Castor Oil Packs

"Everything old is new, again."

So many of us are exploring & using those good ol' home remedies ~ many that our grandmothers, & earlier, used. What would they think that with all of our modern medical marvels (& the ever-present threat of ObamaCare) that we are coming back to the simple, effective home remedy wisdom that they used so often?

The looming threat to our medical care may have actually done us a great favor ~ we are being forced to take care of ourselves. Now, I'm not totally an anti-medical care person ~ if I am, or a loved one is, in an accident or terribly ill, then to the Dr. I will go. But I am of the belief that we should do all we can & leave the Dr. & the hospital as a last resort.

Castor oil has been used for generations; I'll bet you've heard your grandparents complain about the terrible taste of the daily teaspoon of castor oil their moms made them take. But . . . it kept the well. In this post, I'm not going to talk about taking it internally, but about using it to relieve pain & inflamation.

Castor oil packs are a very useful home remedy for most back, muscle or abdominal pains, headaches, swollen joints or muscles, even small open wounds. The castor oil works when you saturate layers of flannel with the oil & use soothing, warmth from a heating pad or hot water bottle.

You will need:

~medium-to-large pan or bucket
~castor oil
~flannel ~ enough for 4 layers; you can cut up an old flannel shirt or two OR most health food markets sell packages of flannel (or wool flannel)
~a plastic sheet; plastic wrap (i.e. Seran Wrap) is fine
~electric heating pad OR hot water bottle
~a large towel
~plastic container OR gallon-sized freezer bag

Directions:

1) In a medium-to-large pan or bucket, pour as much castor oil as it will take to soak the flannel you have prepared
2) Soak the cloth in the oil; wring out the cloth so it is not sloppy & drippy
3) Apply the four layers, one at a time, to painful area
4) Cover the oil-soaked flannel with the plastic wrap; the easiest thing to do is to simply wrap it around the part of your body you are working on (waist, hips, arm, leg, knee, etc.)
5) Put the heating pad/hot water bottle of top of the plastic; start with low heat & increase as you need to. **DO NOT use really high heat, you ARE using OIL after all & you don't want to "cook" yourself
6) Wrap the large towel over the heating pad to hold in the soothing warmth
7) Lay a large trash bag or plasic on your bed or couch ~ wherever you are going to lay down to protect it from any oil leakage ~ & lay another large towel or a sheet over it for your comfort. You can keep it on for 45 minutes to 2 hours, as you need it. Relax & enjoy the soothing warmth. You may even drift off to sleep

Google  Photo

8) When you are finished, carefully unwrap yourself & gently clean the oil off of your skin; a little baking soda & water works well, or some health food stores carry a product that cuts & cleans off the oil
9) Each flannel pack can be used up to 30 times; store the used flannel in a plastic container OR a large, gallon-sized freezer bag in the refrigerator. EACH PERSON who uses one should have their own. 
10) Flannel packs should be warmed up before each use.

**NOTE** Some health food markets have kits with everything you need all in one box.

You will be amazed at the effectiveness of this old remedy. Your grandma would be proud. :-)

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><