Comfrey/DMSO poultice success on a floating bone/inflammation issue

[Guest guest]

Had a good use of herbs to share. An elderly fellow has a

floating bone in his ankle that when overstressed moves and causes

painful inflammation. It turns red, swells, and the bottom of it

looks purpleish. His had been like this for a week before I saw it.

Treatment was a poultice. The ankle was covered with oil, the

first night I used poplar bud oil, the second and third nights with

cayenne oil. Of the two the cayenne worked better. Comfrey powder

was mixed with DMSO and gooped over the area, then I plopped some

flaxseed meal mixed with hot water onto a cotton cloth and wrapped

that over the top of the comfrey covering a larger area. A few

triangle bandages helped make it more secure and then a hot water

bottle was kept on the foot overnight, with the goop washed off in

the morning.

The results were heartwarming. While I was wrapping it up and

applying heat the patient said it felt really good, and he slept

well. In the morning the swelling had gone way down, there wasn't

any discoloration, and the pain had gone down to " just a twinge " . We

repeated the treatment two more nights and he was snowshoeing again

on the third day. The acute phase was over.

My thought was comfrey internally for a few weeks might help

make the treatment longterm. Unfortunately, I made a comfrey syrup

in a jar that I had just made habanero tincture in. The comfrey was

spicy hot and the mix quite unpleasant tasting. Kind of a silly

mistake but humorous.