Friday, October 4, 2013

Healing salve

I've been searching for a healing salve to use on my son and I for such a long time that I think what I want may not exist. It's frustrating to think that something so simple should feel impossible to find. My son suffers from itchy skin and eczema. He also has an allergy to peanuts and tree nuts. I suffer from Dermatitis Herpetiformis, a skin reaction that often goes hand in hand with Celiac Disease. See my other blog about that here. So, I've been looking for a salve that soothes and helps our itchy skin and is gluten free and nut free and doesn't contain any crazy ingredients that I cannot pronounce or that may be of concern. This task has been so difficult and I thought to myself: "Self, you've made a salve before and it was pretty simple. The toughest part is collecting the necessary ingredients and containers." So, my mission began there.

First, I collected some herbs that are healing for the skin: calendula, chickweed, and plantain. I read about making an herbal oil and chose a nut free oil that was nourishing for the skin, very gentle, and met my nut free criteria: apricot oil. The dry herbs went into the oil and steeped for 8 weeks in a dark cabinet, getting stirred as often as I remembered to do it.

Next, I collected a few containers and other ingredients: Cocoa butter since it is moisturizing, nourishing, and is not Shea butter, which is from Shea nuts. (according to most sources, is mostly considered unsafe for those with nut allergies)
Coconut oil: many uses, including moisturizing, anti fungal , promotes healing of wounds, reduces symptoms of eczema and psoriasis
Beeswax: helps the salve solidify and gives good consistency, softens and moisturizes skin.
Honey: a humectant, which means that it attracts and maintains moisture, said to be antibacterial and antimicrobial, so it could help prevent growth of some bacteria and promote healing.
Vitamin E oil: acts as a preservative in homemade products, moisturizing, helps heal psoriasis
Herbs I chose are chickweed, plantain, & calendula.
Chickweed: soothing for minor skin irritations, itchiness, and rashes
Plantain: promotes healing for skin irritations, cuts, and wounds
Calendula:many healing virtues including soothing for skin irritations, dry and irritated skin, reduces inflammation

Finally, I prepared the salve by melting coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, and the strained herbal apricot oil together on the stove over low heat. When everything was melted, I removed it from the heat and stirred in honey and vitamin E oil. I poured it into clean containers and let it harden in the refrigerator.

I made the salve this morning and it has a light herbal/cocoa fragrance, and is very gentle. It sinks in quickly and my son says it feels good on his itchy skin. He sighed and said oh that will make it all better Mommy. I hope he's right! So far so good!

It's a good feeling to use something that I made myself, I know what's in it, and I'm pulling from the files in my brain and on my bookshelf from the days of school, learning about herbs and skin care. It was lots of fun!

If you've never made your own salve, you should try! It's really easy and lots of fun!




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