POULTICES: INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE

Apr 29 2009

Inflammation of the eye is quite a common complaint in a household. Someone gets poked in the eye with a twig, or a bit of tree sap accidently gets in the eye. Sometimes it is a common stye or dry eyes. The fluid moistening the membrane of the eye is reduced and when a person sleeps the eyes become very painful from being closed with no lubrication.

Take a raw potato, grate it finely and squeeze out the juice. Dip some cotton wadding or a thin soft rag in this and place over the eye as shown in the picture.

A lady came to visit me once who had not slept all night because of a very painful swollen right eye. She was suffering great pain and her face was very swollen. Half an hour after placing a potato poultice over the eye she was sound asleep. After four hours the swelling had gone down and the eye was very much improved.

Case Histories

Case No. 1.

A young lad had a large, angry-looking pimple on the underside of his arm. It was very painful and appeared to have a large, hard area surrounding it. A potato poultice was wrapped around it and left in place overnight. In the morning it looked larger and seemed to be developing into a boil. During the day we put on it a poultice made of slippery elm powder, mixed into a paste with a little water. That night another potato poultice was applied after it had been bathed for about an hour in alternating hot and cold water. This program was continued for two days after which it looked as if the boil were ready to burst. However, no pressure was applied; instead, another potato poultice was applied on the third night. In the morning, the boil burst of its own accord and poured forth all its rottenness in one discharge. Some small pimples still showed around the head but came to nothing. The young man had been cleaning drains, and it is possible that he picked up a bacterial infection. But the powerful action of the raw potato drew it to a central point where it could be discharged by the body in one big effort.

Case No. 2.

A lady was out mowing the lawn when a knotted clump of grass and debris struck her on the sole of the foot and broke the skin. It seemed to be a very minor accident, but somehow the wound became poisoned, and a very swollen and inflamed foot resulted. In addition to this she was due to leave on a long trip in just two days.

Resorting to natural methods, we put the foot into a potato poultice overnight. In the morning a very shrivelled-looking foot withdrew itself from the wet, mushy poultice. But in spite of the sorry sight it presented, the inflammation was gone, and the swelling had almost disappeared. We then put the foot in a home-made steambath, using a chair, kettle, and blanket. (See page 65.) That night another potato poultice was applied, and in the morning the foot was so much improved that she was able to begin her long trip. A week later, she developed a sore spot on her hand. Again, a potato poultice was administered overnight. In the morning when the poultice was removed, a cactus thistle popped out from the sore area, and that problem was over, too.

Case No. 3.

In cases of bruising, the potato poultice is valuable. A young lady had entered into a local tennis competition and had won the privilege of competing on the State level.

However, in the local finals she had accidently bent her thumb back rather badly. If it were not healed in three days, she would not be able to play in the State games. Someone suggested that she put a potato poultice on it. At first, she scoffed at this idea, but her mother pointed out that she had nothing to lose if it did not work but much to gain if it did. So why not try it? (This is a good piece of logic to remember when working with poultices!) Finally, the girl agreed. The result? She played in the State competition.

Case No. 4.

Another gentleman was on a camping trip. While erecting a tent, he twisted his ankle. Because the pain was not severe, he did not think too much more about it. He continued working around and getting things fixed for the night. When he finally sat down, he noticed that his ankle had become swollen. It was becoming painful, and he thought that he had better do something about it. It was not convenient to treat it with hot and cold water, so a potato poultice was applied. He had a good night’s sleep, and in the morning when he removed the poultice, he was amazed to see that his foot was badly discoloured, For a moment, he wondered at the extra damage the poultice seemed to have caused; but, he then realized that in twisting his ankle, he had probably broken the small blood vessels found in the tissues of the foot. This had caused them to bleed, causing the foot to swell. Then, the potato had drawn the blood to the surface allowing the swelling to go down. That day, he was able to walk with a limp. After a couple more potato poultices, he was walking as well as he had before the accident and marvelling at the power of the potato to draw from deep within the tissues the cause of his discomfort.

Another very valuable poulticing material is the onion. There are good reasons for this, as the following will show. The onion is a very sensitive organism and absorbs all morbid matter which comes its way. Furthermore, its oils and essences have a very stimulating effect on human tissues.

For poulticing purposes, the onion is sometimes used raw and at other times cooked. Following is a listing of the many applications of onion and/or garlic as a poulticing aid for various problems.

For suppurating (pus-producing) tumours, roast an onion, split it and apply it directly to the tumour. If the poultice cannot be placed directly on the sore, make a cradle of wire or plastic mesh and place the poultice over the affected area. The cradle must be as close as possible without touching or causing discomfort. For treating a jammed finger or toe, pour one tablespoon of any cooking oil over two large, grated, raw onions and wrap as a poultice around the injured member. (It should be noted that elsewhere in this book hot and cold treatments are also recommended for this and they are better for this type of injury. However, there may be situations where the hot and cold is not very practical, and where the onion or garlic treatment may be more feasible. For this reason, it is good to know of this alternative.) The onion or garlic poultice will relieve the pressure and pain in a few minutes and facilitate the healing of the injury. The removal of callouses can be effected by cutting an onion in half and steeping it in strong wine vinegar. Leave this steeping for three hours. The onion halves are then securely bound to the callouses just before retiring at night and allowed to remain until morning. In the morning, the top layers of the callouses will have been found to have softened and can be easily removed. Repeat the treatment each night until the callous is totally gone. A slice of lemon tied to the callous will soften it in the same way.

Young children often have problems with sore ears. A cold in the head or a chill from cold wind or swimming in the water will set up an ache in the ear. Take an onion and cut it in half. Half-cook this in the oven or in a steamer, but keep the onion out of water. Subject it only to heat so it softens. Put it in a cloth and tie over the ear. In a few minutes the heat and fumes from the onion will cause the pain to ease and the child will sleep through the night. Sometimes a few drops of raw onion juice dropped into the ear will help, but usually it is only necessary to use the warm onion tied over the ear.

Drinking the water in which onions have been boiled will aid in the removal of excess fluid from the system and is also very good in cases of inflammation of the bowels. Raw onion juice rubbed between the toes will sometimes cure athlete’s foot. Also, warts have been known to diminish and eventually disappear with the persistent application of onion or garlic juice and salt. Castor oil or the flower of the mullen plant is sometimes effective on warts.

An onion compress is excellent for the removal of chest complaints such as bronchitis, influenza, colds, and asthma. Simply grate or mush the raw onion, spread over a cloth and then lay it over the chest, or bind it around the neck. During the night the patient’s inhalation of the fumes will disturb and suffocate the germs or viruses in the system and will stimulate the respiratory system to good effect. We have used this often and have always obtained good results. When the lungs have become congested with phlegm, mix honey and onion juice together and drink. This will break up and remove the congestion and ease the breathing. The French remedy for croup is onions. Cut them into thin slices, place into a bowl in layers, sprinkling each with a layer of sugar. This will soon yield a syrup, of which a teaspoon should be taken about every fifteen minutes until relief is obtained. Also for croup, crush a piece of garlic and combine with a little olive oil. If you do not have garlic, try onions. Smear this on the soles of the feet and cover with a cotton sock. Watch the child for the next two hours as this will definitely loosen up the phlegm, and the child may need assistance to get rid of it. When the chest is cleared, the child will sleep the remainder of the night quite peacefully. The same remedy can be used on adults when a persistent cough annoyingly prevents sleep.