Home Care of Burns

 

Here is my burn story. 

(Just to add to the atmosphere, I had no electricity at that time, so all this happened in flickering candle light.  The water was heating on the wood stove.)

Some years ago I picked up a large pot of boiling water and spilled a quantity of it on top of my left hand.  Having worked as a cook, I know well about burns.  My first thought was “This is the worst burn I have ever had” – it covered maybe 75% of the top of my left hand.  It did not hurt for a half a minute or so.  I instantly rushed for a bowl of cold water in which to immerse it; by that time the incredible pain was slamming me hard.

I had to change the water in the bowl every so often, maybe every 5 minutes, to keep the pain at bay.  As soon as my hand came out of the water, the pain was unbearable; as soon as it was immersed in fresh cold water, it was bearable again – maybe reduced 75% or more.  I did this for more than an hour, maybe even two hours.  If I had had ice, I would have added that to the water.  The moment my hand was out of the water, the pain was incredibly severe, verging into “unbearable” territory.

Finally (this was the middle of the night) I was so tired I had to take my hand out of the water, and fortunately had a small amount of pure Lavender essential oil.  I sprinkled several drops of Lavender oil over the burn, and as soon as the oil touched the burn, the pain was almost totally relieved.  In a few minutes, the pain started to return, so I kept sprinkled drops of Lavender oil, which relieved the pain again.

I would have used more Lavender oil but the bottle was almost empty, so I had to use it carefully.  I repeated this sprinkling of Lavender oil for maybe an hour.  At that point the pain was still severe but much reduced, and I felt at last I could sleep; I had been up and dealing with this burn for around three hours. 

I then took my handy bowl of prepared clay (which I always have for burns and other problems) and covered the top of my hand roughly 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick with clay.  I then wrapped a plastic bag snugly over the hand and taped it on.  With the clay, the pain was entirely relieved as long as I didn’t touch my hand or bang it on anything.  I dropped, exhausted, into bed.

The next morning I awoke with no pain, took off the plastic bag and peeled the clay off, expecting to see a horrible blister and raw red flesh.  The hand looked entirely normal, other than being a bit pale and wrinkly due to the moist clay, with one very pale pinkish spot the size of half a dime which was sensitive when touched.

Even though I knew the wonderful – almost miraculous – healing benefits of Lavender oil and clay, I was still amazed.  I wanted to write up a little booklet (like this) and hand it to people on the street and mail it to everyone I knew.

No household should be without Lavender oil and clay.  They have many other uses, but for treating burns, they are unsurpassable.  They are especially useful for children, who have a much harder time dealing with pain.

Lavender oil

Make sure that you have good quality – pure and natural – Lavender essential oil.  Perfume oils have no value whatsoever.  Some brands are better than others; NOW brand is in my opinion the worst.  I will add my sources soon and hope to figure out how to make links.

Clay

Clay can be purchased in many places; French green clay is the best, with Italian or other kinds of gray clay as a decent substitute.  Here is how to mix the clay properly.  It is not good to mix as you need it as clay is best not stirred up,  the best way is to have a glass or ceramic bowl with your ready moist clay; it keeps perfectly well as long as you have a lid to keep dust and insects out of it.

Pour the powdered clay into your receptacle so it is about half full, then pour non-chlorinated water so it stands about 1 inch more more above the level of the clay.  Do NOT stir, just cover.  The next morning the clay will have absorbed all the water nicely and should be a soft moist consistency.  It should be thicker than a slurry, almost a pudding like texture.  If you don’t use it often, check to see if it’s drying out under the cover, and just pour on more water if needed.

Clay can also be applied as a poultice to pimples, of course all burns, infections, boils, splinters (it helps to draw foreign objects out and reduces inflammation), infected hangnails, insect bites, etc.  It has an incredible instant pain reducing quality that has to be experienced to be believed.  It can also be used as a facial mask to refine the skin.   Excellent tooth powder can be made with clay and a few others simple ingredients.  It can be used for first aid even for cuts and other small wounds.  I would never, ever be without clay in my house. 

(I will be listing good sources very soon.)

Advertisement