add five to ten drops of essential oil or a cup of strong herb tea to a quart of water in a large basin, and stir well to distribute essential oils.

POULTICE

A poultice is made by pounding, blending or even chewing a fresh plant into a sticky paste, which is then spread on an injury and sometimes wrapped with a bandage to keep it in place. I admit that it may look a little strange and can be quite messy, but its effectiveness should outweigh any of your qualms.

My friend Gary, a carpenter, was accustomed to getting splinters while working in his wood shop, so he did not think much about a splinter in his leg last year—until he discovered that a nasty infection had developed. He tried an herbal salve, but it was no match for the infection. He spent weeks trying a variety of antibiotics, and the boils did heal, only to reappear persistently in different locations, sometimes opening into raw, painful sores. Gary decided to turn back to herbs, but with a different approach. He applied three poultices of fresh plantain and comfrey daily. It took a few weeks for his sores to heal completely, but he was finally free of the infection.

Another type of poultice is made from clay and/or dried, powdered herbs that are moistened into a paste using a tincture, strong herb tea or water. Sometimes, essential oils are added. Because this type of poultice comes in handy so often, I usually carry some with me for emergencies. Once, when I was attending an herb retreat, someone tapped me on the shoulder. "Quick," he said urgently. "A woman working in the dining room just got stung by a bee and she is allergic to them." When I reached the victim, another herbalist had already given her some echinacea and someone had run to her cabin for a prescription antidote. As I coated the swollen hand with my poultice, she said, "Oh, that feels so good!" I nodded, preoccupied in watching for signs of a reaction. Indeed, red lines were radiating from the sting and a deep red flush was creeping up her neck. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, both the red lines and the flush receded and disappeared. (For more information on this remedy, see "Bites, Stings and Splinters" in chapter 100. Note: Anyone suffering a severe allergic reaction must immediately see a doctor or take medicine prescribed for the allergy.)

SALVE

A salve is basically a thickened herbal oil. Olive oil, which is considered healing to skin, is the most common salve base, but other vegetable oils can also be used. To help a salve adhere to the skin, try adding beeswax.

Salves are used on almost all skin problems, including minor bruises and cuts, scrapes, rashes, eczema and swelling. Exceptions include any burn beyond a minor one (because of its oil base, a salve will hold the heat of a burn and cause more pain), the oozing stage of poison oak or poison ivy, and infected, open wounds. I once taught a weekend herb seminar attended by Juan, who clearly was paying little attention. He did, however, take home some herbal salve we made. Recalling that I had said it was a first-aid kit in itself, he took the salve to Mexico, where he encountered other travelers with all sorts of skin problems: foot blisters, chapped lips, scrapes and cuts, infected slivers, diaper rash, a rash from an unknown plant, bruises, hemorrhoids and sunburns. He doled out small amounts of salve, and as word spread through the village, the locals began requesting his crema herbal (see the Herbal Healing Salve in chapter 100). Juan returned home with an empty jar, and immediately called to sign up for next year's herb seminar, promising to pay attention this time! He learned more the second time, but to this day he claims that the herbal salve is the most important item in his first aid kit. Just about the only disadvantage of salves is that they can stain your clothes.