Herbal Wound Care
As someone living with a chronic skin condition and who gardens and raises rabbits, herbal skin care is a part of my everyday life. This includes things like herb infused oils, salves, baths, washes, and powders. Having a well stocked first aid kit with a few well selected herbal remedies can help you be more prepared and instill a confidence in your ability to care for your family. Making these remedies yourself with high quality herbs adds another layer of competency altogether. Ready to play? Let’s jump on in.
An overview of wound care:
First, let’s start with knowing the difference between a wound that can be safely cared for at home and one that needs professional attention. A wound that is deep and wide with continued bleeding should always be evaluated as stitches may be needed to help that wound close well. Any wound that you cannot fully clean out should be thoroughly cleaned with the help of an anesthetic and magnification by a trained professional. Any wound that is obviously infected and getting worse should be brought to the attention of your medical providers. Any wound where there is excessive bruising and/or swelling should be evaluated especially if it is a head wound, an abdominal or chest wound, or if there could be a broken bone. Also wounds that result from contact with a venomous insect or animal should be examined. Finally, any bite wound that breaks the skin should be evaluated and monitored for infection.
Second, let’s cover the basic healing process of skin wounds. When a wound heals it will heal through the different layers that have been broken. Deeper wounds tend to heal from the deeper layers up towards the surface. To heal, healthy living cells need to be in contact with each other, this is why old wounds that haven’t been treated may have to have the edges cut away to allow healing. Healing will involve inflammation in the form of pain, redness, swelling, and an increase in temperature compared to the surrounding tissues. White blood cells will be brought into the area to ward off infection, eat up damaged tissues, and create proteins that will inform your immune system of the need to make collagen fibers, grow new blood vessels, and bring in the nutrients needed to knit things back together.
Now that we have a bit of a review, this will help us understand the different qualities we will want out of an herbal remedy for wound healing: Infection control, increased blood profusion into the tissues, effective collagen production, and nourishing nutrients that will enable all processes to work well and keep more cells from dying.
Herbal washes:
Herbal washes are great to have around when you are first injured. Soap and water are a great place to start, and I always begin with a good wash with soap and water when available.
My favorite skin washes to keep in my first aid kit will be alcohol based to add in additional antimicrobial activity. My favorite tincture to keep around for this purpose is a combination of: Calendula, St John’s wort, Gotu Kola, and either Oregon Grape or Goldenseal. Calendula is antimicrobial and also speeds healing, St. John’s wort is antimicrobial and also eases pain, Gotu Kola helps with blood flow and blood vessel growth, and Oregon grape/goldenseal are potent antimicrobials. Why so many antimicrobials? To keep infection from altering the healing process and to act as a broad spectrum antimicrobial against bacteria, fungi, and viruses without worrying about drug resistance.
Other herbal washes can include strong teas. Oregano and Thyme tea is great for this. One can also soak bandages in the tea to apply as a compress.
Stopping bleeding:
Sometimes a wound, even a shallow cut in the right place, can bleed profusely making bandaging and cleaning difficult. First, remember that bleeding will flush out the wound and help prevent infection, so a bit of bleeding isn’t a bad thing. But, if your wound continues to bleed even after applying pressure or seems to keep re-opening and bleeding, a styptic can be helpful.
Herbally speaking, I like dried and powdered yarrow flowers for this situation. I’ve been known to smash fresh yarrow flowers into a finger cut for this purpose as well. Not only will the yarrow help promote clotting, it is also another great antimicrobial and skin healing herb. Three jobs in one simple remedy - not too shabby! This is an example of how herbal medicine can be much more complex and helpful than pharmaceuticals where a single or handful of substances are concentrated and given to do one job. Instead of needing three different substances, we can rely on one whole plant medicine! The same can be said for eating whole foods vs popping multiple supplements.
Herbal salves/ointments
Once your wound is clean and has stopped bleeding, the next step is to keep it moist and clean so that it can heal properly. One great way to achieve this is by using an herbal salve. Typically, a salve is an herb infused oil combined with bee’s wax to thicken it and make it more shelf stable. Ointments can be though of as a more runny salve with a consistency somewhere between a lotion and a salve.
There are many different salve recipes out there but there are a few herbs that you will see used over and over. A few of my favorites include:
Calendula flowers
Self heal flowering tops
Plantain leaf
St. John’s wort flowering tops
Comfrey leaf or root
Rosemary leaf
Sage leaf
Lavender blossoms
Mullein leaf or flower
Chickweed leaves
Dandelion blossoms
A basic salve recipe that I use is 1 cup of herb infused oil (or a combination of oils) with 1-2 Tbsp grated bee’s wax. Heat the oil gently and add the bee’s wax stirring until well dissolved. Pour this mixture into small containers (4oz mason jars work great) and allow to harden. The more bee’s wax you use, the more firm your salve will be. A fantastic first time salve would be a Calendula simple. A simple is any herbal remedy that only contains one herb.
Herbal poultice:
Sometimes a wound like a bee sting, mosquito bite, or splinter needs the drawing action of an herbal compress to pull the irritating substances out. Minor infections can also be treated with herbal compresses to draw out the infected tissues and matter. A compress of plantain and calendula is a great remedy in these cases. Simple ground flax seed are also handy as a drawing poultice. For these, you will want to work with fresh, washed plant material that you chop up finely creating a paste-like substance. This can be applied directly to a wound or to a piece of cloth and placed over the wound. Allow the material to stay in contact with the wound until it dries completely and then remove. The drying will pull substances out of the wound similarly to a mud face mask while also adding in medicinal compounds to aid in healing and infection control.
Hydrotherapy and wound healing
Hydrotherapy is the use of water to deliver heat and cold to an area. This can be done efficiently with hot and cold towels or contrasting baths. When healing from an injury, alternating hot and cold applications can increase blood flow in and out of an area speeding the healing process, reducing swelling, and soothing pain. With skin wounds, herbs can be added to the hot water to add additional healing properties. Any of the above mentioned herbs can be helpful, but you can tailor them to your specific needs. Are you trying to avoid scar formation - add in a vulnerary herb like calendula, self heal, or comfrey. Need to reduce pain - add in a soothing herb like St. John’s wort or lavender. Are you more worried about infection, how about a strong tea of thyme or oregano?
The basic concept is simple. Apply 3-5 minutes of heat to the area followed by 1 minute of cold. Don’t make the hot or cold so intense that it causes pain or could cause more damage. Just use temperatures that feel pleasantly warm and cold. The warm should cause pinkness in the skin and perhaps a bit of sweating and the cold should be pleasantly cold and soothing. Repeating this for 2-3 cycles always ending on cold is the best practice and you can repeat this process several times through the day.
Herbal wound care may seem a bit complex on the surface, but it’s really pretty simple. The complexity is a result of how versatile herbs are and the many different roles they can play and forms that their medicine can take. Once you begin playing around with making your own herbal remedies, you will see just how creative you can get with them. Don’t forget to label your creations and keep a well stocked first aid kit. Once you find a recipe you love, herbal salves make great gifts too!
To our health!
