 |
 |
|
|
|
|
CALENDULA OINTMENT
Calendula Ointment is a natural skin remedy, prepared from the golden flowers of the Calendula plant, which has been used for medicinal purposes since the 16th century. To create the Calendula Ointment, an oil-based infusion is produced from the flower petals and then mixed with a base. Calendula essential oil has wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, it has carotenoids, which can help to regenerate skin cells. As a result, Calendula ointment is useful for treating skin wounds such as cuts and scrapes, bruises, eczema and other skin inflammations, as well as frostbite. However, because of its oil content, it should not be used for burns. The therapeutic remedy is sold ready-made at natural-health stores or can be prepared at home. To use, apply a thin layer to affected areas of the skin several times a day.
THERAPEUTIC EFFECT
Calendula Ointment has two principal effects on skin wounds. First, it acts as a natural antibiotic to kill germs, thereby cleansing the wound and helping to prevent infection. Second, it promotes blood-cell growth in regenerating skin tissue, speeding the healing process and helping to minimize the formation of scars.
COMPONENTS
Calendula ointment contains volatile constituents, yellow-orange carotenoids and other natural pigments, flavonoids, saponins, alcohols, enzymes and various organic acids. Depending on the manufacturer, store-bought products may contain additional substances.
READY-MADE PREPARATION
Ask a natural-health store clerk about commercial Calendula preparations or read the information about the product if shopping online. Some are formulated in accordance with homeopathic methods. Choose an ointment made from high-quality, natural, organic ingredients that do not contain any preservatives.
CALENDULA OINTMENT OR CREAM APPLICATION
APPLICATION
Dab the margins of the wound with gauze that has been dipped in an antiseptic, such as alcohol or hydrogen peroxide (H202). Then apply the healing salve. Cover large wounds with a gauze bandage, but always have smaller wounds uncovered.
Extra Tip To ensure a ready supply of fresh ointment, simply refrigerate small amounts of the olive-oil infusion - the oil in the ointment without the beeswax and cocoa butter - in covered containers. The oil will keep for more than a year.
CALENDULA OINTMENT INGREDIENTS
Calendula is also known as- Calendula officinalis, pot marigold, Garden Marigold, Gold-Bloom, Holligold, Marigold, Marybud, Zergul. The Calendula is an annual flower native to the northern Mediterranean countries. Its name refers to its tendency to bloom with the calendar, usually once a month or every new moon. The term "marigold" refers to the Virgin Mary, and marigolds are used in Catholic events honoring the Virgin Mary. The Calendula was originally used as food rather than as an herb. It adds flavor and color to cereals, rice, and soups. The petals can be added to salads. As recently as 70 years ago, American physicians used Calendula to treat amenorrhea, conjunctivitis, fevers, cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns, as well as minor infections of the skin. Parts used are dried flowers to make creams, ointments, teas, tinctures, infusions, compresses and washes. There are no precautions or warnings concerning Calendula use.
Calendula creams and washes are still used to disinfect minor wounds and to treat infections of the skin. The antibacterial and immunostimulant properties of the plant make it extremely useful in treating slow-healing cuts and cuts in people who have compromised immune systems. The herb stimulates the production of collagen at wound sites and minimizes scarring. Gargling Calendula water may ease sore throat. An often overlooked application of this herb is the treatment of post-mastectomy lymphedema. The herb will not reduce swelling, but it will reduce pain.
Constituents: Calendulin, beta-carotene and other carotenoids, isoquercitrin, narcissin, rutin, amyrin, lupeol, sterols, and volatile oils. The flowers also contain complex polysaccharides with immunostimulant properties.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Calendula Flowers, Whole or Powdered, Bulk Herbs, Organic, 4 ounces to 1 pound
Pure, unrefined beeswax has a golden color and the sweet smell of honey. It is used to thicken natural lotions, salves, lip balms and creams. It also acts as an emulsifier to help bind oils and water together.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Beeswax
A wonderful substance secreted by worker honeybees. This line of pure, filtered, cosmetic grade bees wax comes from the Pacific Northwest by beekeepers that Mountain Rose Herbals have a wonderful working relationship with. This beautiful wax is the finest they have ever acquired; producing a very fragrant, clean, and perfectly filtered product without the debris and muddy color found in typical waxes. Use it for cosmetics, salves, body care products, lotions and you can melt it down to make your own aromatic candles. Pure bees wax with no filler, synthetics, debris, or foreign fragrances. Choose from 3 different sizes.
Olive Oil (Olea Europaea) is extracted by cold-pressing and is unrefined (extra virgin). Olive oil is by far the most universal oils used for a multitude of purposes including cosmetics, as a carrier oil, for hair care solutions, and in cooking. It has a rich, full bodied flavor with a strong aroma and is golden brown in color. Has a great conditioning effect in body care recipes and can be used in almost all applications because of its stable nature. The line of Olive oil offered by Mountain Rose Herbs is 100% pure cold pressed and extra virgin from the highest quality Tunisian Olives with no other oils added to it.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Olive Oil, Extra Virgin, Cold-Pressed, Certified Organic, 8 Ounces to 5 Gallons
Cocoa Butter is an aromatic, solid butter pressed from the roasted seeds of the Cacao Tree (Theobroma Nucifera) and further processed to yield a warm color and delightful odor. Will soften at body temperature and adds a rich, creamy, and thick consistency to lotions, soaps, creams, and toiletry items to help reduce cutaneous dryness and for the improvement of skin elasticity. A soothing ingredient commonly found in most cosmetic preparations. Cocoa Butter is expeller pressed, unrefined and partially deodorized. The color is a cream hue and the texture is semi-hard.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Cocoa Butter, Certified Organic, 4 ounces to 8 pounds
Essential oil of tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), with its strong, camphor-like odor, is derived by distilling the plant's leaves. It is a broad-spectrum antiseptic that combats bacterial, viral and fungal infections and can be applied directly to cuts, abrasions, nail fungus, athlete's foot, bleeding gums and acne.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Tea-Tree Essential Oil, Organic, 1/2 Ounce to 16 Ounces
CALENDULA OINTMENT RECIPES
INFUSED CALENDULA OIL RECIPE
1/2 Cup Calendula Flowers (dried & powdered)
1 Cup Olive Oil
Infuse Calendula flowers into the olive oil and soak for 14 days. Strain well and refrigerate. (Be sure to buy Calendula and not the American Marigold, Tagetes.)
HOMEMADE OINTMENT
If you prefer a salve instead:
1 Ounce Beeswax
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Infused Calendula Oil
1/2 Cup Calendula Flowers
1. Shave or cut the beeswax into small chunks. In a saucepan, warm the infused Calendula Oil and the Beeswax.
2. Heat the ingredients over low heat until the Beeswax is just melted. Don't allow the ingredients to boil.
3. Remove from heat, and add the Calendula Flowers. Then pour the salve into sterilized containers, and store in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.
Cocoa Butter may be added to this mixture for extra skin softening and healing properties. Can be used for chapped and irritated skin problems.
QUICK & EASY HEALING SALVE RECIPE
1/2 Cup All-Vegetable Shortening (At Room Temperature)
10 Drops Tea-Tree Essential Oil
10 Drops Calendula Absolute Oil
In a small bowl, whip ingredients together, using a small whisk or spatula, until thoroughly blended. The salve should have the look and feel of fluffy, orange butter-cream frosting. Store in a labeled plastic or glass container in a cool place for up to 3 months, or refrigerate for up to 1 year.
CAUTIONS!
There are a number of circumstances in which a healing salve should not be used. Do not use a salve under these conditions:
- When a cut is deeper than 1/4 inch. Instead, see a health care provider immediately for sutures.
- When the injury is bleeding profusely.
- When the wound was caused by a splinter or any other foreign object that cannot be removed with tweezers.
- When the wound is the result of an animal bite, whether the animal is known or unknown.
- When there is any chance that the wound has become infected or that there may be blood poisoning.
- When the skin still feels warm from a burn.
USES FOR CALENDULA OINTMENT OR CREAM
CHAPPED SKIN & COLD SORES
Calendula Ointment helps moisturize and heal chapped or cracked skin and lips. If you are breastfeeding and have sore nipples, this ointment can be helpful in healing. It may be a particularly effective remedy against cold sores. These painful sores, known as fever blisters, appear on the lips and are caused by a type of herpes virus.
MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Cold Sores (Fever Blisters)
VARICOSE VEINS
Gently apply Calendula Ointment to affected areas twice a day. The ointment promotes blood circulation and helps speed healing. Warning: To avoid damaging fragile veins, do not rub or massage the ointment into affected areas. Instead, gently spread a thin layer of ointment over the affected sections.
BEDSORES
If a person is confined to a bed for a long time, sores (decubitus ulcers) can often develop, especially in the area of the heels, elbows, collarbone and tailbone. To help them heal, gently rub the ointment into the bedsores several times a day. If necessary, cover the sores with gauze or bandages.
NAIL INFECTIONS
The ointment's anti-inflammatory and germ-killing actions are very useful for infections of the nail bed. Apply the ointment directly to the affected area several times daily.
HEALING OF WOUNDS
Calendula Ointment may help with:
- Cuts or abrasions that are already scabbed over, but have a light rose-colored border, indicating possible infection.
- Skin wounds that are superficially inflamed.
- Wounds that are discharging pus.
- Painful areas of the skin or lips that are dry, cracked and highly sensitive.
- Athlete's foot or other fungal skin infections.
For more personal care recipes, return to index:
QUALITY SUPPLIES & PRODUCTS
Mountain Rose Herbs: Aromatherapy Essential Oils
The essential oils offered by Mountain Rose Herbs are 100% pure steam distilled plant oils with an unsurpassable fragrance, exceptional depth, magnificent keynote, and are free of carriers, diluents and other inputs. Here you will find some of the worlds most magnificent oils from reputable distillers and suppliers we know, trust, and have a wonderful working relationship with. Mountain Rose Herbs essential oils are processed from freshly harvested material within clean distilleries, thus promising you some of the most magnificent oils available on the market.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Bulk Herbs, Spices & Botanicals
All of their bulk dried herbs, botanicals and seasonings are strictly selected from the finest harvests and they have meticulously reviewed and analyzed all their materials to promise you an herbal product that is so fresh, colorful, and fragrant you can't help but to smile. Their line of organics are the first choice for respected authors, herbalists, stores, scientists, manufacturers, students and schools. Since 1987 they have continually come to Mountain Rose Herbs to satisfy their botanical requirements, and in this time they have repeatedly delivered the quality they expect. They attribute this astounding quality to the fact that Mountain Rose Herbs has over 11 farm operations, 6 wild harvesting operators, and acts as a direct liaison and processor with farmers and growers all across the globe. They are confident not only in the quality of material you may order but the ethics involved with their preparation and handling. If you feel beguiled and often frustrated with the inferior quality of "Mass Market" herbs that have been on market shelves and within stores inventories for months and sometimes years, then you can count on Mountain Rose Herbs to deliver a product that is unsurpassed in quality and freshness. Mountain Rose Herbs promise to you that their line of bulk herbs and botanicals are... True certified organic by OTCO. Certified OQK Kosher. Free from irradiation and ozone treatment, sulfur, gasses and other sanitary chemicals. Quality control tested, analyzed and supervised. Unsurpassable in color, depth, taste and aroma. Ethically wildharvested when not certified organic. Guaranteed fresh and not from "warehouse stock". Processed and handled according to strict organic standards. Grown, harvested, processed and handled by fun, knowledgeable and caring people. Analyzed for quality, safety and true botanical identity. Bulk ordering Discounts available.
Mountain Rose Herbs: Hydrosols & Flower Waters
Flower waters also known as hydrosols, hydroflorates or distillates are products from the direct steam distillation of whole plant materials. Unlike their "essential oil added to water" counterparts, true steam distilled hydrosols contain all the beneficial components that whole plant materials have to offer, and are more true to their scent. They are wonderful and inexpensive as a facial splash, as a deodorant, an air freshener, in the spa, for skin application, during massage, as a base in your body care recipes, and most may be used in culinary creations. They are moisturizing, fragrant, cooling and contain similar properties as essential oils but in much less concentration, which makes them a lovely alternative to those with sensitivities. Mountain Rose have now expanded their entire line of hydrosols, which have all been distilled in improved stainless steel cookers and processed through certified organic methods. They are excited to offer you these exceptional quality flower waters which are quality control supervised from cultivation to distillation by Mountain Rose Herbs. Each of their 4 oz hydrosols is packaged in an amber bottle with a black mister. The bulk 8 oz, 16 oz ounce and 1 gallon waters are packaged in HDPE plastic bottles.
For a full list of available products from Mountain Rose Herbs, click on banner below:
HELPFUL PRODUCTS & FURTHER EDUCATION
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 2nd Edition
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 4th Edition
Prescription for Herbal Healing: The A-To-Z Reference To Common Disorders
-- by Phyllis A. Balch
The Complete Guide to Natural Healing
This is only a small sample of educational materials and products available through Amazon.com. Use the search box provided below to search for a particular item.
HERBS, OILS, & SUPPLIES
Mountain Rose Bulk Herbs
Mountain Rose Aromatherapy Oils
Click Here To Visit Herbal Remedies Product Page
