Poultice: Natural Healing & Pain Relief

From chronic pain to acute pain, we are a society that is built upon the use of oral anti-inflammatories, pain relievers and steroids. For many individuals, the use of all natural products to alleviate pain has become a focus, moving away from traditional medicine.

One such aspect of natural healing involves the use of a pain management technique known as a poultice. A poultice is a natural method for healing that provides external therapeutic application, often alleviating the need for oral pain relievers, steroids and anti-inflammatories.

Poultice is the term used to describe a concoction of therapeutic products which promote warm or hot healing properties. When heat is used in the promotion of pain relief, the process works to relax the muscles, dilate capillaries, promote blood flow and draw toxins away from the affected area.

Creating a paste, a poultice is warmed and then spread into muslin, linen or gauze and applied to the area that is creating the chronic pain. Most often, patients who suffer from boils, fractures, fibrocystic disease, lymph node enlargement, isolated neuropathic pain and even sunburn, find the use of a poultice to be quite effective in lieu or oral pain relieving agents.

When successfully created with cornmeal and herbal mixtures, and applied with an extra layer of cotton to prevent heat loss, a poultice can provide pain relief, and reduce inflammation, for as long as six hours. For many individuals who must continue to work while suffering with pain, creating a natural herbal mixture poultice often provides the necessary pain relief so as to avoid using oral medications that may impair the ability to function in the work environment.

If you prefer a cool or cold poultice therapy, instead of using cornmeal as the base for the paste creation, alternative healing practitioners usually recommend using a clay base as this provides for a longer cooling effect. Cool poultice remedies also work well with sunburn and fractures.