Trees standing serene; they bring to us the feeling of comfort and a connection with Mother Earth, as we delight under their glorious canopies, take in the fresh aroma of their needles, cones, berries, flowers, resins, and bark, and somehow have an instinctual knowledge that they possess the powers to heal and bring great vitality. Worldwide studies of traditional home remedy medicines have documented many stories of people using tree extracts as herbal remedies. Various Pinaceous and Cupressus species, including pine, juniper, and cedarwood, have been used to treat wounds and external inflammation for decades, and even centuries.[1] Pine tar was used by the ancient Sumerians to treat skin infections. Juniper berries were crushed and applied to wounds to reduce infection. In addition, Seminole Indians used Virginia cedarwood to treat rheumatism.
Modern studies look to back up the traditional claims of our ancestors who used extracts from various tree species topically on wounds and for inflammation. There have been a few in vivo (animal) and in vitro (in a lab / dish) studies on essential oils and extracts of these plants with impressive results. More research, and human trials are certainly needed. A list of research is listed below.
Ingredients:
Instructions: In a crock pot, cook the olive oil, beeswax, and shea butter on low until it melts. Then, stir in the pink salt and ground oats. Finally, turn off the heat and stir in the essential oils. Pour immediately into container(s) with sealing lid(s). Wait to seal the lids until cooled. Apply salve topically to affected area. Discontinue use if any irritation occurs.
Here are a few of the studies found. More research, and human studies are necessary.
[1] http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jmf.2012.2472 Tumen, I., Süntar, I., Eller, F. J., Keleş, H., & Akkol, E. K. (2013). Topical wound-healing effects and phytochemical composition of heartwood essential oils of Juniperus virginiana L., Juniperus occidentalis Hook., and Juniperus ashei J. Buchholz. Journal of medicinal food, 16(1), 48-55.
[2] http://www.wjpps.com/download/article/1485859236.pdf Samaha, Ali, Mansi, & Abu-El-Halawa, 2017). From: Samaha, H. A. M., Ali, N. A. A., Mansi, I., & Abu-El-Halawa, R. (2017). Antimicrobial, antiradical and xanthinoxidase inhibitory activities of Juniperus procera plant extracts from Albaha. World J. of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, 6, 232-242.
[3] https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2012/728281/abs/ Tumen, I., Süntar, I., Keleş, H., & Küpeli Akkol, E. (2011). A therapeutic approach for wound healing by using essential oils of Cupressus and Juniperus species growing in Turkey. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012.
[4] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874111008543 Süntar, I., Tumen, I., Ustün, O., Keleş, H., & Akkol, E. K. (2012). Appraisal on the wound healing and anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oils obtained from the cones and needles of Pinus species by in vivo and in vitro experimental models. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 139(2), 533-540.
[5] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.11.037 Ku, C. S., Sathishkumar, M., & Mun, S. P. (2007). Binding affinity of proanthocyanidin from waste Pinus radiata bark onto proline-rich bovine achilles tendon collagen type I. Chemosphere, 67(8), 1618-1627.
[6] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/jf048948q Karonen, M., Hämäläinen, M., Nieminen, R., Klika, K. D., Loponen, J., Ovcharenko, V. V., … & Pihlaja, K. (2004). Phenolic extractives from the bark of Pinus sylvestris L. and their effects on inflammatory mediators nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 52(25), 7532-7540.
[7] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/jf504606m Laavola, M., Nieminen, R., Leppänen, T., Eckerman, C., Holmbom, B., & Moilanen, E. (2015). Pinosylvin and monomethylpinosylvin, constituents of an extract from the knot of Pinus sylvestris, reduce inflammatory gene expression and inflammatory responses in vivo. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 63(13), 3445-3453.
[8] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.05.031 Akkol, E. K., Güvenç, A., & Yesilada, E. (2009). A comparative study on the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of five Juniperus taxa. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 125(2), 330-336.
[9] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.2650010107/full Mascolo, N., Capasso, F., Menghini, A., & Fasulo, M. P. (1987). Biological screening of Italian medicinal plants for anti‐inflammatory activity. Phytotherapy research, 1(1), 28-31.
[10] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2331205X.2017.1306200 Han, X., & Parker, T. L. (2017). Anti-inflammatory activity of Juniper (Juniperus communis) berry essential oil in human dermal fibroblasts. Cogent Medicine, 4(1), 1306200.
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