Hysterectomy Blog: Day 6 Castor Oil Packs and the Immune System

Feb 10, 2019My mentor, colleague and friend Dr Kathi Kemper was the first to introduce me to the #therapeutic benefits of #castor #oil #packs.When your #lymphatic #system is not working properly, #toxins can build up and make you sick, especially after a #surgical procedure which requires the use of anesthesia and oral #pain medication. A small, double-blind study published in the Journal of Naturopathic Medicine found that the subjects who used abdominal castor oil packs had significant increases in the production of #lymphocytes compared with patients using placebo packs.The lymphatic system also impacts the #circulatory and #digestive systems. Castor oil can also help with #wound #healing thanks to its #moisturizing as well as #antimicrobial and #antibacterial properties.I decided this weekend to include them in my #hysterectomyrecovery

Here’s what you need:1. A bottle of organic castor oil. I recommend Heritage Store, Home Health or Premier Research Labs2. A piece of organic cotton flannel3. A hot water bottle4. A large gallon-size ziploc bag5. An old towel (castor oil permanently stains, so it’s best to use an old towel)How to do a castor oil pack:1. Place the piece of flannel in a large glass dish2. Drizzle castor oil over the flannel until it’s saturated.3. Fill up your hot water bottle.4. Set the dish with the flannel, the ziploc bag, and old towel next to the bed.5. Lie down and place the cotton flannel on the area of concern. For example, I focused on the liver area6. Put the ziploc bag on top of the flannel.7. Place the hot water bottle on top of the ziploc and flannel.8. Place the old towel on top of the water bottle9. Lie down for 1-2 hours, remove and wipe the area with the old towel to remove any castor oil.10. Repeat as necessary.When is a castor oil pack not recommended?It’s not recommended if you have an IUD, are pregnant, breastfeeding, during menses or if you struggle with IBS, Colitis or diarrhea. When using castor oil topically, it’s still best to perform a skin patch test on a small area of your skin and keep it away from your eyes, inside of your nose, children, and pets. I would caution against using it orally.Medicinal Useshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29084706/Immune benefitshttps://drprincetta.com/…/Castor-Oil-Packs-Immunomodulation…Anti microbial effectshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4942971/