Muscle Salve: Less is More

6/17/13

I'm starting to realize (although I think I had mentioned it in a previous post) that I don't HAVE to put every herb a la, "the kitchen sink" into all of my recipes. Simply put, sometimes less is more. Or more is just excess... It's not necessary. I made this awesome muscle salve, but had the lack of foresight to put way too much camphor essential oil into it. I just didn't realize what a little drop of that powerful stuff can do in a small jar of salve. So.. I put it on... I won't give anything to anyone without trying it out on myself first.. and well, it was kind of intense, itchy, burny... and so.. back to the drawing board. I decided to scoop them out of the small jars, put them back into a mason jar, and place it with an open lid, into extremely hot water, hoping to evaporate the camphor out of the oil... it helped a bit, but not enough, so I added some more oil that I had already made of arnica, rose hip, lavender, chamomile & calendula. Still... too strong. Idea #2. Add copious amounts of rice bran oil and avocado oil, just to dilute it more. I was thinking it would be okay but I poured it into JUST ONE salve container (because at this point, I know better... there are only so many times you can scoop salve out of small bottles, and clean them out, only to start over), tried it last night and today, and I have to say.. its still pretty menthol-y. Now, some people might like it strong.. but the person I was making it for originally... it's hard to say how I know this, but its something that we learn to tap into as holistic practicioners.. its evaluating a patient's constitution. There is an ayurvedic way to diagnose personality traits and match them with "medications" that will be pleasing and in accordance with their .. what is called ones dosha in Ayurvedic Medicine. Your dosha is your make-up, constitution, body type, personality type.. all of these things combined, you can sort of tell what will bother and what will be pleasing to a certain person without even having to talk to them much at all. It's a method of evaluation, and once you understand it, it makes PERFECT SENSE. So, based on this woman's dosha, and I can tell you this intuitively, she would get a rash from too much camphor. It would irritate her skin, and she would most likely come back to the doctor and say it's too strong. I can just tell. So... I'm going back to another method. I'm infusing calendula, lavender, lemon balm and chamomile in almond oil. These, even on their own, will have a calming effect on the muscle tissue. Almond oil is very mild and is nourishing and calming for the skin. These four herbs alone would relax the body (and mind) effectively, and these are all herbs that are very gentle & mild on the skin. I will probably add a bit of wild lettuce (an intense muscle relaxer.. known as the herbal opiate), and possibly some wild willow bark (known as the herbal "aspirin"), neither of which has properties that can or would irritate the skin. Despite the fact that the "mints": peppermint, spearmint, plus eucalyptus and camphor are widely used to relax muscles, I have to be careful with these... use them sparingly, or as herbs, and be really really careful about the super potent essential oils that I might add to any salve. This is my lesson for the day. I look forward for helping my patient Mercedes get out of pain soon, so that she can stand on her feet for hours at work and not suffer from the nuisance of chronic muscle pain.