Castor oil has been used therapeutically for hundreds of years, both internally and externally. Applied topically, it has many beneficial effects in a wide range of conditions. Almost 90% of its fatty acid content consists of ricinoleic acid. Such a high concentration of this unusual, unsaturated fatty acid is thought to be responsible for castor oil's healing abilities.

Please note that it is extremely important to obtain an accurate diagnosis before trying to find a cure. Many diseases and conditions share common symptoms: if you treat yourself for the wrong illness or a specific symptom of a complex disease, you may delay legitimate treatment of a serious underlying problem. In other words, the greatest danger in self-treatment may be self-diagnosis. If you do not know what you really have, you can not treat it!

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The easiest way to use castor oil is to massage it into the body on the problem spot, along the spinal cord, the abdomen, or following the lymph drainage patterns. For superficial problems, topical application without using the heating pad is usually sufficient. It can also be taken internally, but is a strong laxative and is used to treat constipation. Despite being a simple procedure, the castor oil pack can produce good results.

For the strongest effect, use a hot oil pack. Physiological effects of the castor oil pack include stimulating the liver, increasing eliminations, relieving pain, increasing lymphatic circulation, improving gastrointestinal function, increasing relaxation and reducing inflammation.

Materials Needed

Three layers of natural, uncolored wool or flannel cotton large enough to cover the area being treated
Castor oil
Plastic wrap large enough to cover the cloth
Hot water bottle or electric blanket
Procedure
Soak cotton with castor oil. It should be saturated but not dripping
Place the pack on the area being treated, for example lower right abdomen (liver)
Cover the pack with plastic wrap and place a hot water bottle or electric heating pad over the pack
Leave the pack on for 30-60 minutes. Use the castor oil pack 3-7 days per week
Precautions include avoiding meal times, not using the pack during heavy menses, and avoiding contact with fabric that could become stained. The same pack may be used for weeks or months. Refresh with additional oil if necessary.

Conditions which have been responsive to castor oil applications include:

skin keratosis
ringworm
fungal and bacterial infections
wounds
abdominal stretch marks (prevention)
bursitis
sebaceous cysts
warts
’liver’ or age spots
muscle strains
ligament sprains
itching
chronic fluid retention with swollen joints and pain
arthritis
upper respiratory infections involving the sinuses, tonsils and inner ear
colon problems involving inflammation
gallbladder disease
boils
liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, enlargement or congestion
menstrual-related congestion
appendicitis
hyperactivity
constipation, bowel impaction or adhesions
swollen lymph nodes
bladder and vaginal infections

Arthritis
Sir William Osler, considered to be the "Father of Modern Medicine," once said, "When an arthritis patient walks in the front door, I feel like leaving by the back door." And it is no wonder that it pained Dr. Osler to try to treat arthritic patients -- there is little that conventional medicine offers these individuals. The lucky ones get temporary relief along with drug side effects; the unlucky ones only get the side effects.

The word arthritis means "inflammation of a joint," and there are various ways in which people experience this. There are dozens of kinds of arthritis: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, systemic lupus, and bursitis, to name just a few. The good news is that arthritis will rarely kill you. The bad news is that the stiffness that sufferers experience can make them feel as though rigor mortis has set in early.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. Sometimes called the "wear and tear" variety of arthritis, osteoarthritis is thought to be a natural result of aging. This is just a theory; however, as evidenced by the 93-year-old man from Chicago who developed osteoarthritis in his left knee. When his doctor told him that it was a result of aging, the wise man remarked, "My other knee is 93 years old, too, and it don't hurt a bit."

There are other factors besides aging that precipitate osteoarthritis. Likewise, each type of arthritis has numerous influences that increase or decrease the chances of getting it. It is known, for instance, that women experience most types of arthritis two to eight times as often as men (gout and ankylosing spondylitis are the exceptions). Sorry, ladies, but sex-change operations are not therapeutically effective.

Here, however, are some strategies that may help you.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The remedies presented here have taken from the book: "The One Minute (or so) Healer" by Dan Ullman, MPH. While we present 12 suggestions here, the book contains 26 one-minute strategies for arthritis.)

Use it, or you lose it
Range-of-motion exercises are very important in increasing circulation and reducing stiffness. Although one should avoid exercising a joint that is currently inflamed or "hot," these joints can be gently moved along their range of motion. Swimming is a particularly good exercise for people with arthritis. Although jogging is not associated with degenerative joint disease, you might consider walking as an alternative form of exercise if you experience any joint pain during or after jogging. Don't overdo any exercise, but don't underdo it either. Try to exercise 15 to 20 minutes a day, five days a week.

Avoid arthritis "cooperators"
Some evidence suggests that certain foods can aggravate an arthritic condition. Although such foods are not thought to "cause" arthritis, they may "cooperate" with it and make it worse. Experiment by avoiding foods from the nightshade family, including tomatoes, eggplant, peppers (except black pepper), and potatoes (except for potato juice - explained further on). Tobacco is also a member of the nightshade family that can aggravate arthritis. Milk, fats, and citrus fruits are other possible cooperators. As an experiment, avoid, or at least significantly reduce, ingesting them.

Apply some herbal heat
Cayenne pepper is known to contain a painkilling chemical called capsaicin. There are now some over-the-counter drugs as well as some herbal products that are primarily composed of capsaicin. Apply it externally directly to and around the source of pain. Ideally, use a standardized cream with 0.025%-0.075% capsaicin. Expect your initial applications to produce a burning sensation.

Glucosamine what?
Glucosamine is a natural substance found in high concentration in the body's cartilage and joints. Although it doesn't exhibit significant anti-inflammatory or analgesic properties, it provides structural support to the joints and helps relieve the pain and discomfort in many people suffering from arthritis. Consider taking 500 mg three times a day, preferably on an empty stomach -- but if irritation occurs, take it with food. By the way, most of the best research on people with arthritis has been with glucosamine sulfate; consider using this type of glucosamine first. By the way, some sources suggest that people with a heart condition should avoid taking this supplement.

Water yourself
Stimulate circulation in the affected areas by taking a hot shower or bath, and then turn on the cold water. Repeat the hot cycle, and then return to the cold. If your hands, knees, or feet are the primary sources of pain, you can simply place them in a tub or sink of hot and then cold water. Another alternative is to place a hot pack on a specific area and alternate with a cold pack. Try this at least twice a day.

Cast castor oil on the pain
Make a castor oil pack, and place it on a joint where there is pain, but not when there's acute inflammation. To make it, pour three or four tablespoons of castor oil in a pan, heat the oil until it simmers, then saturate a flannel cloth with the oil. After you place this cloth on the affected joint, cover it with a larger towel and place an electric heating pad over it. Keep it in place for 30 to 60 minutes. This castor oil pack can be saved for future use by simply rolling up the cloth and placing it in a Ziploc bag.

Become a juice potato
An old folk remedy for arthritis is to drink raw potato juice. To make it, wash a potato (don't peel it), cut it into thin slices, place it in a glass of cold water, and leave it out overnight. Drink this water in the morning on an empty stomach. The lowly potato is known to have antiviral inhibitors and is rich in chlorogenic acid, which helps prevent cell mutations that lead to cancer. Whatever it is in potatoes that helps arthritic sufferers is yet to be found, but personal experience suggests that it can be helpful.

Fish oil can lubricate you
Research has recently shown that fish oil supplements have anti-inflammatory effects that may be helpful to arthritis sufferers. One important study showed beneficial effects when people took 15 capsules a day, although most people will probably experience benefits by taking four to eight capsules daily. Recent research has also suggested that extracts from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel, now available in supplement form, are particularly good for people with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Although this supplement may sound strange, would you rather suffer, or try something that might make you feel better?

Bejewel yourself in copper
People suffering from arthritis have been known to experience relief when they wear a copper bracelet. Although skeptics point to this treatment as a classic example of quackery, or simply the placebo effect, it is known that some people with arthritis have difficulty assimilating copper from the food they eat. Perhaps wearing a copper bracelet provides them with a subtle but biologically active source of this mineral. Lending further support to the use of copper, homeopathic physicians commonly prescribe microdoses of copper (Cuprum metalicum) to those people with arthritis who experience cramping pains in the joints and jerking or twitching of muscles.

Bee stings for arthritis?
It is a well-known bit of folklore that beekeepers have a low incidence of arthritis. It is also known that one folk remedy for treating arthritis is getting stung by a bee. An easier way to try this remedy is to get a homeopathic dose of bee venom in Apis mellifica 6 or 30. This medicine is primarily helpful if you have arthritic pain that is similar to the type of pain that bee venom causes: burning pain, aggravated by heat, alleviated by cold or cool applications.

Are you too resistant to change?
Is the stiffness in your character creating stiffness in your body? There's the story of two caterpillars who look up and notice a butterfly. One caterpillar says to the other: "You'll never get me up in one of those." Are you resisting any inevitable changes in your life? Loosen up. Say to yourself: "I expect change, and I will bend with it."

Dear, Dear Diary
Keep a diary of your symptoms. Look for patterns of what might aggravate the pain that you experience. Finding a pattern might not "cure" you, but it may help you avoid those things that trigger your pain syndrome. Also, recent research has found that simply writing about your experiences with arthritis has a therapeutic benefit. Write on!






This article was
excerpted from

"The One Minute
(or so) Healer"
by
Dan Ullman, MPH

WOW! Thanks Biz! That was some article! Some of the uses for the castor oil make sense. The hot pack would be soothing! My ex took it for constipation, so I know it worked that way.

I liked reading about the remedies that were cited! The potato water blew me away!! I liked listening to all of the old wive's tales that my mother-in-law would tell me about when I got married and moved to the farm. A lot of them werre true too. I think people were really wise back then. They had to be--they couldn't just go look stuff up on their computers. They had to listen to their grandparents' stories and teach their children and grandchildren. Sorry, rambling again.

Anyway, great reading---thanks!
Hugs,
LS

I lived 4 years on the boss's property. She and her husband were into organic everything and homopathic medicine. So some of these I had heard already from her. But some I had not. She also told me taking as hot a bath as you can stand in sea salt and baking soda drains out the impurities in your body. You sweat them out I guess. I know my Dad has always taken baking soda baths. He has always been healthy until he had a heart attack at 68 and by pass surgery.

She also told me to not eat anything white, like sugar, flour, bread, etc.

Like Jan said, alot of the old remedies worked. Like Mom would give us flat coke for an upset stomach. I hate coke to this day....but it helps and I still do it.

This was interesting. Thanks!

Sher