The Healing Properties of Calendula

by Louise Mclean

Calendula Officinalis is a bright yellow or orange flower and comes from the daisy family, commonly called pot marigold and grows from one to three foot high (30-90 cm).  Marigold is an attractive and fairly easy annual plant to grow, which withstands the cold well, blooming in spring to autumn. 

Over the past week or so we have experienced freezing cold weather and I have noticed my skin, especially my hands, feel extremely dry, like sandpaper.  Nothing I put on them seems to really alleviate the discomfort but I remembered Calendula cream is good and very healing, so I put some on today and found it worked!  I had previously tried the wonderfully rich castor oil but even that didn't help as much as the Calendula cream in this instance, which is better designed for chapped hands.

In fact Calendula, which is made from Marigold flowers, is extremely good for cuts and abrasions.  If you have a cut that is bleeding, it is specifically good for stemming the blood flow and fast healing.  It is good for open wounds, parts that will not heal, ulcers, etc.  It can also be used on superficial scalds and burns.

The other contender for fast healing is Lavender Aromatherapy Oil.  If you have a seriously bad cut, you can simply run a basin or bucket of warm water, add a few drops of lavender oil and place the part of your body with the cut into it for at least 10 minutes.  You will be amazed that the cut will almost totally have healed up overnight!  What is so good about this is that lavender is antiseptic, so no need to use anything nasty that will sting your cut to clean it, the lavender water will do this AND completely soothe any pain from the cut, as lavender is calming and soothing.

Now Calendula is also antiseptic, so the cream can be immediately applied to any cut, to clean and stem the flow of blood.  It also has antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.

Another very important use for Calendula is for breastfeeding women!  Very often with a first baby, women find their nipples become extremely sore from the baby sucking.  All you need to do in between feeds, is put the Calendula cream on them for fast healing.  Remember it is antiseptic, so safe for the baby, if they get a little on their mouths.  In addition, it is excellent for nappy rash.

The Calendula homeopathic remedy in a 30c or 200c can be taken for tears to muscles or ligaments, commonly known as lacerations.

A very important use is to apply the cream on sunburnt skin to help heal it but I personally prefer the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy Cream for sunburn.  We used it to great effect on our holiday last summer, when one of us was seriously badly burnt!  It completely healed after three applications and took away all the pain, as well as averting any peeling of the skin!

Someone I know had a chemical skin peel face treatment and afterwards her skin certainly peeled in a rather dramatic way but applying calendula cream repeatedly, soon healed her face up quickly!

In addition to using Calendula cream, there is also the homeopathic pill form. This is good to take as well, if you have a badly bleeding cut.  The homeopathy remedy pill sucked and taken internally sometimes works better than the cream, as you can choose the potency 6c, 30c or 200c, depending how serious the wound is.  

I have used it after tooth extraction to stop the bleeding.  You might have to apply the cream quite a few times to a cut but if you take the homeopathic Calendula pill, it works much more quickly and effectively.

Incidentally, the homeopathic remedy Calendula 30c should be taken for those with cervical cancer, as it heals the wart virus and the raw soreness of the vagina that accompanies this condition.  Indeed the homeopathic Calendula is used as an intercurrent remedy for cancer.

All in all Calendula cream (and the homeopathic Calendula remedy) are things I would definitely always keep in my first aid kit and the cream is definitely helping my dry hands in this freezing weather at the moment!

Lavender Oil is Antiseptic and Fast Healing

The first time I used lavender oil for healing was many years ago when my daughter was about 5 years old and she had hit her bare foot on a sharp rock, while running around the garden on a summer afternoon!

On examination of the foot, it appeared that the skin under her big toe had been cut open and of course blood was rushing out!  The cut was about one centimetre in depth.

Without thinking about it too hard, I picked her up, rushed to the bathroom and ran a basin of warm water.  I dropped about 6 drops of aromatherapy lavender oil into the basin of water and sitting her on my lap, I immersed the foot in it. 

We sat there for about 10 minutes.

Now this simultaneously achieved five things: 

1.  Lavender is strongly antiseptic.

2.  There would be no need to use something which stings like TCP and which would have caused her to cry   out with more pain.

3.  By letting the foot soak in the water, the wound would not need to be cleaned because the antiseptic lavender water soaks right into it without hurting it further.

4.  Lavender will completely take away the pain.

5.  Lavender is well known for its soothing, calming qualities, which is ideal for someone who has just had a nasty accident, especially a small child! 

The great thing about this was the way the antiseptic lavender water soaked deeply into the wound, cleaning it without having to use anything that would cause more pain.

I put a loose aerated bandage around the toe, so that the air could get in to heal it and to my astonishment, the next day the wound was completely sealed up and healed!

Well, you can imagine how amazed I was at the healing power of lavender oil!!  That is the fastest healing I have ever seen!  Faster than anything else I’ve found!  There were no further problems with the toe.

Any doctors and nurses reading this might wonder why I didn’t take her straight to Accident & Emergency.  Well not if I can help immediately and if so, then why put the child through further trauma, which might be remembered for the rest of their life and end up being a worse experience than the accident?

Of course if stitches are needed in a bad accident, you would obviously go straight to the hospital.

For small wounds in other places, you can get a bowl of warm water, added a couple of drops of the oil and then gently bathe the wound with cotton wool. 

Another use for lavender oil is for coughs.  If you have a bad cough and can’t get to sleep buy a little aromatherapy oil burner.  Mine was made of brass and had a little round bit at the top that you put the oil in and underneath at the bottom was a place for a tea candle.  If you drop the lavender oil at the top and light the small candle, place it on a table by your bed, you will find that when you breathe in the smell of the lavender, your cough will disappear and you will sleep soundly.

Finally, overactive children before bedtime!  Drop about four drops of lavender oil in their bath and this will calm them down before they go to sleep.

There are probably lots of other wonderful uses for lavender and when I remember them, I shall update this article!