The Magical Powers of Calendula Oil

CALENDULA FLOWERS

Okay: here is where the blog takes some graphic turns.  Avert your reading if sensitive and/or squeamish.  In early 2000, I was recovering from the ravages of my first pregnancy, labor and delivery.  The pregnancy had involved some issues and, in particular, a big horrific battle with daily constipation.  (stop reading here if you can't hang with this discussion.) 

This battle worn site in my body did not fare well during the hour or so of pushing an almost 9 pound baby out.  The end result was golf ball size hemorrhoids on the outside and anal fissures on the inside.  The 'roids went down in time; the fissures did not.  Hence, after every bowel movement, I was in excruciating pain unless I took a pain pill. A real pain pill---not just Tylenol.  It went on for a couple of months and then I got lucky and found a holistic MD under my insurance plan. 

She examined me and diagnosed the fissure  (up until then i had just assumed it was something terminal and didn't really know what it was---aside from ungodly).

She sold me some calendula* oil made by a company called HerbPharm for under $10.  I was then to apply it internally using my finger (if i could handle this) a couple of times a day. (I know----but I did warn you.)

Couple days of treatment and pain gone forever.  Fissure fixed.

Round 2 of calendula oil came about a year and one half later.  My now toddler son ended up with the most godawful diaper rash I had ever seen.  I took him to the doctor and it had turned out to be a yeast rash.  In retrospect, this was the worst rash I ever encountered throughout having three kids.  Like horror film ugly.  Nothing was working.  It went on for a week. Finally I dug into my bag of tricks and pulled out my calendula oil.  I applied straight calendula oil and the rash was fixed in one day.  I also found a calendula oil diaper rash ointment made by Weleda that kept it from returning in the summer heat.  It became my fave diaper cream.  (Still keep the stuff around even though diaper changing is no longer in my job description.) 

Round 3 of calendula oil involved second son:  within a week or so after his birth, he developed baby acne which made him look like Elephant Man in baby version.  The doctor said that it would probably last about a year.  I was aghast and thought "no way is my kid going to look like this for a year".  I went home and started working with calendula ointments and creams.  It took some religious effort but within a week or so it was done.

Calendula oil is always in my house as the go-to skin problem fixer.




*Calendula (/kəˈlɛndjuːlə/ Ca-lén-du-la),^[1] marigold, is a genus of about 15–20 species^[2] of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. They are native to southwestern Asia, western Europe, Macaronesia, and the Mediterranean. Other plants are also known as marigolds, such as corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, and plants of the genus Tagetes.
The name calendula is a modern Latin diminutive of calendae, meaning "little calendar", "little clock" or possibly "little weather-glass".^[3] The common name "marigold" ^[3] refers to the Virgin Mary.
The most commonly cultivated and used member of the genus is the pot marigold (Calendula officinalis). Popular herbal and cosmetic products named 'calendula' invariably derive from C. officinalis.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Pterygiums and Eyebright

After a vacation to the Bahamas in August 1997, I arrived home with a pterygium*.  Basically, it was this reddish growth thing on the surface of one of my eyes (the white part technically known as the sclera).  I promptly went to the eye doctor and was told that it was a pterygium which, in some cases, can be brought on by intensive sun exposure.  The way to avoid getting pterygiums is to wear sunglasses at all times whilst outside.  But too late for me to find this out.  The pterygium, I was informed, was permanent and there to stay.  In all its unattractive annoyingness.  (It was quite noticeable; people would stare and ask what happened to my eye.)

I started wearing sunglasses right away----and have never stopped to this day----to prevent any further damage.  But I felt that there had to be a way to rid myself of this thing.  I made a trip to an hippie herbal shop and somehow got in a conversation with a guy that considered himself an iridologist**.  I had never met such a person before but he was very enthusiastic and assured me that my problem could be easily fixed with a eyewash of eyebright tea.  His profession sounds wacky to the average but I really wanted a fix for this ptergium.  So I bought some eyebright tea and followed his instructions.

I did the eyewashes maybe two or three times.  They were painful and the whole white of my eye would turn red.  And, sure, I worried I was blinding myself based on some random dude's advice.  But then by the third time, it was gone.  And it never came back.  Yet I was told I would always have it.




Eyebright

*A pterygium is an elevated, superficial, external ocular mass that usually forms over the perilimbal conjunctiva and extends onto the corneal surface. Pterygia can vary from small, atrophic quiescent lesions to large, aggressive, rapidly growing fibrovascular lesions that can distort the corneal topography, and, in advanced cases, they can obscure the optical center of the cornea.^{[medscape reference]}

**Iridology is a branch of alternative medicine that has been around for centuries. Practitioners believe that cell changes in the iris can indicate problem areas in the rest of the body. By examining the iris for new marks and colors, they diagnose general problems or weaknesses--rather than specific diseases--in all areas of the body, including the heart, liver, lungs, neck, brain, kidneys and spleen. [ehow.com]

Mary's Pepto-Bismol Story

In my mid-to-late twenties (roughly 1987 to 1991), I suffered on and off from stomach and/or intestinal pain.  A weird pain that was really more discomfort than pain but discomfort to a disabling degree, i.e. it would cause me to leave work for the day.  It seldom led to diarrhea, vomiting and the like so I generally waited it out with maybe sips of Coke and fetal position curls.  Not having health insurance at the time, I could not afford the next step which would have been barium enemas and other gory and invasive testings.  Not to mention expensive. 

One day, in a bookstore, I happened upon a compilation of herbal folk wisdom about cures for everyday ailments---the author may have been Jean Carper but I can't say for certain.  My attention was caught by a chapter on ulcer like symptoms that were indicative of a bacteria---H. pylori.  The suggested easy remedy was Pepto-Bismol.

After one dose my suffering was done.  I took another dose for good measure.  This was roughly late Spring 1991.  After that time, news broke about H. Pylori and how it mimicked ulcer symptoms.  But I never read about bismuth (active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) curing it anywhere again. 

This little science experiment on myself was actually the catalyst to my interest in finding ways to heal myself when and if possible.

Zoom forward many years later:  one of my kids (under the age of ten at that time) was experiencing repetitive stomachaches that were very painful.  I went through my repertoire and considered trying Pepto-Bismol on him.  In theory, the age 12 and under set is not supposed to use the product due to Reyes Syndrome.  But I decided to try one teaspoon.  Twenty minutes later, he bounced into the room and said:  “Mom, my stomachache is all gone!”  I have since used it judiciously on my kids when needed.

I think bismuth kills off things that need to be killed off……

Why Musings on the Bamboo Path?

We are sisters. Between us, we have a combined eighty-eight years on this planet. There is a ten years difference between us. (There’s some fifth grade math for you.) If there wasn’t that much of an age gap, a blog collaboration might not work. Or any collaboration for that matter…… Both of us have had a vested interest in health and wellness for many of those eighty-eight years. We decided it is time to put down in blog format the various trials and tribulations that have occurred on this path. We are now down the path a ways into midlife with its inherent challenges. We continue on with zeal and gusto! In no way do we purport to be medical professionals. And in no way is this blog medically sanctioned.

Mary’s story:

In my lifetime, I have experienced many unusual experiences related to health and wellness.  My mind and body has not ever fit the “one size fits all” approach that seems common in the medical field.  Because of this, I had some unfortunate times relating to medicinal reactions and a piss-poor immune system.  So I reached a point in my mid-twenties where I attempted to wipe my medical slate clean and start over.  There have been a lot of bumps and even pot holes on that path but that is the choice I made…….

In my mid-thirties, I started a family and thus entered a whole other dimension of health and wellness involving pregnancies, infancies and little people.  My path became a good bit wider, more challenging and even more experimental.  You might even call it an adventure.

So what’s the motivation to blog about this?  Even if it is the most boring, dry material in blogosphere (it won’t be) and interesting to only two people (sister and me), this becomes the record my kids may refer back to someday.  They may indeed need to look up how to get rid of a wart or how to use Pepto Bismol for its best purpose. 

 

 

         Dorothy's story:

 

Staying healthy was a big preoccupation in my idyllic, albeit virus riddled childhood.  Even with plenty of bucolic fresh air and ample exposure to supposed immune building germs, my ten year old self just couldn't seem to evade a relentless campaign of nasty respiratory illnesses.

I suppose my early childhood dance with illness (and my own subtly compromised, yet thankfully intact immune system) instilled in me a fascination with all things health related.  Specifically, by middle age, it has become obvious to me that preventative and complementary measures can go a long way to restoring a body and mind back to balance.

The ups and downs of health are an adventure that we all share and I hope some of my experiences-----from how to deal with an ominous looking tick bite to how to deal with the mask of pregnancy-----will have value to all readers in search of self care solutions.