Calendula?

[HatTrick]

My friend just sold her horse because she could not afford it anymore. She has decided to take lessons 2X a week instead. When I was helping her clean out her locker, she gave me TONS of stuff

To the point.
She gave me a bottle of Calendula oil.. unopened, it's a little glass bottle with a dripper thingey (don't know how to explain, lol) and the seal is still on it.
All I know is that it promotes healing to wounds.
The directions on it say to make a solution in the proportion of 5 drops to 1oz cold water and apply to the wound.
At the bottom it says it's from Washington Homeopathic Products, inc.

I was just wondering, do things like Calendula have an 'expiry date'?
She has no idea how long it's been sitting in her locker for. She said a lady gave it to her to use on her horse when he cut his leg open but she never ended up using it for some reason.

Is there a limit to the size of wound that the Calendula should be applied to? Is there 'such thing' as the wound being too small or too large to use Calendula?

To use Calendula, I just mix the proportion of 5 drops to 1oz water and spray it on, correct? (after cleaning with salene solution or something of the sort, of course.)

Just looking to expand my knowledge here, I really want to learn more about natural/alternative health remedies.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by HatTrick

I was just wondering, do things like Calendula have an 'expiry date'?

This is the oil extracted from the marigold plant. Like all essential oils, it loses its efficacy and aroma and normally the expiry date is 3 months from breaking the seal on the bottle.

She said a lady gave it to her to use on her horse when he cut his leg open but she never ended up using it for some reason.

I'm personally not aware that it would have any efficacy at all for serious wound healing. Rather its used traditionally for such as inflammatory skin conditions like excema and in a balm or cream. Its a very good all round moisturiser and is slightly anticeptic and as such its used quite often in production of organic cosmetics.

Is there a limit to the size of wound that the Calendula should be applied to? Is there 'such thing' as the wound being too small or too large to use Calendula?

See above

To use Calendula, I just mix the proportion of 5 drops to 1oz water and spray it on, correct? (after cleaning with salene solution or something of the sort, of course.)

It depends on whether its pure oil you've got or if its diluted in a carrier already.

Just looking to expand my knowledge here, I really want to learn more about natural/alternative health remedies.

I'm quite into old fashioned herbal remedies myself.

Got to say though that I wouldn't be rushing to Caldendula for treating a wound. Though I might well use it in a balm if the horse (or I) had a big dry flakey patch of skin and I can see it might be very useful to help to improve and heal the skin say post Dermatophilus congolensis (mud fever/rain rot)

[darlaflack]

I have used Calendula with great success on Large wounds, that could not be stitched. Just hosing to clean and then squirt in . It heals very quickly from inside out. Keep area clean with just a gauze pad (that breathes). Not sure about life span though, even if unopened. You are in Surrey so would check with Henry at Pharmasave, which is where I get all my homeopathic stuff. Calendula is used on humans after major dental extractions to promote healing.

[eli]

My husband gets these allergy bump thingys on his hands from grease and oil, the only thing that helps is calendula. I've used it for sunburns and diaper rashes as well.

[HatTrick]

On the bottle it says it's mixed with 45% alcohol.. I believe.
I just opened the bottle last night (the seal was still on).. so I have 3 months as of now?
Daraflack, by 'squirt it in' do you mean straight out of the bottle or dilute it first?

[Mercedes]

It's (calendula) usually mixed with other herbs for wounds; comfrey, goldenseal etc...

If you want to put it on a wound, then after dilution, use a spray bottle and spray it on the wound like flyspray.

It is more for inflammation, rashes, burns and things of that nature, rather than promoting increased healing of open wounds. Comfrey is a far superior herb for that.

[darlaflack]

Dilute the Calendula! Like 1 drop to 20, so multiply that into 10 cc's. And if it is a deep wound, use more than a spray, more a syringe that gets it in to the depth of wound.

[Elite Few]

This is an interesting thread.
Here are two links to articles on calendula in wound healing. In the first one, I found the bit about using honey and sugar quite interesting as I could never quite understand why you would put that on a wound.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...11303980/pg_12

The second article warns against using calendula during pregnancy as it can harm the fetus and/or lead to spontaneous abortion. Here is an excerpt from the article;

...experiments in rats have shown that this effect is measurable. An ointment containing 5% flower extract in combination with allantoin was found to “markedly stimulate” epithelialization in surgically-induced wounds. On the basis of histological examination of the wound tissue, the authors concluded that the ointment increased glycoprotein, nucleoprotein and collagen metabolism at the site.

http://www.drugs.com/npp/calendula.html