★★★★★
Charcoal Flaxseed Poultice
★★★★★
It worked SO WELL! I applied warmed poultices to the palm of my son's hand every 10-15 minutes (starting at about 10 that morning) and could physically see the red streak being pulled down his arm by the poultice after just a few applications. By about 2 that afternoon, there was no redness in the arm at all, and he was touching the area around the wound in his palm saying, "Gee, it doesn't even hurt any more. "
The toughest part was actually calling and cancelling the appointment I'd made with the pediatrician. I was excitedly sharing the good news with the nurse when she interrupted me, told me that what I was telling her wasn't possible, that I would be "irresponsible" if I didn't bring my son in to see the doctor, because I'd described a serious, life-threatening condition to her. Even when I told her again that the poultice had worked amazingly well, she seemed not to hear me, and when she began to call me a negligent parent I told her she was simply being a very rude nurse, ended our relationship with that office, and hung up the phone.
Here's the recipe for a charcoal flaxseed poultice:
Grind 1-3 TBSP flaxseed in a blender. Mix with 1-3 TBSP activated charcoal powder.
Mix with 1/3 to 1 cup of water. Let set for about 10 minutes OR heat till bubbly and remove from heat, allowing mixture to gel. (For smaller amount, the ratio is 1TBSP/1TBSP/1/3 cup water; larger amount, 3TBSP/3TBSP/1 cup. )
Cut a rectangle of paper toweling twice the size of the finished "square" that you need--fold the rectangle in half to make your square, then open out again. Spread about 1/4 inch of the poultice mixture over half the paper toweling; fold the remaining half over to make a square "sandwich" with the poultice as the "filling. " Cut a piece of plastic wrap (a plastic sandwich bag also works nicely) about ½ inch larger (all around) than your poultice. Place the poultice on the area to be covered, lay the plastic wrap over that, and then tape in place with cloth tape, or in a pinch, use bandaids.
These types of poultices work very well when left in place overnight. Infections are often gone by morning. If using overnight, or for a long period throughout the day, after securing plastic wrap with tape, wrap area with an ace bandage to hold all securely in place. (Obviously, that's not possible on every area of the body; if you can't ace-bandage leaving the area securely covered with just the plastic will work just fine.
If doing an emergency, intensive care poulticing, the way I did with my son, don't use an ace bandage; keep the area heated constantly by soaking a washcloth or other absorbent material in very hot water, and hold it in place over the plastic- covered poultice until the cloth cools off, (10 minutes) then re-soak in hot water, and keep re-applying for as long as necessary to see some improvement. Depending on severity of infection, the poultice itself can be changed/renewed if necessary after several applications of heated washcloth have been applied.
Happy Poulticing!
