home made poultices & 'animalintex' type wound dressings

hi, having spent most of the last 2 years having some sort of wound/abcess problem with saltie i think i must have spent a small fortune on poultice packs.

so i did some research, 1st off on the pre made packs such as animalintex, this is basically an army field (WW1) dressing pack, the main active ingredient being boric acid powder, the fluffy lint stuff is just to hold the boric powder and absorbe any blood or yuk, the paper covering next to the skin is to stop bits of lint getting in the wound, the plastic backing increases heat and keeps yuk in.......SO....

me thinks?????? & here it is salee's ecconomy version!!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

take a sanitary pad or panty liner, whichever the size is best for what you have to cover & most appropriate for the yukkiness of the wound,
cut along 1 side (use this as an up side) & pull open the paper bit from the 'core' shake in some boric powder (can be bought from the pharmacy), some pads have a plastic backing on already, if not i use a piece of bubble wrap between the 1st & 2nd bandage layer.

thats it! average cost each about 20 cents

use wet or dry, if you take of the paper bit on the back to use the sticky strip it sticks to covering vet wrap or bandages etc and helps hold it on.

POULTICE:- good old fashioned kaolin poultice, all ingredients can be bought from a pharmacy, but the mint/menthe oil can sometimes only be got from a pharmacy who does alternative stuff, it MUST be mint/menthe oil not a mix including mint.

kaolin powder = 2 desert spoons full,
boric powder = 1 teaspoon full,
glycerine (to blend the powders and make it gooey) as much as you need depending on where it is being used, but usually about 1-2 teaspoons full.
mint/menthe oil = 5-10 drops, you can also add fresh or dried mint or *rosemary in oil or herb form.

MIX THE OILS/HERBS IN THE GLYCERINE 1ST, then add in the powders mixed together. if it is too thick, i tried adding a tiny drop of olive oil just to make it spread better.

mush it all up, i use a washed out marge tub, heat for use by standing tub in hot water.
if you want a lot double or tripple the mix, it keeps ok so long as you have the lid on.

*rosemary help repel insects, so it can be useful in fly season.

bye [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That sounds really good, thanks for that. I know Penny is a lover of babies nappies, they work very well for joints and feet.

Yes thanks Salée just the sort of stuff we're after , I've used the baby's nappies for feet problems too but if you haven't got chemicals in stock good old salt water will help loads to start cleaning wounds

If you do have a bacterial infection, it is said that the bacteria prefer to feed on sugar, and so this is a good one to use. Manuka honey is even used in hospitals now, you need the 30+ really, but it is made from bee's that gather nectar from tea tree's. The healing property of this is fantasic.

Thanks Di
Excuse my ignorance what is 30+ is it the brand or something else ?

it is the strength of the tea tree in the honey - brilliant for curing stuff inside out so to speak if you have a sore throat etc.

It's not cheap, and can be up to £30 a pot, but so worth having some in the cupboard.

thanks Di