The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook_ A Home Manual - James Green [156]
When treating swollen glands, one can add a couple drops of Poke root (Phytolacca americana) tincture to this poultice. It is quite helpful to use hand baths also to help pump the nodes in the neck. Administer the baths by placing both hands in a hot bath for 3 minutes immediately followed by a cold hand bath for 1 minute. Repeat this several consecutive times.
FOMENTATIONS
A fomentation (a.k.a. compress) is a form of poultice that is composed of liquids or lotions, absorbed in woolen or cotton cloths and usually applied hot. (Cold compresses are prepared for treating some headaches and sprains, and to stop bleeding.) Basically, a fomentation is yet another species of a bath employed to convey heat, combined with moisture, to the part of the body being fomented. A fomentation, like all therapeutic and tonic baths, is administered with the intent to soothe, nurse, and/or excite one back to ebullient, healthy activity.
MATERIAL TO USE FOR MAKING A FOMENTATION
Flannel cloths wrung out of hot liquid form the best fomentation material. In every process of fomentation there should be two cloths, one flannel ready while the other is applied. After the water has been wrung from the flannel, it should be shaken up and laid lightly over the body part. This involves a considerable amount of air which, being a poor conductor for heat transfer, retains the heat in the flannel cloth for a substantial amount of time.
Sticks and Material Loop
When selecting a material to use for applying a fomentation, the fineness or the coarseness of the flannel is important to note. The coarser the material, the less readily it conducts heat, but it retains its warmth longer. It is therefore more efficient for fomenting. White flannel appears to retain heat longer than colored flannel. Of course, any absorbent material can be employed to apply a fomentation. Depending on the body part requiring the assistance, you can use gauze patches, stocking caps, menstrual pads, cotton gloves, jock straps, cotton bras, cotton socks, and so on.
For ease of wringing out boiling hot flannel cloths, one can employ the following technique:
Purchase two pieces of white flannel, each three yards long. (This is for use in large area fomenting; shorter pieces are appropriate for smaller jobs.) Sew the ends together making a very large headband-like device. This can now be wrung out of boiling liquid by means of two sticks inserted through the loop and turned in opposite directions. After the hot flannel has been wrung out, shake it up and lay the double-layered fomentation lightly on the body.
MAKING A FOMENTATION
To aid digestion in an individual whose stomach appears to be deficient in producing adequate hydrochloric acid, a simple hot water fomentation placed over the stomach for an hour or two after eating increases the amount of hydrochloric acid secreted by the peptic glands. A hot water bottle might be more convenient to employ for this purpose, but then where is the hot water bottle when you need it? And applications of heat over the abdomen can increase the activity of the digestive processes in the intestines and the functional activity of the pancreas and spleen. (In contrast, generally, whole body hot baths tend to diminish the secretion of HCL.) Hot applications placed over the liver region increase the flow of bile and stimulate all the other activities of the liver.
Simple hot water fomentations are remarkably soothing and revitalizing, but the use of herbal infusions and decoctions as the hot liquid further enhances their therapeutic action. Also, tinctures diluted with water can be used to medicate a fomentation.
Arnica Fomentation
A cold fomentation of Arnica (Arnica spp.) is well used to enhance peripheral circulation, helping to eliminate the pain of bruises, sprains, torn muscles, and tendons during the acute stage of an injury. A tablespoon of Arnica tincture to a half quart of cold water is used