Topical Benefits of Calendula: Making a Calendula Poultice

 Uncategorized
Jul 152019
 

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

How to Make a Soothing Calendula Poultice

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Herbal poultices are simple, traditional remedies used topically on the skin to relieve pain, infection, and swelling. They are water-based, which makes them especially choice when oil-based remedies (that hold in moisture and heat) are contraindicated. Herbal oils and salves shouldn’t be applied to weepy skin conditions or bacterial and fungal skin infections because they can hold in moisture and reduce airflow. Additionally, I find that herbal poultices are often more effective topical remedies than oil-based herbal preparations, simply because poultices are more concentrated, as they contain plenty of fresh herbal material.

In general, herbal poultices are beneficial for poison ivy rashes, weepy eczema, hives, insect bites, psoriasis, pimples, boils, fresh sunburns, and fungal and bacterial skin infections. The specific herbs used affect the exact medicinal properties of each poultice.

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Ingredients for a soothing herbal poultice: calendula flowers, plantain, violet leaves, clay, water, and essential oils

Ingredients for a soothing herbal poultice: calendula flowers, plantain, violet leaves, clay, water, and essential oils

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Poultices are prepared by blending therapeutic plants (fresh or dried) into a green slurry or paste, after which they are applied directly to an afflicted area. The slurry is then covered with a clean, dry cloth or bandaging material, depending on the size of the area being treated. Adding a binder such as clay makes the poultice easier to apply and helps it stay put. Clay has its own skin-healing benefits as well and is especially helpful for drying weepy skin conditions such as poison ivy.

As you might surmise, poultices can be a messy business. A tamer version involves wrapping the moistened herbal material into a loose-weave, permeable cloth and placing it on the area to be treated. The most primitive version of a poultice is the aptly named chew and spit poultice, which is applied, as you might imagine, solely on one’s own body.

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Place poultice ingredients in a food processor or blender

Herbal poultice ingredients are placed in a food processor and blended until the mixture has a pesto-like consistency

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Below, you’ll find one of my favorite poultice recipes. Take note that this recipe uses fresh herbs. If you’re working with dried herbs, bring a small amount of water to a boil, turn off the heat, and add a sufficient amount of the dried herbs until the herbs rehydrate and forms into a thick paste. Stir and let cool for comfort of application.

Soothing herbal poultice-

Soothing Herbal Poultice Recipe

This cooling and moistening poultice is helpful for dry, irritated skin conditions such as psoriasis, rashes, chicken pox, and chafed skin. It can also be used to soothe insect bites, mild abrasions, cuts, and scrapes. The combination of herbs provides a soothing blend of healing properties that are demulcent, anti-inflammatory, and vulnerary (wound-healing).

  • 1 handful fresh calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
  • 1 heaping handful fresh violet leaves (Viola sororia and V. odorata)
  • 1 heaping handful fresh plantain leaves (Plantago spp.)
  • 4 to 6 ounces very hot water (not boiling hot)
  • 2 Tablespoons powdered clay
  • 10 drops lavender essential oil (Lavandula angustifolia), optional

Yield: About 2 cups

Using a food processor or a blender, combine four ounces of hot water with all other ingredients until the poultice is smooth, with the consistency of pesto. You may need to add more herbs, clay, or water to achieve the desired consistency. Refrigerate for up to three days, and apply as needed. If using dried herbs, substitute ¼ cup (60 ml) of the dried herb for one handful of fresh herb.

Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

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Herbal Digestive Calendula Tea: A Remedy for Heartburn and Peptic Ulcers

 Uncategorized
Jul 102019
 

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

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If you’re looking for an herb to soothe and repair digestive issues, the cheery flowers of calendula (Calendula officinalis) will be one of your primary allies. Calendula tea is commonly used to help remedy peptic ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It supports the healing of gastric and intestinal inflammation from infection or irritation through its vulnerary (wound healing), anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions.

Calendula can be combined with licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis), and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) as a natural remedy for GERD, which commonly affects people with the symptoms of heartburn. In the case of peptic ulcers, calendula can be taken concurrently with antibiotic therapy (to address the presence of the bacterial infection of H. pylori or Helicobacter pylori), and then continued for two weeks after finishing treatment. See the notes below for important contraindications.

For a more detailed guide to calendula’s expansive medicinal benefits, visit my article on Growing and Using Calendula.

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Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) harvest

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) harvest

Safety and Contraindications: Do not use calendula internally during pregnancy since it has traditionally been used to bring on menses. As calendula is in the aster family, it may cause a reaction for people who are highly sensitive to plants like ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) and chamomile (Matricaria recutita); this possibility is rare, but sensitive individuals should proceed with caution when using calendula for the first time. Rare incidences of allergic contact dermatitis have occurred with the topical use of calendula.

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Digestive Calendula Tea

This tasty tea blend is helpful for acid reflux and helps to reduce heartburn through the anti-inflammatory, astringent, and demulcent actions of the herbs. This tea is also helpful for soothing sore throats, peptic ulcers, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It can be sipped on as needed or taken daily to help reduce the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). See below for contraindications for the herbs in this formula.

  • 2 parts meadowsweet leaves and flowers (Filipendula ulmaria)
  • 1 part marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis)
  • 1 part calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
  • 2 parts licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra or G. uralensis)

For every 8 ounces (240 ml) of water, use 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of the herb blend. Place the desired amount of herbal blend and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for twenty minutes and take off the heat.

Strain and sweeten with honey or maple syrup if desired. Drink one to three cups a day.

Because this tea is best taken tonically (daily), I find it’s helpful to pre-mix a jarful of the dried herbs (in the proportions given above) to store in your cabinet and dip into whenever you’re brewing a batch. Along these lines, I prefer to infuse one to two days’ worth of tea at a time (stored in the fridge). Dosage is up to three cups per day.

Safety and Contraindications: This formula should not be taken internally during pregnancy because of the calendula and licorice (instead use slippery elm alone). The use of meadowsweet is cautioned in people who have aspirin sensitivity (or sensitivity to other salicylate-containing drugs). Meadowsweet may thin the blood; therefore, monitor coagulation values with people who are taking pharmaceutical blood thinners (the evidence for meadowsweet’s effect on coagulation is inconclusive). Marshmallow has no known adverse effects.

Licorice is contraindicated in pregnancy, water retention (edema), heart conditions, and high blood pressure. If licorice is not advisable, omit the licorice from the tea blend, and use a DGL licorice (deglycyrrhizinated licorice) preparation instead. Use the same proportions for the remaining herbs in the formula if you’re omitting the licorice.

See the notes above for contraindications pertaining to calendula.

Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

-

Click for detailed story

Calendula’s Benefits for the Skin: How to Prepare Calendula Oil and Salve

 Uncategorized
Jun 262019
 

Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor

Calendula’s sunny blooms are an external remedy for practically every manner of skin complaint. The flowers are used topically as a wound healing, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory herb. For optimal strength, be sure you’re using the whole flower—including the green flower base—instead of the “petals” only (the herb is sometimes sold this way). Calendula-infused oils and salves are some of my favorite topical applications for soothing and repairing the skin—see my recipes below.

Calendula is also an edible flower, a cheerful garden medicinal, and an internal remedy for the digestive and lymphatic systems. Take a peek at our article on Growing and Using Calendula for more on this plant’s floral intrigue. It’s incredibly easy to grow your own calendula, and it’s one of the most beautiful medicinals for the garden.

A fresh bouquet of calendula (Calendula officinalis)

A fresh bouquet of calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Calendula’s Skin-Healing Benefits:

  • Rashes
  • Stings
  • Wounds
  • Burns
  • Sunburns
  • Abrasions
  • Swellings
  • Eczema
  • Acne
  • Insect bites
  • Scrapes
  • Bruises
  • Chicken pox
  • Cold sores
  • Cracked nipples from nursing
  • Bacterial vaginosis (douche)
  • Yeast infections (douche)
  • Cervical dysplasia (douche)
  • Postpartum perineal tears (sitz bath)

Calendula’s Herbal Actions:

  • Vulnerary (wound-healing)
  • Anti-inflammatory
  • Antimicrobial
  • Antifungal

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Safety and Contraindications: Do not use calendula internally during pregnancy since it has traditionally been used to bring on menses. As calendula is in the aster family, it may cause a reaction for people who are highly sensitive to plants like ragweed (Ambrosia spp.) and chamomile (Matricaria recutita); this possibility is rare, but sensitive individuals should proceed with caution when using calendula for the first time. Rare incidences of allergic contact dermatitis have occurred with the topical use of calendula.

How to Make Herbal-Infused Oils

Herbal oils are made by infusing plants into high-quality oils that have a long shelf life and readily dissolve into the skin. I typically use extra-virgin olive oil. If your oil is for massage or broad application, consider using sesame, sunflower, coconut, jojoba, or sweet almond oil. Look for oils that are unrefined and cold-pressed or expeller-pressed. Preparing herbal oils is quite easy, especially if you follow a few basic guidelines (see our recipe below).

After preparing an herbal-infused oil, you may then use it as a stand-alone oil or transform it into an herbal salve by adding beeswax or carnauba wax (a vegan alternative), and other optional amendments like essential oils and vitamin E.

In general, herbal salves are beneficial for soothing skin irritations, dryness, and inflammation. We share our recipe for Calendula Salve below.

As mentioned previously, take care that you use the whole dried flowers when making oils and salves, as calendula’s medicinal resinous oils are found mostly in the involucres (green bases of the flower heads). Sometimes calendula is sold as “petals” only; this is a weaker medicine for topical use.

When to Use Water-Based Applications Versus Infused Oils and Salves:

In certain situations, the application of herbal oils and salves is not recommended. Oils and salves hold in moisture and heat and are thus contraindicated in weepy skin conditions, infections, and fresh burns.

Avoid the use of oils and salves on poison ivy rashes, weepy eczema, pimples, boils, fresh sunburn, and fungal and bacterial skin infections. Another contraindication includes deep wounds and cuts. Instead of oil-based preparations, use water-based applications such as herbal compresses, soaks, baths, and poultices. Also note that if oils are used as a sexual lubricant, they can degrade and break most condoms.

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Infused Calendula Oil

This is a wonderful all-purpose herbal oil. It can be used as a base for salves or prepared into a cream or lotion. Combine it with other skin-healing herbs for a soothing anti-inflammatory and wound-healing remedy. I keep calendula oil stocked in my refrigerator, as it’s a handy stand-alone remedy. I like to combine the flowers with plantain (Plantago spp.), chickweed (Stellaria media), Saint John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), and violet (Viola sororia and others), but calendula oil can just as easily stand on its own as a versatile skin-healing preparation.

  • 1 cup whole dried calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis), or combination of herbs mentioned above (equaling to 1 cup)
  • 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil (or substitute jojoba or almond oil)

Yield: ¾ cup (360 ml)

Note: You can double or triple this recipe by following the same proportions outlined above: 1 part herb (or combination of herbs) by volume to 1 part oil by volume.

Preparation:

Step 1: Dry your herbs. If you're using homegrown or gathered herbs, gather your plant material and dry thoroughly. If purchasing dried herbs, make sure they are fresh and high quality. It’s important to remember that oil can ferment or mold in the presence of water. If you are new to preparing medicinal oils, I recommend using dried herbs rather than fresh herbs. You’ll also want to make sure all your tools are completely clean and dry.

Step 1: Gather and dry your herbs

Step 1: Gather and dry your herbs

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Step 2: Combine the whole dried flowers with your oil of choice in a blender, food processor, or Vitamix and aim for a thick, pesto-like consistency (see the photo in Step 3 for an idea of the desired texture). This increases the surface area of the herb(s), leading to a stronger oil (concentrated). 

Step 2: Measure out your herb(s) and add to blender or food processor

Step 2: Measure out your herb(s) and add to blender or food processor

Step 2: Add your oil to the herb(s)

Step 2: Add your oil to the herb(s)

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Step 3: Heat the herb/oil mixture in a double boiler for four to eight hours. You can improvise a double boiler by nesting two pots together or placing mason jar bands upside down in a saucepan filled with water. The trick is to nest one pan (for your herbs and oil) inside the other (filled with water) without the bottoms touching. Heat slowly and keep on low heat for four to eight hours. Try not to let the oil get hotter than 110°F, or 43.3°C (a little warmer than bath water). Watch closely to make sure the water does not completely evaporate and the oil does not get too hot. You do not want deep-fried herbs!

Step 3: Add your herbal slurry to a double boiler

Step 3: Add your herbal slurry to a double boiler

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Step 4: Strain your oil. After your oil has infused for four to eight hours, strain it into a glass jar or measuring cup using a muslin cloth, fine-weave cloth or cheesecloth. If the oil is slightly warm, it will be easier to strain. Place the cloth in a stainless-steel or ceramic strainer and pour in the oil/herb slurry. After the oil ceases to run through the cloth, wring out the herbal material with clean, dry hands or press with a potato ricer.

Step 4: After the herbal material has infused, strain and wring with a cloth

Step 4: After the herbal material has infused, strain and wring with a cloth

Step 4: After the herbal material has infused, strain and wring with a cloth

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Step 5: Label and store. Make a label and cap your oil when it cools to room temperature (this prevents condensation from developing inside the jar). Herbal-infused oils will typically last two to three years when refrigerated and one year unrefrigerated, depending on the stability of the oil used.

Notes on preparing herbal oils with the stovetop method

I’ve found that in the case of infused oils, it’s beneficial to use a little bit of heat to extract medicine from herbs. This is because oil isn’t the strongest solvent and makes for weaker medicine than other solvents like water, vinegar, or alcohol. Heat is especially helpful for melting and extracting resin into oils.

As mentioned earlier, much of calendula’s healing properties come from the resin, which is concentrated in the undersides of the flowerheads. To prepare the strongest possible oil, you’ll want to optimally extract the resin with heat. Thus, I recommend using a stovetop method for preparing your infused oil.

How to Make an Herbal Salve with Calendula

I always keep a healing salve on hand in my apothecary. Thicker than an infused oil, this remedy has extra staying power that’s amplified by the moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties of beeswax.

  • 4 oz infused calendula oil (Calendula officinalis) by volume
  • 1 oz grated or beaded beeswax (substitute carnauba wax for a vegan salve) by volume
  • Vitamin E oil, optional (For every 5 ounces of salve, add 1 capsule of vitamin E oil, or a ¼ teaspoon of liquid vitamin E oil.)
  • Salve jars (enough for 5 ounces total)

Yield: 5 oz

Preparation: 

Step 1: Measure out your oil, and then bring it slowly up to 110°F (43.3°C) in a double boiler (see notes in the Infused Oil Recipe above on fashioning an improvised double boiler).

Step 1: Measure out the herbal infused oil and add it to a double boiler

Step 1: Measure out the herbal infused oil and add it to a double boiler

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Step 2: For every 4 fluid ounces of oil, add 1 ounce of grated or beaded beeswax, by volume. (Beeswax beads are also sold as beeswax pellets or pastilles.) Depending on the size of your beeswax shavings or beads, these proportions will yield a salve with a soft consistency. It’s easy enough to adjust the texture by adding more beeswax or more oil. Keep in mind that harder salves will be less likely to melt in a hot car or bag but will be more difficult to apply.

Step 2: Add the grated beeswax to the warm oil

Step 2: Add the grated beeswax to the warm oil

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Step 3: Completely dissolve the beeswax into the oil. To test the consistency of your salve, place a spoonful of the mixture in the freezer for two minutes, pull it out, let it come to room temperature, and test its hardness. If it’s too soft, add more beeswax. If it’s too hard, add a little more of the infused oil.

Step 4: Label and store. Vitamin E is often added to salve (right before it’s poured into jars) as an antioxidant to prevent rancidity as well as for its own skin-healing attributes. This is also when you would add any essential oils at the proper dilution rate. While your salve is still warm, pour it into jars, label the contents, and allow it to cool before capping. Salves typically last one to three years unrefrigerated. Refrigeration is not necessary but prolongs the shelf life.

Step 4: Pour the salve into jars

Step 4: Pour the salve into jars

Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:

JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.

These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.

Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herb cultivation?

Our 1,000-hour Herbal Immersion Program is the most comprehensive handcrafted online herbal course available, covering botany, foraging, herb cultivation, medicine making, and therapeutics.

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Click for detailed story