Tumeric paste for wound healing

Silverlake

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I have an open wound which I am trying to heal with turmeric paste. I have read the tumeric accelerates healing and prevents infection but I cannot find any extensive information on the proper method for using it.

I have been rinsing off the paste to clean the wound every 24 hours but find it is very difficult to rinse the paste off. It seems to cling to the flesh. If I try to rub it off it is too painful because the wound is open and tender.

When I do the cleaning I also notice some soft white material seems to have grown over parts of the wound. Is this new skin trying to grow over the wound and am I disturbing it by trying to rinse off the paste?

it seems like after every cleaning I end up with a lot more pain radiating from the wound which is making me hesitant to mess with it.

Might it be better if I just leave the paste on until it falls off and don't even bother with the cleanings?

some medical sites that it is optimal to maintain a moist wound bed because this leads to better healing. So I'm wondering if I should try a different aoproach.

Would love to hear from anyone who has had success healing with turmeric paste in the past or who can recommend another method that worked for them.

Thanks!
 

frustratedearthmother

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I've used a paste that I made out of turmeric and aloe gel on a suspicious lesion I had on my wrist. I put the paste on the lesion, covered it with a band-aid and left it for several days. After about a week the lesion was gone.

However, I've never used it on an open wound. Are you covering it with a bandage? Have you tried honey on the wound? Maybe mix the tumeric paste with honey, apply it and cover it? I would think you could leave it covered for several days without worry of infection.

Take my advice with a grain of salt and please do what you feel is best. Hope your wound gets better!

Welcome to SS!
 

Britesea

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Here is my wound healing salve: It works like a charm! You want to put it on and check regularly to make sure no infection has set in (it never has when I use this, but you can't be too careful). Once you've done the initial cleaning, you should not keep doing that every day because you will disrupt the healing tissue- just add a touch of the salve and bandage it up again.

1/2 cup coconut oil (proven to help heal burns - plus it’s anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, & a great moisturizer)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (full of vitamins & a great moisturizer)
1/4 cup dried comfrey (an herb for healing wounds)
1/4 cup dried calendula (an herb for healing wounds & skin irritations)
2oz beeswax (just to keep the ingredients from running off the wound as you are applying it)
2 tablespoons of honey (natural moisturizer with anti-microbial properties)
10 drops lavender essential oil (anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, & analgesic) (optional)

In a medium saucepan – combine the coconut oil, olive oil, comfrey, & calendula. Cook on low to medium heat for about 20-30 minutes, stirring often. You can also get more ‘healing zip’ from the herbs by soaking the herbs in the olive oil for 2 to 6 weeks instead of cooking (longer you soak, more healing properties get infused). Then you would follow the rest of the recipe accordingly, with the exception of adding the coconut oil to the mixture before adding in the beeswax.
Strain the mixture using a cheesecloth or coffee filter.
Toss the herbs & wipe out any remaining herbs from your saucepan. Add the strained oil back to your pot, turn the heat to low. Stir in the honey at this point until mixed.
Add the beeswax and stir until completely melted.
Stir in the essential oil, if using, at this point. Once combined, remove from the heat.
You’ll want to work quickly now as the salve starts to set up rather fast. Pour into the glass or tin container(s) of your choice. I used wide mouth 8 oz jars.
Stir or shake occasionally while it cools to ensure that everything settles properly, especially the honey.
Once it sets up, you’re all done. Each batch makes a little over a cup.
Seal it up & keep it on hand for your boo-boos, diaper rash, & dry skin. It keeps for a year.
 

Silverlake

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Thanks for your replies.

Frustratedearthmother, your honey+tumeric combination sounds like a very good idea. I did consider honey but the medical websites I've seen all say to only use medical grade manuka for wounds which I don't have and which looks pretty expensive. I do have some regular old honey in the kitchen though, and I can't help but wonder: honey has been used since ancient times for wound healing, were all those civilizations using medical grade manuka? Somehow I doubt it!

Originally I was covering it with a bandage but I stopped. The problem is that I took the skin right off with a kitchen knife, so the whole surface of my fingertip is raw. Anything that makes contact with it causes irritation and pain. So the last time after applying the turmeric paste what I did was to tape part of a popsicle stick to my finger so that extends past the the fingertip. That way nothing is making contact with the wound, but I can't actually bump my finger against anything because the popsicle stick is protecting it.

Britesea, your healing salve sounds good but it might take me a bit of time to get some of those ingredients and it seems like ideally it should sit somewhere for awhile to become more potent. I think I may have a calendula tincture somewhere but I don't have dry leaves. But you did give me an idea. I do have a homemade comfrey leaf salve I sometimes use, made up from comfrey leaf, olive oil and beeswax. Do you think using that would still be good? Maybe I could also mix in some honey (and the calendula tincture if I can find it) before applying it?

At the moment I still have the turmeric paste on the wound (made from turmeric and coconut oil) and it seems to have dried on there so I am a little hesitant to remove it and disturb the wound. I know from my past attempts to clean it that the paste seems to "adhere" to the wound and is difficult to remove. Maybe instead of trying to remove the paste I could just add the salve on top of it and see if I can get it to soften after a few applications?

I've noticed that for some reason though turmeric is supposed to have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and healing properties, when the trumeric paste is covering the wound more pain radiates from the wound. The other night after removing the paste I simply put some aquaphor on the wound, protected it, and went to bed, and I had almost no pain during that time. So going with just the salve from now on might be the best idea.
 

Britesea

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I think the comfrey salve would work. After all, some of it's common names are bruisewort, knit bone, and bone set. It's been used for healing since possibly as early as 400bc. One of it's compounds, allantoin, helps to grow new skin cells, and has the ability to regenerate connective tissues.
 

Mini Horses

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I need to pick some comfrey leaves to dehydrate soon. Bet the freeze dryer would be good for herb drying -- or not? Tell us @Britesea. Your the only person I know with one at home. May be that the dehydrator is just fine. I air dried before....in the sun.
 

baymule

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This is a very interesting thread. Thanks for the wound salve @Britesea I copied it and saved it. @Silverlake I hope your wound heals up. Try the honey, it is used for bedsores on patients. Of course, that is the sanitized version, honey out of the jar should be ok.
 

Britesea

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Freeze dried works real well, although, just like a dehydrator, the leaves can get blown around a little by the moving air. Comfrey leaves are big enough that it isn't a big problem, but stuff like cilantro can be a bit of a problem. I like to use one or the other over drying in the sun because it preserves the bright green color a little better (which I equate to preserving some of the nutrients as well).

@baymule I love that salve! But after a while, the honey in it can get a little bit crystalized, so if you make some don't be surprised at the occasional "gritty" bits. It doesn't hurt anything, though.

I did some research into honey, and what I found was that ANY honey has wound healing capability, it's just that the Manuka honey, because of the pollen from the Manuka flower, is somewhat better in that respect. It sounds to me like a big marketing ploy, considering how much the price has gone up.

Surprisingly, you can also use both sugar and salt on wounds to prevent infection and help with healing. Both are hydrophilic, so they absorb all the moisture in the open wound- which prevents bacteria from being able to grow. Salt hurts like the dickens when you pour it on of course, but sugar doesn't hurt at all. So in a pinch, if you have NOTHING else, you can use one of those on a wound.
 
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